The Discussion You Didn’t Know You Could Have about Abortion
For the 49th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Peaches and I interview friend and fellow Trinity Church member, Catherine Aubrecht. In “The Discussion You Didn’t Know You Could Have about Abortion,” we talk about the Christian view of human life, men behaving badly, feminism as a secular creed, the pro-choice/pro-life debate, and God’s redemption of her life despite her own past abortions. Obviously, nobody wants to talk about abortion, but if we have to (and we do), we hope our conversation here can be one of both deep empathy and convicted persuasion.
About Catherine
Catherine Aubrecht serves as Community Developer for Trinity Church in Bozeman, Montana. Previous to her role at Trinity, Catherine enjoyed a long career in telecommunications and cybersecurity engineering as a member of the Intelligence Community for the federal government, working to secure computer networks from cyber attacks. She has since retired, though continues to teach graduate cybersecurity classes for Webster University in St. Louis, and is now in full-time ministry at Trinity Church where she helps people get connected, “be seen, known, and loved” into healthy community within the Trinity church body. She also leads Women’s Ministries as well as organizes community outreach events. She is married to Steve.
Key Judicial Decisions in America’s Abortion History
Below are summaries of key judicial decisions in America’s abortion history. Thanks to friend and former teacher Larry Hughes for putting together these summaries.
1973 - Roe vs. Wade
Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) decided to fight the anti-abortion laws of her state (Texas). Claimed rape but later admitted it was birth control failure. Texas law to that point had permitted abortion only to save the life of the mother. United States Supreme Court (USSC) decides that the law is unconstitutional because it violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment; thus, ruled that the privacy of the mother overrides the right of the child to live. However, court ruled that the State has an interest in protecting the mother’s health and the potential life of the fetus; thus, arises the concept of trimesters and divergent interests of the State in each.1973 - Doe vs. Bolton
This case, decided the same day as Roe v. Wade, was really the one that made abortion on demand throughout pregnancy a reality. USSC struck down a Georgia law that limited abortions to accredited hospitals, required the approval of hospital abortion committee, required confirmation by two other medical doctors, confined abortion access to state citizens only. Now the issue is not only a woman’s right to privacy but also a physician’s right to practice medicine.1976 - Hyde Amendment
Federal government should stay out of a woman’s choice to abort, but the government has no obligation to pay for it; blocked federal Medicaid funding for abortion services.1977 - Planned Parenthood vs. Danforth
Planned Parenthood challenged a Missouri law that required husband to give consent to abortion and required minor to get permission from her parents. USSC rules that the decision to abort is left to the woman only and the best judgment of her attending physician. They also decided that a pregnant teenager must be permitted to get an abortion without her parent’s consent. The latter was a highly controversial decision.1989 - Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services
This Missouri case provides one of the first significant limits placed on the right to abortion. USSC upheld the Missouri law that prevented public funds from being used to pay for “non-therapeutic” abortions (those that were undertaken to safeguard the mother’s life only). A woman has a right to an abortion and the State may not hinder or place obstacles in her way. However, she does not have the right to expect the state tax system to pay for that abortion if she cannot afford to pay for it herself. It also prevented the use of public medical facilities to provide non-therapeutic abortions.1992 - Planned Parenthood vs. Casey
This challenge was viewed as the best opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. A Pennsylvania law required:24-hour waiting period before the abortion, during which a woman must be given information about procedure, risks, and approximate gestational age of the fetus
parental consent required for a minor seeking an abortion (though there was a “judicial bypass” to get around this)
a woman’s husband to be informed
but if a medical emergency, a woman was exempt from all of these
Decision of the USSC reaffirmed the “rightness” of the original Roe v. Wade, stressing the right to privacy (emerges out of the idea of liberty in the Constitution); personal autonomy (making major decisions for oneself); and bodily integrity (right to have one’s body left alone). Three major decisions:
upheld the concept of a 24-hour waiting period
upheld the consent with judicial bypass as reasonable
declared spousal consent unconstitutional citing due to
potential risk to a woman
significant obstacle for some women in obtaining an abortion
More recent developments and significant Supreme Court considerations
2018 - Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health
Mississippi law passed to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks, with narrow exceptions for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality.2021 - Texas Heartbeat Act
Texas law prohibited abortion when there is a detectable heartbeat, which may be as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The constitutionality of the act is a matter of intense legal controversy, with several legal challenges were pending in state and federal courts.2022 - ?
On the heels of the Texas Heartbeat Act, the Supreme Court may uphold Dobbs vs. Jackson in response to Mississippi, asking the Court to reverse all its prior abortion decisions and return the abortion question to the states. Some say this would open the door for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned.
A Few Pertinent Articles
“Public Opinion on Abortion” (Pew Research Center)
“Marching Toward a Different Future” (First Things)
“The Feminist Dream of a World without Men” (World Magazine)
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