by Andrew P. Napolitano
LewRockwell.com
The Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs opinion, reversing the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion, which unleashed 64 million abortions in the United States, is based on the principles of popular democracy and federalism. In a popular democracy, the majority of voters determine all laws either directly or through popularly elected representatives. Under federalism, the states have retained the areas of governance that they did not cede to the federal government such as health, safety, welfare and morality.
Viewing abortion as a criminal matter, which is how it was viewed in 1791 and 1868, the Dobbs court corrected the Roe court. The year 1791 is relevant to the Dobbs opinion as that was when the Fifth Amendment was ratified. It requires, among other provisions, that the federal government shall not deny life, liberty or property without due process of law.