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I. Grand Illusion * 296
A. Language and Narrative * 296
B. Stigma * 299
II. Scent of A Woman * 301
A. Woman Under the Influence * 302
B. What Women Want * 304
C. The IncredibU Shrinking Woman * 311
D. Woman on Top * 313
E. Mommie Dearest * 315
III. Life As We Know It * 318
A. Biology * 318
B. Beyond Biology * 320
IV. Lost in Translation * 322
A. Roe * 323
B. Casey * 326
V. Unforgiven * 328
Conclusion * 337
Mother, n. 1.a. The female parent of a human being; a woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth ... - OED1
Respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child ... It is self-evident diat a mother who comes to regret her choice to abort must struggle with grief ... - Gonzales v. Carhart, (Kennedy, J.)2
Why does the Supreme Court refer to the woman who is seeking an abortion as "mother"? Surely the definition has not escaped the attention of a Court that frequently relies on the dictionary to define important terms or principles.3 And why does the Court choose to describe the fetus as a child? What message does this language send about abortion and the woman who seeks an abortion?
The Court's abortion decisions embody an ongoing debate on the legitimacy of constitutional protection of the right to choose. This debate unfolds most obviously as a discourse on constitutional interpretation; disagreements within the Court are reflected in the language of constitutional principles and standards. This debate also plays out, hidden in plain view, in the vocabulary used by the Court to describe the woman who stands at the center of the constitutional controversy and the life within her.
The Court's abortion jurisprudence, which began with an unequivocal articulation of the right to choose as a fundamental right, has devolved into a patchwork of decisions reflecting ambivalence about a woman's right to choose or clear efforts to de-constitutionalize the right. Not surprisingly, the rhetoric that emerges in the opinions often tracks the discord within the Court. The woman whose dignity and equality depend upon...