Abstract
The current debate over Roe v. Wade as a substantive due process right has prompted scholars to investigate alternative sources for a constitutional right to abortion. One approach argues that the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition on “slavery” and “involuntary servitude” prohibits the government from denying women the right to terminate a pregnancy. Scholars making this argument con-cede that the right to abortion was not the expected application of the Thirteenth Amendment but insist that a forced continued pregnancy falls within the original meaning of the Amendment’s terms.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Recommended Citation
Kurt T. Lash, Roe and the Original Meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment, 21 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 131 (2023).