Alabama Court Revives Question About When Life Begins

Abortion opponents have made their case arguing for the life of the unborn. Abortion advocates have claimed "bodily autonomy." The Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision citing a case from 1965, declared a right to privacy and ruled that the unborn was not a "person" under the Constitution – at least before viability.

In his opinion for the majority, Justice Harry Blackmun claimed "those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus" of when life begins.