Justice Harry Blackmun How Did Term Paper

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On pages 88-89, right in the middle of a 1972 national debate of this issued, Greenhouse reports that Justice Blackmun was given the job by his colleagues of writing a draft opinion on Roe v. Wade. How was a doctor to know if "death was imminent" should a mother not have an abortion? There were so many conflicting questions to be asked about the laws that had brought Roe v. Wade before the Court. It was a struggle for Blackmun, and he was under intense pressure. He was influenced by public opinion; on page 91, Greenhouse explains that Blackmun saw a Washington Post story that said "two out of three Americans think that abortion should be a matter for decision solely between a woman and her physician." Sixty-four percent said it was up to a woman, in a poll in the newspaper that Blackmun read. Slowly Blackmun re-wrote his opinion, and gathered support from his colleagues. He determined that using the right to privacy would "vindicate the right of a physician to administer medical treatment" to a woman who had made the choice herself to abort her fetus (99). In 1973, Blackmun had the support of Douglas, Powell, Brennan, Marshall, and Stewart; only White and Rehnquist dissented. The ruling came down on January 22, 1973. And there would be death threats to Blackmun, and even a bullet "...shattered the window of his apartment" in 1985. The police told him not to park his VW Beetle in the Supreme Court parking lot, and he should be driven to work by someone else to protect his life.

Should the focus be on Blackmun for his decision on Rove v. Wade? No, the focus should be on the U.S. Constitution, and the right to privacy that was very important to the men who wrote the Constitution.

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It is clear that if Roe v. Wade had not been decided the way it was, there would be abortions done illegally, and not all would be safely conducted, and Blackmun knew that. There were dramatic social changes and widely publicized social turbulence that was going on in the 1970s because of the Vietnam War, the rebellion of youth (music, sexuality, anti-establishment views), the Watergate scandal and the environmental issues of pollution being broadcast. It was a time of social change, and a good time to make a decision about abortions. Just because Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court he should not be center stage when people discuss the decision. He had a majority of justices on his side, and so all of them took a position that the right to privacy was the best solution for this difficult and controversial issue. The book is very well written, and it is important to history in that sense; but to focus only on Blackmun or to blame him in any way, is shortsighted and narrow. He is a man of dignity and intelligence, and he did not live a life of luxury or in arrogance. He was honest, caring, a father, a man who drove an old car because he didn't care about material things; he cared about people's health, a woman's right to choose, and he cared about what is best for Americans. He was just one important player in a political and legal and moral stage in Washington, D.C., and it was his sworn duty to do the best he could do. He did just that.

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