Religion & Law

So argues Helen Alvare, in this piece, published at Public Discourse.  (The piece is adapted from her remarks at the recent "Open Hearts" conference at Princeton.)  Here's a bit:

Questions about ?abortion and the law? are usually seen as matters of constitutional law. Constitutional law, however, seems ill-suited. This is not only because the U.S. Supreme Court discovered a ?constitutional right? for something that had been banned by most states for most of the nation?s history. It is also because the ?privacy? right encompassing abortion frames the issue as a struggle between the state and the woman over her right to define her life, her future, or even her ?concept ?of the universe,? in the famous words of the Casey Court. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that abortion is about family relationships, not simply a contest between the state and a woman who happens to be pregnant. Scientific discoveries about human development and the testimonies of women who have had or have considered an abortion suggest that it is family law rather than constitutional law that provides the best means of understanding the issue of abortion.