Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: From an Ultrasound Technician.... [View all]CrispyQ
(40,991 posts)83. Hi neighbor! I live in CO, too!
IMO, this is THE best argument against forced pregnancy & I don't know why groups like NARAL don't add this to our arsenal of arguments for CHOICE.
Abortion and the 13th Amendment
2010
Forced Labor, Revisited: The Thirteenth Amendment and Abortion
Andrew Koppelman
Northwestern University School of Law, akoppelman@law.northwestern.edu
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1031&context=facultyworkingpapers
snip...
I. The basic argument The Thirteenth Amendment reads as follows:
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
My claim is that the amendment is violated by laws that prohibit abortion. When women are compelled to carry and bear children, they are subjected to "involuntary servitude" in violation of the amendment. Abortion prohibitions violate the Amendment's guarantee of personal liberty, because forced pregnancy and childbirth, by compelling the woman to serve the fetus, creates "that control by which the personal service of one man [sic] is disposed of or coerced for another's benefit which is the essence of involuntary servitude."6
Such laws violate the amendment's guarantee of equality, because forcing women to be mothers makes them into a servant caste, a group which, by virtue of a status of birth, is held subject to a special duty to serve others and not themselves.
~more at link
2010
Forced Labor, Revisited: The Thirteenth Amendment and Abortion
Andrew Koppelman
Northwestern University School of Law, akoppelman@law.northwestern.edu
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1031&context=facultyworkingpapers
snip...
I. The basic argument The Thirteenth Amendment reads as follows:
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
My claim is that the amendment is violated by laws that prohibit abortion. When women are compelled to carry and bear children, they are subjected to "involuntary servitude" in violation of the amendment. Abortion prohibitions violate the Amendment's guarantee of personal liberty, because forced pregnancy and childbirth, by compelling the woman to serve the fetus, creates "that control by which the personal service of one man [sic] is disposed of or coerced for another's benefit which is the essence of involuntary servitude."6
Such laws violate the amendment's guarantee of equality, because forcing women to be mothers makes them into a servant caste, a group which, by virtue of a status of birth, is held subject to a special duty to serve others and not themselves.
~more at link

Parents can't be compelled to donate their organs to their child, even to save the child's life. Why does a fetus have more claim on a woman's body than her living, breathing children?
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
99 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
This is exactly why I am for ZERO cost abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy.
roamer65
Nov 2020
#1
When the issue of "partial birth abortions" came up before the US Congress it was utterly outrageous
Hekate
Nov 2020
#65
Right, because women frequently decide a week or so before the due
PoindexterOglethorpe
Nov 2020
#36
No, it's about turning white women into baby-making machines (see Lebensborn)
turtleblossom
Nov 2020
#38
well, it's marketed as baby killing and it wins a lot of votes for them
LymphocyteLover
Nov 2020
#26
Yeah, and I don't know why that argument from Dems, never gets any traction
LymphocyteLover
Nov 2020
#39
Where is the just compensation for the government taking over a woman's body?
Hermit-The-Prog
Nov 2020
#16
Thank you for a very important and scientific perspective that we rarely hear in such detail.
Nitram
Nov 2020
#28
it's interesting how so many anti-abortion activists are also against contraception
AlexSFCA
Nov 2020
#41
Ironically it's usually the so called "pro life" people who refuse to wear masks to protect others
StarryNite
Nov 2020
#48
Doctors and parents both will go to incredible lengths to save micro-preemies...
Hekate
Nov 2020
#58
Pro-life is a myth. Republicans are in favor of killing living babies and have done so.
keithbvadu2
Nov 2020
#72