Few Supreme Court decisions have stirred up as much controversy, vitriolic debate, and even violence as the one delivered in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Four decades later, it remains a touchstone for the culture wars in the United States and a pivot upon which much of our politics turns. With that in mind Peter Charles Hoffer and N. E. H. Hull have now taken stock of the abortion debates, controversies, and cases that have emerged during the past decade in order to update their best-selling book on this landmark case. Like the original edition, the new one highlights the abortion issue's historical background; highlights Roe v. Wade's core issues, essential personalities, and key precedents; tracks the case's path through the courts; clarifies the jurisprudence behind the court's ruling in Roe; and gauges its impact on American society and subsequent challenges to it in Webster v. Reproductive Services (1989) and Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992). The new edition, however, adds two completely new chapters covering abortion politics and legal battles in the post-9/11 era, along with a new preface and a much-revised epilogue and conclusion. The new material covers, among other things, the surprising results from recent public opinion polls; the impact of the presidential elections of George W. Bush and Barack Obama; Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor; two major 5-4 Supreme Court decisions-Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and Gonzales v. Carhart-that confirmed the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act; the murder of abortion provider George Tiller by Scott Roeder and the latter's trial and conviction; and the appearance of the abortion issue in the debate over health care reform legislation. The authors take an evenhanded approach to abortion without advocating a policy position or preaching the moral implications of either side. Thus it is well suited for the classroom as it allows the instructor to facilitate a debate on abortion without alienating large segments of students. Law and Politics Book Review
- ISBN10 0700617531
- ISBN13 9780700617531
- Publish Date 15 September 2010 (first published 30 October 2001)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University Press of Kansas
- Edition 2nd Revised, Expanded ed.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 384
- Language English