Let's go back to square one. In spite of any opinion one might hold, ours is a constitutional republic. So the laws that govern abortion must reflect our Constitution or be struck down. That's why the recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson was so significant.

The Declaration of Independence states that:

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

No one would deny that the Declaration represents the theoretical principles of our government, while the Constitution is the legal embodiment of those principles. In turn, it is the courts that ensure our laws reflect our founding principles.

While it appears that our Constitution and the courts have attempted to follow the principles set forth in the Declaration, it would also appear that a certain portion of the Declaration has been forgotten when it comes to interpreting law -- specifically the right to life. If every man is endowed by our creator with the unalienable right to life, then abortion should be unconstitutional. Period. If you want to quibble that the object growing in a woman’s womb is not human, then this is not the place for that vacuous argument. Our Founding Fathers would never imagine that abortion would be a constitutional issue. Abortion is not birth control. Abortion is not reproductive choice. Abortion is not a state's right. Abortion is the killing of living being because we have not as a people effectively dealt with abortion due to an incomplete understanding of our founding documents. In some ways our country’s past decisions on abortion are understandable but can be amended. And our Constitution tells us how. The Preamble to the Constitution states: We, the people of the United State, in order to form a more perfect union… If something is perfect, how can it ever be more perfect? That’s the beauty of Gouverneur Morris’s words. Through its structure, the Constitution gives us the tools to create “a more perfect union.” While the Supreme Court correctly ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade vis-a-vis the Constitution's 10th Amendment and in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, it failed to consider the Declaration's insistence on a person's endowed and unalienable right to life.

The Supreme Court should have recognized its own limitations when it comes to abortion and could have suggested that Congress consider enacting new legislation that addresses abortion in light of the Declaration and not political posturing. Such legislation would make the Supreme Court’s decisions much easier. Both parties should support such or be considered inhuman.

Bill Guild is a former art historian, retired Boeing employee, and the proud father of two children.

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