Harris v. McRae
From Conservapedia
In Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980), the U.S. Supreme Court held by a narrow 5-4 margin that the U.S. Constitution does not require government or taxpayer funding of abortion. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the Hyde Amendment, a federal law prohibiting the expenditure of federal monies to pay for abortion.
The Court observed that:[1]
| “ | Abortion is inherently different from other medical procedures, because no other procedure involves the purposeful termination of a potential life. | ” |
Justice Potter Stewart wrote the decision, joined by Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justices Byron White, Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist. Four liberal Justices dissented.
The narrow 5-4 margin of this decision surprises many to this day, as the Court came within one vote from declaring that the Constitution requires taxpayer-funded abortion.
See also
References
- ↑ 448 U.S. at 325.
