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Dobbs Sentences #61: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 4 of 8 Sentence 1 of 3 The next sentence seems to be making a purely logical point, but also cites another case as backup: “Although a pre-quickening abortion was not itself considered homicide, it does not follow that abortion was permissible at common law—much less that abortion was a legal right. Cf. Glucksberg, […]

Dobbs Sentences #60: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 3 of 8 Sentence 3 of 3 This paragraph closes with a sentence that contains another simple claim: “For that crime and another ‘misdemeanor,’ Beare was sentenced to two days in the pillory and three years’ imprisonment.27” That other “misdemeanor” of which Mrs. Beare was convicted was that she advised a man to kill […]

Dobbs Sentences #59: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 3 of 8 Sentence 2 of 3 Finally! The next sentence is a single, simple claim that is easily investigated. It reads: “In 1732, for example, Eleanor Beare was convicted of ‘destroying the Foetus in the Womb’ of another woman and ‘thereby causing her to miscarry.’”26 The Court has made our investigation easy in […]

Dobbs Sentences #58: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 3 of 8 Sentence 1 of 3 The next sentence indicates another pair of books that don’t lend themselves to easy access: “English cases dating all the way back to the 13th century corroborate the treatises’ statements that abortion was a crime. See generally J. Dellapenna, Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History 126, and […]

Dobbs Sentences #57: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 2 of 8 Sentence 2 of 2 In theory, the single claim in the next sentence is easy to verify, but I’m having trouble finding a copy of the document online. Here’s the sentence: “Henry de Bracton’s 13th-century treatise explained that if a person has ‘struck a pregnant woman, or has given her poison, […]

Dobbs Sentences #56: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 2 of 8 Sentence 1 of 2 The next paragraph starts out with a simple claim, but the citation goes in an odd direction: “The ’eminent common-law authorities (Blackstone, Coke, Hale, and the like),’ Kahler v. Kansas, 589 U.S. ___, ___ (2020) (slip op., at 7), all describe abortion after quickening as criminal.” The […]

Dobbs Sentences #55: Part II B 2 a

Paragraph 1 of 8 Sentence 1 of 1 This next section starts to lay out the legal history of abortion in more specific terms—beginning hundreds of years before the founding of the United States: “We begin with the common law, under which abortion was a crime at least after “quickening”—i.e., the first felt movement of […]

Dobbs Sentences #54: Part II B 1

Paragraph 3 of 3 Sentence 2 of 2 The last sentence of this section makes a single claim that looks simple, but isn’t as simple as it seems: “It is therefore important to set the record straight.” If the Court was just saying that it’s important to make sure we’re dealing with the facts accurately […]

Dobbs Sentences #53: Part II B 1

Paragraph 3 of 3 Sentence 1 of 2 The next sentence, which opens the paragraph that closes this section, makes a pair of significant claims, and I hope that the following sections follow up on them. Here’s the sentence: “Roe either ignored or misstated this history, and Casey declined to reconsider Roe’s faulty historical analysis.” […]

Dobbs Sentences #52: Part II B 1

Paragraph 2 of 3 Sentence 4 of 4 I’m frustrating myself a bit by sticking to the strategy of only looking into claims that can be quickly investigated. This sentence wouldn’t take too much time to look into, but it’s also more trivia than vital information. Just two claims here, and they’re pretty simple: “By […]