Law Commons^™

Protecting A Woman’S Right To Abortion During A Public Health Crisis, San Juanita Gonzalez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

As COVID-19 infected our nation, states were quick to issue executive orders restricting various aspects of daily life under the pretense of public safety. It was clear at the outset that certain civil liberties were going to be tested. Among them, the constitutional right to an abortion.

This comment explores Texas’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the limitations it imposed on abortion access. It will attempt to address the legitimacy of the “public health concerns” listed in executive orders issued throughout numerous states and will discuss the pertinent legal framework and judicial scrutiny to apply.

According to the Fifth …

Evolution Of Legal Topics, Rights And Obligations In The United States, Roberto Rosas

Faculty Articles

What new constitutional rights does the American Legal system have to offer? The United States Constitution is a document that continues to be interpreted every year. The Supreme Court hears recent cases with the purpose of interpreting the meaning of the Constitution. Since the creation of the Supreme Court, the Constitution has been analyzed in different ways – some interpretations lasting decades and some amendments going through changes depending on the different ideologies of the Justices on the Court.

This article discusses some of the rights established by the Supreme Court from 2016 to 2019 and provides the background as …

The Impact Of H.B. 214: A Critical Analysis Of The Texas "Rape Insurance" Bill, Lucie Arvallo

St. Mary's Law Journal

Texas House Bill 214 (H.B. 214) is subject to challenge under the Supreme Court precedent protecting a woman’s right to choose. Passed in 2017, H.B. 214 regulates Texas insurance markets by prohibiting coverage for an elective abortion unless a woman affirmatively opts into such coverage through a separate contract and pays a separate premium. Similar restrictions on insurance coverage for elective abortion in other states have been met with mixed results in the courts. What sets H.B. 214 apart from other regulations of insurance coverage for abortion is that it does not include any exceptions for abortions in cases of …

Characterizing Ghostwriting., Debra Lyn Bassett

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

It is well known that legal services are costly and that existing pro bono services are inadequate to help every individual who would benefit from legal assistance. Compounding this unmet need are various restrictions on the types of clients and types of cases that qualify for pro bono services. For example, Legal Services Corporation lawyers may not represent undocumented individuals, and may not undertake a representation in an abortion, desegregation, or assisted suicide matter. One attempt to mitigate this unmet need is ghostwriting. Analogous to presidential speechwriting, ghostwriting in the legal context occurs when a lawyer drafts a pleading or …

Hardline Ideology Stymies Real Results: Texas Lawmakers' Battle Over Family Planning Leaves Texas Women Unprotected., Mariel Puryear

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Family planning has opened economic and social doors for women. Contraception, specifically, allows women to choose when they have children, how far apart their children are born, or if they have children at all. This freedom empowers women to pursue higher education and careers which might not have been attainable otherwise. The increase in education effectively levels the playing field between genders, bringing more women into traditionally male-dominated professions. Family planning and contraceptive measures also dramatically impact low-income families. The role of family planning clinics is extremely important in a state like Texas, where many do not have insurance, and …

The (Contingent) Value Of Autonomy And The Reflexivity Of (Some) Basic Goods, Adam J. Macleod

Faculty Articles

Many of the legal and policy issues about which people today get most exercised turn on a little-understood relationship between two fundamental principles. On one hand is the principle of autonomy, which, for reasons explored in this article, is often employed in defense of greater freedom and less government intervention in matters of morals and self-harmful conduct. On the other hand is respect for basic goods, those ends and purposes that constitute ultimate, underived, and intelligible reasons for rational action, and which include knowledge, human life, and community, among others. Basic goods provide reasons for human purposing and action (as …

Staying Open: How Restricting Venue In Texas's Judicial Bypass Cases Would Hurt Minors And Violate The Constitution., Shelia Cheaney, Laura Smith

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The open venue provision is necessary to protect a minor’s constitutional right to have an abortion. Under the open venue provision, a minor may petition from any county in Texas for a judicial bypass to keep her abortion private. Proposed legislation, such as Texas House Bill 1212, threatens that right by restricting a minor from obtaining a judicial bypass only from the county of her residence. In Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth, the United States Supreme Court held it was constitutional for states to require a minor to obtain parental consent in order to obtain an abortion. Bellotti …

Refusal Clauses & Pro-Life Pharmacists: How Can We Protect Ourselves From Them., Minh N. Nguyen

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The decades long pro-life and pro-choice debate recently broadened to now include controversy over reproductive contraception. This controversy stems from doctors refusing to participate in abortion procedures and other healthcare providers, such as pharmacists, declining to fill prescriptions for oral and emergency contraceptives. Pharmacists all over the United States claim religious and moral grounds for refusing to fill prescriptions from doctors and hospitals. This religious fundamentalism creates more than a minor inconvenience for women. The oral and emergency contraceptives in question include birth control pills and the morning after pill, both of which inhibit a woman’s ability to get pregnant. …

Gagging On A Bad Rule: The Mexico City Policy And Its Effect On Women In Developing Countries., Yvette Aguilar

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The mortality rate of women living in developing countries is often higher due to lack of family planning services and unsafe abortions. The United States has been providing foreign assistance and financial aid since the conclusion of World War II. One example is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which focuses on providing long-range economic and social development support to developing countries. Many nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rely on this aid to fund their programs. However, in 1984, restrictions introduced at the International Conference on Population in Mexico City forbade international planning services which provided or advocated …

Judicial Reasoning And Social Change, David A. Dittfurth

Faculty Articles

Some have begun to doubt whether courts adequately respond to recent social problems. Formulated rules, principles, and statutes govern a case in court, and these commanding communications addressed to judges theoretically guide and control the decision-making process. Rules, although often imprecise, are subjected to the scrutiny of the legal profession, which is trained to interpret their meaning and possible application in different fact situations. This, in turn, promotes a high degree of social and political stability since there is less ambiguity as to what constitutes permissible or required behavior.

Attitudes, social institutions, language, and critical decision making are all factors …