A jurisprudence of doubt: The Roberts Court and the future of abortion in the United States

The combination of the presidential election cycle, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision on abortion, Roe v Wade and the continued opposition to Roe within the populace and within state legislatures, all but guarantee that 2008 will see a resurgence of this issue in the American public debate. What if the current Supreme Court of the United States were to rule on the question of whether Roe should be upheld or overruled? What would they decide? A study of the individual justices\u27 previous decisions, public speeches and writings, and policy preferences leads one to believe that Roe will not be overturned. This thesis will provide a history of the issue, explain the justices\u27 likely votes and their justifications for doing so, and how such a decision is likely to impact the abortion debate and social policy in the United States in the foreseeable future