On December 30, 2016, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the phrase “minor child” in the state’s Wrongful Death Act includes a pre-viable fetus. Justice Parker’s special concurrence noted that Alabama law generally protects the unborn from the moment of conception, and that “[t]he fact that life begins at conception is beyond refutation.” Justice Parker noted, as he had in prior opinions, that the viability standard set forth in Roe v. Wade is incoherent, especially as applied to wrongful death law.
Here is a link to an article of mine entitled “Re-reading Roe v. Wade.” In that article, I explained that Roe v. Wade, despite its undeniable importance, is an outlier in many respects. Decisions such as this help to affirm the humanity of the unborn and serve to undermine Roe v. Wade.
Here and here are links to stories on the Alabama decision from LifeNews and LifeSiteNews.
Richard Myers
Richard S. Myers, the Vice-President of UFL, is Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law, where he teaches Antitrust, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, and Religious Freedom. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Kenyon College and earned his law degree at Notre Dame, where he won the law school's highest academic prize. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge John F. Kilkenny of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Myers also worked for Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. He taught at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law before joining the Ave Maria faculty. He is a co-editor of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition: Contemporary Perspectives (Catholic University of American Press, 2004) and a co-editor of Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy (Scarecrow Press, 2007). He has also published extensively on constitutional law in law reviews and also testified before Congressional and state legislative hearings on life issues.
Married to Mollie Murphy, who is also on the faculty at Ave Maria School of Law, they are the proud parents of six children - Michael, Patrick, Clare, Kathleen, Matthew, and Andrew. http://www.avemarialaw.edu/index.cfm?event=faculty.bio&pid=11705E7D4E0111010366
