Abortion and Undue Burdens

Abstract

This essay argues that Sandra Day O'Connor's moral reasoning concerning abortion cases represents a female-associated jurisprudence. A female-associated jurisprudence negotiates a moral ground that values the rights of individuals as interdependent members of communities. From the recognition of the need to balance such interests emerges a jurisprudence that emphasizes the interconnectedness of all parties and all competing interests in a dispute.. In articulating "undue burden" standard for evaluating abortion cases, Justice O'Connor has identified an approach to legal decision-making that accomodates difference, contextualizes the law, and resists oversimplification of complex issues.