“Natural Law and the US Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade” is a critical examination of US Supreme Court cases since the Roe v. Wade decision in light of natural law reasoning and principles. It incisively reviews textual opinions of the various justices and attempts to discern the influence of natural law jurisprudence on modern-day decisions.

Since America’s founding, natural law principles play a critical role in the development of rights and human dignity. Commencing with the notion that rights are derived from a higher, metaphysical power over mere promulgation and human legislation, the natural law advocate sees law and human rights in the context of a more perpetual and perennial philosophy. Coupled with this is the view that natural law provides a series of undeniable precepts for human operations or a natural prescription for human life based on the natural order.

Hence early court cases tend to emphasize the “natural” versus the unnatural and just as compellingly argue that the natural order, aligned with the eternal law, delivers a measure for human action. Earlier US Supreme Court cases often use this sort of language in granting or denying rights in certain human activity. As a result, a survey of some of the most significant landmark cases from the Supreme Court are assessed in Natural Law Jurisprudence in U.S. Supreme Court Cases since “Roe v. Wade” and, by implication, those cases which seem to disregard these fundamental principles, such as the slavery decisions, are highlighted.

Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. A Short Summary of the Natural Law Tradition Natural Law Predecessors: A Short History; 2. The Content and Substance of the Natural Law Natural Law Jurisprudence and Its Principles; 3. Natural Law and Abortion: A Post- Roe Evaluation Background and History; 4. Natural Law and the Supreme Court: Sexuality, Sexual Attraction and Procreation; 5. Natural Law and the Supreme Court: Suicide, Euthanasia and Mercy Killing; 6. Natural Law, Religious Expression and the Freedom to Believe; Index.

“Natural Law and the US Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade” examines US Supreme Court cases which highlight, feature and illuminate some facet of natural law reasoning since the court’s decree in Roe v. Wade. For most of our constitutional and legal history, there has been an exhilarating debate about whether natural law that commands or encourages certain legal resolutions––even from the time of the Founders. Most would concur that the legal philosophy of Jefferson and other Founders favored a natural law basis for this republic and its corresponding rights. And while the proposed text accepts that the concept and understanding of natural law reasoning has both supporters and detractors in contemporary settings, earlier Supreme Court rulings on controversial subject matter used natural law language with regularity. Since the 1970s, the idea of a perennial, immutable and unassailable natural law has lost favor. And given the recent surge in controversial case laws and conflicting decisions on highly charged topics, a return to first principles grounded in nature and natural law might be beneficial. Indeed, the proposed research hopes to gauge its current relevancy, usage and reliance in more modern judicial cases.