Justice Scalia defends 'originalist' view of constitution

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Friday in a speech at the University of Delaware said that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that effectively barred state abortion bans, is not a precedent he is willing to accept, the Wilmington News Journal reports.

"When you give the court the power to insert new rights, you also give it the power to take out old rights," he said, adding, "The right to abortion on the part of a woman is the end of the right to live on the part of the fetus" (Miller, Wilmington News Journal , 4/28).

According to the AP/Washington Examiner, Scalia defended his "originalist" approach to interpreting the Constitution, saying that the document should not be subject to change based on the norms of society. He added that if U.S. citizens want to secure new constitutional rights, they should look to the legislative branch, not the Supreme Court. "The Constitution is not a living organism," Scalia said, adding, "It's a legal document." Several opponents and supporters of abortion rights staged silent demonstrations outside the theater where Scalia spoke, the AP/Examiner reports (Chase, AP/Washington Examiner , 4/27).