Professor Thomas J. Molony writes in a July 5 commentary how constitutional limitations and case law may prohibit federal efforts to guarantee abortion access in states that ban the procedure.
An Elon Law professor outlined federal case law and how he concludes the U.S. Constitution does not authorize Congress to overrule state restrictions on abortion access in a July 5 column published by the Wall Street Journal.
Professor Thomas J. Molony’s “Congress Can’t ‘Codify Roe v. Wade’” looks specifically at prior Supreme Court rulings on Section 5 of the 14th Amendment as well as Article I’s Commerce Clause to explain why federal legislation that guarantees abortion access likely wouldn’t survive legal challenges.
The Wall Street Journal published the column a little more than a week after the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In it, the Court struck down the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that until now had limited the ability of states to outright prohibit abortion access.
“The Constitution doesn’t empower Congress to force states to allow abortion against their wishes,” Molony concludes in his column. “What Mr. Biden said about the Covid pandemic applies to legislating abortion rights: ‘There is no federal solution.'”
At Elon Law, Molony has taught courses in business associations, contracts, secured transactions, international business and securities regulations. His scholarship has appeared in the Loyola Law Review, the Washington and Lee Law Review, the Florida Law Review, and the Santa Clara Law Review, among other publications.
“Taking Another Look at the Call on the Field: Roe, Chief Justice Roberts, and Stare Decisis”, an article Molony authored in 2020 for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, foreshadowed Chief Justice John Roberts’ concurring opinion in the Dobbs decision.
Molony joined the Elon Law faculty after practicing law with the Charlotte firm of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson. His practice focused on corporate and commercial law, public finance and bankruptcy.
In his service to Elon Law and the state legal profession, Molony has regularly contributed “Business Law Developments” in Notes Bearing Interest, a publication of the North Carolina Bar Association, and he has served as faculty advisor to the School of Law Honor Council.