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Article: Law, Children and the
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Law, Children and the
As British colonists began peopling North America, political philosopher Thomas Hobbes voiced the stark traditional English view of the legal status of children: "For the child like the imbecile and the crazed beast there is no law." Over three hundred years later, United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun reached a very different conclusion. In a decision that granted a minor the right to an abortion without parental consent, Blackmun asserted: "Constitutional rights do not mature and come into being magically only when one attains the state-defined age of majority. Minors, as well as adults, are protected by the Constitution and possess constitutional ...