The Clinton Administration's Promotion of Abortion at the 1994 Cairo Conference and the Strength of the Islamic Response
Rumage: Resisting the West: The Clinton Administration's Promotion of Abo CALIFORNIA WESTERN INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL VOLUME 27 FALL 1996 NUMBER 1 RESISTING THE WEST: THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S PROMOTION OF ABORTION AT THE 1994 CAIRO CONFERENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF THE ISLAMIC RESPONSE SARAH A. RUMAGE" "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-that's all."' "Whoever hath an absolute authority to interpret any written or spoken laws, it is he who is truly the lawgiver, to all intents and purposes, and not the person who first spoke or wrote them. "2 INTRODUCTION Who makes the law, and who decides what the law means? For modem lawyers, the true riddle is not in the actors' identification, but whether these are different questions involving different actors, or instead the same question involving the same actors. For theologians, however, the question may even signify the dividing point between God and man. And until quite recently, * B.A., University of Miami (Florida) in anthropology, 1976; J.D., New York Law School, 1982; M.A. in history, 1993; LL.M. Temple University School of Law, 1996; Ph.D. candidate at John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. I wish to thank Professor Fouad Ajami for his helpful comments and encouragement, Professor Imad-Ad-Dean Ahmad for his great patience and critical eye, Professor Robert Gurland for opening the world of philosophical ethics to me, and especially my students at Temple University School of Law, who never failed to make me think.
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