Abortion: One of the Most Controversial Topics Today
In the early American Colonies, English Common Law was adopted by the United States, which declared abortion forbidden. The procedure was ruled a misdemeanor if performed before quickening, which meant “feeling life,” and a felony if performed after quickening. In the early 1800s, it was discovered that life begins at conception and not when the mother “feels life.” Eighty-five percent of the states had laws that made all abortions a felony. Between the 1800s and today, many arguments have taken place regarding when life begins for a fetus and to what extent the mother has a right to terminate her pregnancy (Fast Facts: History of the U.S. Abortion Laws, 2003). There have been numerous attempts to change the current laws and/or add to them and the majority of these attempts have failed. The most famous law of them all resulted from the case of Roe v. Wade , is still in effect today and forms the basis for abortion laws and arguments.
Important Court Cases
One of the most important dates in abortion history is January 22, 1973. On this date, the Supreme Court struck down all state abortion laws and legalized abortion in all 50 states for the full nine months of pregnancy. A mother’s right to abortion is known as the outcome of Roe v. Wade and falls under a woman’s right to privacy. More specifically, the court ruled that the government could restrict abortion access after the first trimester with laws intended to protect the woman’s health. Also, late-term abortions need the approval of a licensed physician to judge the procedure necessary to protect the mother’s health (Roe v. Wade: The 1973 Supreme Court Decision on State Abortion Laws, 1973) .
According to an article written by Michael W. McConnell, “the reasoning of Roe v. Wade is an embarrassment to those who take constitutional law seriously, even to many scholars who heartily support the outcome of the case (p. 136).” The first reasoning behind the decision is based on the “right of privacy” and that it is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. But the right of privacy is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution, as many would agree. Connell says that judges have found at least the roots of that right in the First Amendment, Ninth Amendment, ...
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... No one ever thinks that rape will happen to them, but if it did, your decision now and your decision at that time may be different. Ultimately, should a woman have the right to choose between terminating her pregnancy and a potential life, or continuing with the pregnancy?
Bibliography
Fast Facts: History of U.S. Abortion Laws. (2003, January 21). FoxNews Channel Online. Retrieved February 12, 2005, from http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,881,00.html
McConnell, Michael M. (1998). Roe v. Wade at Twenty-Five: Still Legitimate. In R. M. Baird (Ed.), The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice (pp. 135-138). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Roe v. Wade: The 1973 Supreme Court Decision on State Abortion Laws. (1973). In R. M. Baird (Ed.), The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice (pp. 63-72). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. (1971). A Defense of Abortion. In R. M. Baird (Ed.), The Ethicds of Abortion: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice (pp. 241-256). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. (1989). In R. M. Baird (Ed.), The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice (pp. 73-92)., Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Abortion laws first developed in the 1820’s within the United States. These laws were forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy (2). By the 1900’s, the American Medical Association and legislators outlawed the act of abortions and by 1965 abortion was banned in all 50 states(3). In 1973, the permissibility of “abortion” was innate with the proceedings of Texas’s “Roe v. Wade”. [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] which was the most consequential legal juncture on abortion.
Milbauer, Barbara. The Law Giveth: Legal Aspects of the Abortion Controversy. Atheneum, New York: 1983.
Works Cited Warren, Mary Anne. On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion. Trans. Array Exploring Ethics: An Introductory Anthology. . 2 nd.
" Abortion and the Constitution: Reversing Roe v. Wade Through the Courts. Horan, Grant, Cunningham, eds., pp. 113-117. Washington, D.C. - The. : Georgetown University Press, 1987.
No other element of the Women’s Rights Movement has generated as much controversy as the debate over reproductive rights. As the movement gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning and the repeal of all abortion laws. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision which declared abortion "fundamental right.” The ruling recognized the right of the individual “to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (US Supreme Court, 1973) This federal-level ruling took effect, legalizing abortion for all women nationwide.
Warren, M. A. (1973) 'On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion', Monist, vol. 57, no. 1.
The case that I decided to write about is one of the most controversial cases that have ever happened in the United States. The Roe v. Wade (1973) case decided that a woman with her doctor could choose to have an abortion during the early months of that pregnancy. However, if the woman chose to wait until the later months of the pregnancy then they would have certain restrictions based on their right to privacy. This case invalidated all state laws which limited women’s access to abortions during their first trimester of their pregnancy which was based on the Ninth Amendment of the Constitution. The Amendment states that “the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” (Cornell University Law School, 2013).
Wade by NEH Hull and Peter Charles Hoffer they state “thus before abortion because the object of law it was a subject of everyday life” (Hull & Hoffer 12). Meaning that any female that found out she was pregnant was able to get an abortion but then suffered the consequences of something going wrong. In the United States around eighteen hundred abortions became illegal, due to the lack of medical education, procedures and surgeries because they were very dangerous. As time came later medical advancements were made but women still had to rely on the back alley abortions which resulted in harming thousands of women. Abortion or premature termination of pregnancy can be accidental or on purpose. Both types of abortions can be legal or illegal. If the ongoing pregnancy becomes a medical threat, abortion is not illegal. Legal developments along with health care services are intertwined with each other. The American Medical Association stated that abortions were wrong and unsafe which made the National Abortion Federation make abortion into a “physicians- only” practice because they could be performed legally in order to save a women’s life. (National Abortion Federation NAF) It wasn’t until 1973 that abortions were made legal in the United States due to the “Supreme Court’s decision in Roe vs. Wade ruling that Americans’ right to privacy included the right of a woman to decide whether to have children, and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state interference” (NAF). In 1965, almost 300 deaths occurred due to illegal abortions, and of all pregnancy-related complications in New York and California, 20% were due to abortions. “If the US Supreme Court found constitutional grounds to extend the birth control cases’ logic that women’s bodies belonged to the women themselves, the concept of choice would become a core value in constitutional law.” (Hull & Hoffer
Have you ever wondered how abortion came to be legal? It was decided in the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade. The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was a major landmark in not only the abortion issue, but also in American government.
Abortion cannot be discussed unless you know the origin of the debate. In December 13, 1971, the argument of abortion surfaced (“Roe v. wade,”). The class action suit was brought by a pregnant single woman who challenged the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother’s life (“Roe v. wade,”). Proceeding Roe v. Wade, abortion was illegal in almost every State. In 1973, the courts ruled and abortion became legal again.
Hinman, Lawrence. “Abortion: A Guide to the Ethical Issues.” May 13, 2010. University of San
The Roe vs. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy. It invalidated all state laws limiting women's access to abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy based on the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights. The Court's decision in this case was that the Ninth Amendment, "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," protected a person's right to privacy.
Abortion was declared as a nationwide fundamental right by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. The court argued in the 1973 “Roe versus Wade” case that the 14th Amendment extended to a
Warren, Mary Anne , and Mappes and D. DeGrazia. "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion." Biomedical Ethics 4th (1996): 434-440. Print.
Baird, Robert M., and Stuart E. Rosenbaum. The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-life vs. Pro-choice. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, 1989. Print.