Roe v. Wade
There really cannot be a discussion about being pro-life or the pro-life movement without first discussing Roe v. Wade. This monumental Supreme Court Case, which was decided over forty years ago, is what has put the pro-life, pro-choice debate front and center. Some have even said that the two sides are “ensnared in a violent and deadly war” (Tomlin, 1994, 423). With the decision the pro-lifer’s were now in opposition to the status quo, while putting “pro-choicers within the established law” (Vanderford, 1989, 167). The case originally had its origins four years before the final decision in 1973. Norma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe, was the anonymous plaintiff in this case. She had become pregnant, and had been unable to obtain an illegal abortion. McCorvey was refereed to two young female Texan attorneys who eventually brought the case forward in 1969, when they decided to challenge Texas’ abortion ban (Munson, 2009, 83).
Initially the lawyers just wanted Texas to loosen their abortion laws. Many other states during this time period had already liberalized their state abortion laws- Texas was just looking to follow along with them. They filed their federal class-action lawsuit against a local district attorney named Henry Wade. The lawsuit was filed on the foundation that the Texas law, which banned abortions, was unconstitutional. The initial response from the federal court that had jurisdiction over Texas was mixed. The lawyers appealed their case to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments started in 1971. The Supreme Court issued their decision on 22 January 1973. The decision was 7-2, and it surprised many Americans by eliminating “restrictions on first-trimester abortions” (Freeman, 2009, 25). Essentially the highest ...
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...ade,” Accessed 22 February 2014. http://rt.com/usa/state-abortion-restrictions-unprecedented-108/ Shields, Jon A. 2013. “Roe’s pro-life legacy.” First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (229): 22.
Tomlin, Christopher W. 1994. “The Reign of Terror: The Judiciary's Inability to Stop Anti-Abortion Violence Forces Congress Back to the Drawing Board.” Law and Psychology Review 18 : 423-39.
Vanderford, Marsha L. 1989. “Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 75 (2): 166.
Wardle, Lynn D. 1985. “Rethinking Roe v. Wade.” Brigham Young University Law Review 1985 (2): 231.
World Tribune. 2014. “How the pro-life movement is winning American hearts and minds.” Accessed March 19, 2014. http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/01/25/how-the-pro-life-movement-is-winning-american-hearts-and-minds/
Milbauer, Barbara. The Law Giveth: Legal Aspects of the Abortion Controversy. Atheneum, New York: 1983.
Nathanson, Dr. Bernard. "Reflections of the Abortion King." In Back to the Drawing Board: The Future of the Pro-Life Movement, by Teresa R Wagner, 76-81. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine's, 2003.
"Background on Abortion." OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. On The Issues.org. Web. 23 July 2011. .
" 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.
At the same that the fetus is achieving minority status, the pro-life ideology is also placing its fate into the tale of our nation, making protection of the fetus crucial to the country's future. "Since we "are" what we have always "done," we violate our true selves if we act in ways that are different" (Condit, 44).
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.
In 1973, in what has become a landmark ruling for women’s rights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a woman’s right to an abortion. Ever since, individual states have adopted, altered, and/or mutilated the edict to fit their agendas – Texas included. However, the decision made by the justices in Roe v. Wade didn’t set clear cut, inarguable demarcation lines, which has allowed the fiery debate to consume the nation. Rather than establishing a legal ruling of what life is, or is not, the Supreme Court has remained silent on the issue.
Palmer, Gary. “Roe V. Wade Exposed. 22 Jan. 2003. Alabama Policy Institute. 31 July 2004. < http://www.alabamapolicyinstitute.org/gary-2003-1-22.html>.
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.
... The Web. The Web. 18 Mar. 2010. http://www.christianaction.org.za/articles/10rguments.htm>. “Roe v. Wade.”
In 1971, Norma McCorvey or Jane Roe, filled a case against the district attorney of Dallas County, Henry Wade, because he enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion unless the abortion was needed medically, to save the mother’s life. Being a single, pregnant woman , Roe did not have the choice to have an abortion because the pregnancy was not endangering her life. Plus, Roe could not afford to travel to have the operation done safely. As a result, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, two lawyers that graduated from the University of Texas Law School, claimed a lawsuit against the abortion laws in Texas because they violated Roe’s constitutional rights. Besides Roe’s two laywers, Hallford, a licensed physician, and a childless married couple known as the Does supported Roe’s case. The lawsuit against Wade was filed in a Texas Federal Court. The Texas Federal Court heard the case on December 13th, 1971 and again, on October 11th, 1972. After the examination of Weddington and Coffee’s argument against Jay Floyd’s, the lawyer for Wade during the first argument, and Robert C. Flower’s, the lawyer for Texas in the second argument, the court ruled in Roe’s favor by claiming that the law did violate the Constitution. Consequently, Wade appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before abortions became legal, women felt the need to turn to someone for an abortion that was not sanitary or performed the correct way, many either died or left extremely ill. One specific woman felt the need to bring to everyone’s attention, that she should have the right to abort her baby if she wanted to. She fought for her right and many stood behind her and supported her. The case Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in 1973. Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe, fought for women’s rights against the state of Texas on two different occasions. Roe v. Wade made a huge impact to women around the country, by legalizing safe and reliable abortions.
After the ruling of Roe v. Wade, Pro-life supporters were faced with a decision; to keep fighting for fetal rights, or to succumb to the secularization movement that had been building for the past fifty years in America. Even under great scrutiny, the pro - life movement continued to fight using the Human life amendment, political action committees, and working tirelessly to elect pro-life supporters to government positions.
Warren, Mary Anne , and Mappes and D. DeGrazia. "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion." Biomedical Ethics 4th (1996): 434-440. Print.
In this evaluation, the sources used include a video, articles, and a pamphlet. Two of these sources-- The Facts Speak Louder than ?The Silent Scream?, a pamphlet published by Planned Parenthood in 1985, and a Chicago Tribune article, "Timeline of abortion laws and events."--are evaluated for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations. However, this historical investigation will not evaluate the effects of conservatism in relation to any issues outside of abortion. Likewise, the years before 1960 and after 1999 will not be factored into the evaluation of the question.