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Roe vs wade essay abortion
History of abortion laws and pertinent court cases
Roe vs wade essay abortion
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Abortion is a topic that many don’t want to discuss. It’s a very personal decision that many women have to make each day, but in certain states, getting an abortion was becoming an even more difficult process. Not only did women have to decide to get an abortion that alone is a difficult choice, they now had to wait 24 hours, minors had to get consent, and/or inform the father of the child. But after all of this process, what if a woman couldn’t receive all of this? Would she be denied her right to get an abortion? The Supreme Court case, Planned Parenthood of PA v. Casey, wasn’t known for what it did, but mainly for what it did not do, which was not overruling Roe v. Wade, but reaffirming a woman’s right to an abortion; it questioned a state’s right to impose or place an “undue burden” on women. Planned Parenthood of PA v. Casey was argued on April 22, 1992 and the official decision was reached on June 29, 1992. The case dealt with a couple of “hot topics” including privacy and abortion. At the time, Pennsylvania had made a new abortion control law in 1988 and it was finalized in 1989. This law required all women to get informed consent and wait twenty-four hours before they were allowed to get an abortion. As for minors, they had to also get the consent of one parent/legal guardian and married women had to indicate that her spouse knew about her decision. However, after the provision was made, many physicians as well as abortion clinics challenged it, they did not feel that it was right for the state to have so much power over a woman’s body, when Roe v. Wade, gave a woman a right to an abortion. Soon after all the commotion of the case, a federal appeals court decided to uphold all requirements except they decided to get rid... ... middle of paper ... ...1971_70_18>. Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . “Teenage Abortion and Pregnancy Statistics by State,1992.” Guttmacher Institute. N.p., 1996-2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . “10 Arguments in Favor of Pro-Choice Policy.” Advocates for Youth. N.p., 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . “The US Constitution: 14th Amendment.” The 14th Amendment. N.p., n.d. . Rpt. in The U.S. Constitution. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The 14th Amendment. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .
Friedman, L. S. (2010). What Is the State of Civil Liberties in the United States?. Civil liberties (pp. 11-49). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
On June 7th 1965, married couples in the State of Connecticut received the right to acquire and benefit from contraceptive devises. In a majority decision by the United States Supreme Court, seven out of the nine judges believed that sections 53-32 and 54-196 of the General Statues of Connecticut , violated the right of privacy guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The case set precedence by establishing marital (and later constitutional) privacy, and had notable influence on three later controversial ruling=s in Roe v. Wade (1973), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) and Planned Parenthood of S.E. Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992) . The issue at hand was, and is still, one that still causes debate, wether a state has the authority to restrict the use and sale of contraceptives. Though it is not contraceptives, anymore, that is at the heart of the abortion debate, this ruling was the first step to the expectation of constitutional privacy.
O’Connor wrote the majority opinion for this case. It involved multiple points of contention, the main being if the Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act protects the health and rights of minors, and the collateral being if Planned Parenthood of Northern New England could challenge the constitutionality of the bill before it became effective (oyez.org, 2012) as well as how the Supreme Court should treat a bill that consisted of a perfectly acceptable framework, with minor flaws. As with most simi...
In the case, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Pennsylvania law required an informed consent and a twenty-four-hour waiting period before an abortion could be performed, parental or judicial consent for minors, spousal notification, and comprehensive record keeping and reporting. Many clinics challenged the Pennsylvania law after it went in affect. However, in a controversial decision, the clinics appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme court in a 5-4 decision reaffirmed Roe, but it upheld most of the Pennsylvania provisions, except for the husband notification. For the first time, the justices imposed a new standard to determine the validity of laws restricting abortions. The new standard asks whether a state abortion regulation has the purpose or effect of imposing an "undue burden," which is defined as a "substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability." Under this standard, the only provision to fail the undue-burden test was the husband notification requirement.
Palmer, Louis J. Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States McFarland & Company, Inc. 2002
The historic case of Roe v. Wade was a pivotal case that changed the way the court system viewed a woman’s reproductive rights. To this day the topic of abortion has people torn between the legal rights of the woman and her right to choose what to do with her own body. This side is known as the pro- choice side. The other side of the debate wants to protect the moral rights of the fetus stating that the unborn child must have rights as well. The hard thing to do was to determine for some is when the life of the fetus can be considered a living person with rights. The state of Texas that was arguing on the rights for the fetus also known as the pro-life side. The state believed that the unborn child should have rights to life. For this reason
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.
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).
Pendergast, Tom, Et Al. Constitutional Amendments: From Freedom of Speech to Flag Burning. N.p.: UXL, 2001. Print.
Planned Parenthood had challenged the laws in all three states and was said to be gratified by the decisions. “We are pleased with these rulings because they protect women’s health from being sacrificed to a dishonest campaign to demonize a safe and medically necessary procedure.” Planned Parenthood continued," And we are reminded again, as all Americans should be, of the importance of a fair-minded and independent federal judiciary.”
The history of how abortion became legal was in the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade case in 1973. Before that the practice of abortion was illegal unless a women’s health was in danger and the doctor allowed an option of abortion to end her pregnancy. The doctor would then go ahead with the procedure without the law being violated. Jane Roe who was an unmarried woman from Texas initiated a federal action against the county’s district Attorney. She argued that her right to an abortion violated the provisions of the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. She wanted to end her pregnancy with a professional and licensed practitioner under a safe environment. She was not able to get a legal abortion in Texas because her life was not in any danger from the pregnancy. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor and therefore legalized abortion, because “an individual’s right to privacy included a woman’s right to abort her fetus, if she desired or it was deemed medically necessary” (). Women were now allowed to have an abortion within the first six months of her pregnancy without any reason. The court also stated that “the right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendments’ reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying her choice altogether is apparent” (). The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment banned a state from denying an abortion since the amendment states “no state shall make of en...
The 1973 Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe vs. Wade is the foundation for our current abortion policy as well as the cause of so much controversy today. Though always an issue, nothing prior can compare to the momentum that it has now. In the span of 30 years since the ruling, the combination of science, morals and religion have spun off numerous sub-issues to the effect that people have been left either aligned to one side of the argument, or caught in the middle, unable to choose. The key issue at hand is whether the 1973 ruling of Roe vs. Wade should be upheld or should all abortions be illegal. The issue is so divisive because abortion brings up closely related but unresolved moral issues, and tries to bring a legal answer to them. The consequences would be monumental for those who have a stake in a resulting decision. Women’s rights, first and foremost, would be affected because many women in the pro-choice movement believe this decision is a reflection of the amount of power the government should have over the individual, women in particular. They would take the results as a major setback in the women’s rights movement should abortion become illegal. Pro-life groups see this as a moral debate over life, with the elimination of abortion meaning that the fetus has been recognized as a living human being with rights like any other. Religious advocates, particularly those siding with the pro-life movement see the attitude towards abortion as a reflection of sexual permissiveness in the American people. As for the American people themselves, while having strong feelings about abortion, are not ready or willing to get rid of it. Though both sides push for common things like better sex education for th...
Perhaps one of the most controversial issues debated between lawmakers and legislatures is abortion. Disputes concerning abortion began during the 1820s. By 1965, with a few exceptions, abortion had been made illegal in all states. Abortions were only permitted when the fetus was deformed, or if birth of the baby would harm the mother’s life. All of this changed however in 1973 during the landmark Supreme Court Case of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion. The Supreme Court recognized that it is solely a mother’s choice whether to become a parent. The court also recognized that an issue as significant as child bearing warrants the highest level of constitutional protection. According to the Court, a state’s interest in potential life is not “compelling” until there is a status of viability—the point in pregnancy at which there is a reasonable possibility for the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the womb. The Court also affirmed that the right to privacy is not absolute and that a state does have a valid interest in safeguarding maternal health, maintaining medical standards, and protecting potential health. Under the Court’s decision, a state may, but is not required to prohibit abortion after viability, except when it is necessary to protect a women’s life or health.
Abortion has been a complex social issue in the United States ever since restrictive abortion laws began to appear in the 1820s. By 1965, abortions had been outlawed in the U.S., although they continued illegally; about one million abortions per year were estimated to have occurred in the 1960s. (Krannich 366) Ultimately, in the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women had the right to privacy and could make an individual choice on whether or not to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Yishai 213)