Abortion Debate; Divided Perspectives on Justice
Protesters demonstrate in front of the US Supreme Court during the March For Life in Washington, DC, January 27, 2017
Roe vs wade; 1973 What are the facts about this Supreme Court Decision?
In 1970, Jane Roe (a fictional name used in court documents to protect the plaintiff’s identity) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she resided, challenging a Texas law making abortion illegal except by a doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life. In her lawsuit, Roe alleged that the state laws were unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
This 50 year old legal precedent is now being challenged by a majority draft opinion in the Supreme Court that was leaked to the public. The supreme court’s nine justices met in private Thursday May 12 for the first time since the leak of a draft opinion. There is a conservative majority of justices appointed by Republican Presidents such as George Bush and Donald Trump. For the first time in 50 years the majority of the court agrees that Roe V Wade is unconstitutional. If his opinion is made final then abortion rights in roughly half the states would be removed by state laws. without any Federal protections.
This issue is bigger than abortion because the supreme court usually keeps draft opinions in privacy. This political leak is a sign of corruption and mistrust in government because it was leaked by a trusted person inside the court. They probably wanted extra money and decided to publish this and now the whole society knows about this very controversial opinion which is not good because, like the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, it attacks one of the branches of government.
There has always been debate about this supreme court case because some people don’t just think abortion is wrong but there is some people that believe abortion to be a sin. There is also controversy because the procedure of abortion can be very dangerous and there can be many complications in the process of abortion therefore some people don’t agree with this being something that should be legal or to be something a single person should decide. The difference in opinion is a difference in understanding the right to a woman’s privacy and body to not be regulated by the government and the responsibility to protect human life. People disagree about the beginning of individual human life. Some do not believe that civil rights are necessary for a fetus and others believe that a fetus is a human person with the right to life that is more valuable than the mother’s private choice.
Here are some opinions of politicians. In general, Republicans are on the “Pro Life” side of the debate and Democrats are on the “Pto Choice” side of the debate. LINK
What is your opinion? In my opinion abortion should not be legal because there are many ways to protect yourself from becoming pregnant and unless someone has been sexually assaulted or forced they are the only ones who should be allowed to have an abortion or they can have the baby and give it to adoption. In light of my opinion I found this discussion of the “adoption option”. (LINK)
What I will call the “adoption option” argument is on its surface very appealing. It sounds like a “win-win” solution because the woman needs not keep a child she does not want, and a childless family can rejoice in adopting their miracle baby.
My position stands with people who say abortion should be legal only in cases of rape, abuse, or if the woman’s health is at risk. There’s a lot of ways to protect yourself from becoming pregnant. Unless someone has been sexually assaulted or forced there is no other good reason for an abortion unless the pregnancy itself is a threat to the woman’s life. Even unwanted pregnancies in my opinion can give it to adoption with some suffering , yes, but nothing compared to the decision to end another life.
In the famous case of Roe v. Wade involving abortion, the US supreme court in a 7-2 decision affirms the legality of woman’s right to have an abortion under the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. The state of Alabama is citing religious reasons as to why they refuse to allow woman in the state to receive abortions.
The Supreme court decision is poised to unwind or overturn Roe V. Wade. The president and his administration wants to keep it legal. In some states people want to keep abortion legal for the fact the they believe nobody has the right to tell them what to do with their body.
***The following editorial was submitted by staff journalist Kai***
Roe v. Wade and how it affects women’s rights
Lately there has been a significant movement in America against the legal precedent of Roe v. Wade, which was a case that was decided in the Supreme Court in 1973. The majority opinion of the court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restrictions.
If this case was overturned, it would affect women’s rights in many ways. This is not just about banning abortion, it is more than that, this is a religious movement by many conservative people against women doing what they want with their bodies. If abortion was legalized only in cases of rape or complications in the woman’s pregnancy that will affect her or the baby, this means that the women has no right over her own body unless it was violated or in danger, which invalidates the whole cause for the abortion and women’s rights movements we have had for many years. The overturning of Roe v. Wade encourages this thought of not being in control of your own body because other people don’t like that for religious reasons.
The overturning also can cause many other problems in women’s personal lives, denying abortion can make a women stay in contact with a violent partner or person and more likely also raise the child alone.
Banning or denying abortion can cause homelessness to the parent and the child, it can cause money loss as raising a child in America is not very easy because of how expensive stuff are, whether it is for the parent to buy an apartment, groceries, or fulfill basic needs for the child. Imagine how many women would stay in shelters if it is overturned.
This can also cause depression and anxiety in women who are afraid to get an illegal operation/abortion, that might lead to suicide or harming themselves by trying to have an unsafe abortion at home or by someone who isn’t profesional or authorized.
Since the news of the overturning came out, a lot of birth control companies started selling their products with high expenses.
It might be understandable why some conservative people are against abortion as it is in their belief that live start with the fetus just being formed, but scientifically it is actually still not alive because it is still forming. It would be making more sense if these people stuck with their beliefs and applied them only in their lives and not forced it on others and made decisions for them.
FACTS
https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/abortion.htm
In 2019 a total of 625,346 abortions were reported, the abortion rate 11.4 abortions per 1,000 woman aged 15-44 years.
Perspectives, statistics, and sources:
According to a Women’s Health policy report unsafe abortions occur globally at the highest rates in poor regions with restrictive laws.
http://go.nationalpartnership.org/site/News2?abbr=daily2_&page=NewsArticle&id=21419&security=1201