Abortion in the United States

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)

There have been many debates over abortion. One of the more famous acts in history about abortion is Roe vs. Wade on January 22, 1973. In this case the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions. This includes the decision to have an abortion without interference from politics and regulations, or religion. Therefore, a state may not ban abortion prior to viability.

U.S. Supreme Court stands firm on the idea of restricting a woman 's right to an abortion to the individual state. Forty-three states ban abortions after a certain time period in a woman’s pregnancy. Nineteen of those states prohibits abortions at fetal viability, while three states ban the procedure in the third trimester and the last twenty-two prohibits after twenty weeks’ post-fertilization. Some of these bans have exceptions when the procedure preserves the health or life of the mother (Guttmacher Institute). The remaining states attract the most patients from across the nation and around

U.S. Supreme Court stands firm on the idea of restricting a woman 's right to an abortion according to the individual state. Forty-three states ban abortions after a certain time period in pregnancy. Nineteen of those states prohibits abortions at fetal viability, while three states ban the procedure in the third

However, everything that was ruled by Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case was contradicted, In1992, the Supreme court case “...Planned Parenthood V. Casey that said an abortion regulation was unconstitutional if it had 'the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.'” (Levy). This court ruled that the states had the right to restrict a woman's right to an abortion and prohibit public funding for the poor women that can not afford an abortion.

Before the 1973 ruling of the case of Roe v Wade, the estimated average number of illegal abortions every year ranged from 200,000 to 1.5 million. The methods used were violently dangerous including women ingesting toxic substances such as bleach and detergents which often times was ineffective. Women around the country were concerned that the anti-abortion laws conflicted with a person’s right to privacy and equal protection given by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. Gale University’s William Sullivan explains ”The right to abort unborn children is not specifically protected by the Constitution, and prior to 1973, abortion legislation had been understood to be limited to the power of the states per the Tenth

In the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Casey fought against the state of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Abortion Control act. The restrictions required the woman to give a written informed consent, seek parental consent if she was a minor, and notify her husband if she married. With the same violation of the fourteenth amendment as the Roe v. Wade case, the courts saw favour to Casey. While the majority of the restrictions were supported by the courts, the requirement of the husband’s notification was not. The result of this case added support of the decision of Roe

The section of the law mandates that abortion doctors ought to have registration at a standing hospital in case of an emergency. However, organizations have filed suit against the enactment of the law before it came into action on October 29, 2013, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and clinic owners (“American Civil Liberties”). Based on Erik Eckholm’s New York Times article “Judge in Texas Partly Rejects Abortion Law,” once the law was taken into court, Judge Lee Yeakel of United States District Court in Austin, Texas blocked part of the law based on "the act's admitting-privileges provision is without a rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.” Although the majority of Texans stands against abortion they still ought to respect women’s reproductive rights.

While the fight to legalize abortion, for reasons other than a mothers health concerns, was won, states such as Texas are now reconsidering the regulations, which go along with such right. In 2004 the State of Texas introduced the Woman’s Right to Know Act, which “requires that all abortions at or after 16 weeks’ gestation be performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC)” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775). Roe V Wade’s Supreme Court decision makes it federal law that abortion be legal, therefore the state of Texas cannot make a law specifically prohibiting abortions around this time. However, they can implement acts such as the one discussed above to hinder a women’s access to such rights. By implementing the Woman’s Right to Know Act, the state of Texas is allowing abortion, however it makes access to it within the state of Texas out of reach for the majority of women. In the time following the effect of this law “not one of Texas’s 54 nonhospital abortion providers met the requirements of a surgical center” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775. Following that, a

In the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade a pregnant women, Norma McCorvey (also known as “Jane Roe”) seeked to end her pregnancy. Through the fight of the court, it was declared that most state anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional. However, many rules were set into place. In the first trimester of pregnancy (0-12 weeks), states could not interfere with any abortion. During the second semester (13-28 weeks) states could allow a regulated abortion in ways that are related to mental health or even a proscribed abortion. Within the third trimester (29-40 weeks) a women can only get an abortion if it is to preserve the health or life of the mother. Alongside Roe v. Wade, in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA v. Casey, the court ruled that a state could require a woman seeking an abortion to give informed consent and to wait 24 hours and in the case of a minor they need to obtain parental consent (Ayers). Throughout abortions long history of pro-choice and pro-life, modern society needs to be fully educated on the topic so they can see how terrible pro-choice is.

Planned parenthood V Casey: An abortion law required informed consent as well as a 24 hour waiting period prior to any abortion procedure in Pennsylvania. Any married woman had to state that her husband was in fact knowledgeable of this intention. Additionally, any minor seeking an abortion requires the consent of a parent. These laws were challenged by many clinics specializing in abortion, as well as many doctors. An appellate court upheld all of these stipulations with the exclusion of the married woman.

In 1973, Roe v. Wade ruled a state law that banned abortions, except in the cases of risking the life of the mother, unconstitutional (Garrow 833). The Court ruled that states were forbidden from regulating or outlawing abortion performed during the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy, could pass abortion regulations if they were related to the health of the mother in the second and third trimesters, and pass abortion laws protecting the life of the fetus in the third trimester (Paltrow 18). However, the primary concern would remain to be the mother’s health, regardless. Roe v. Wade, controversial since it was decided, divided America and continues to spark debates,

The issue of abortion is one of the most controversial topics of our time, but recently the amount of public interest has grown exponentially. A number of bills regarding this policy issue such as Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 and Child Interstate Notification Act have both greatly influenced the public’s opinion of abortion. Although, the issue of abortion hasn’t always been like this; according to Timeline of Abortion Laws and Events, an article from the Chicago Tribune, “The earliest anti-abortion laws were intended to protect women from untrained abortionists.” (Timeline) Since the 1973 passing of the Supreme Court Case, Roe V Wade, women have been able to obtain the abortion procedure in all 50 states, 46 of which were

In 1973, the Supreme Court made a decision in one of the most controversial cases in history, the case of Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)), in which abortion was legalized and state anti-abortion statues were struck down for being unconstitutional. This essay will provide a brief history and analysis of the issues of this case for both the woman’s rights and the states interest in the matter. Also, this essay will address the basis for the court ruling in Roe’s favor and the effects this decision has had on subsequent cases involving a woman’s right to choose abortion in the United States. The court’s decision created legal precedent for several subsequent abortion restriction cases and has led to the development of legislation to protect women’s health rights. Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was a historic victory for women’s rights, it is still an extremely controversial subject today and continues to be challenged by various groups.

In Casey, the plurality opinion began with the pronouncement, “[l]iberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt.” Ironically, the ensuing holding failed to create a clear standard for abortion laws, thereby guaranteeing decades of continued doubt about how severely states may regulate before they cross the “undue burden” line. In the decades following the Court’s decision in Casey, states have aggressively pushed back against abortion rights by passing a host of ever more restrictive statutes. With the new focus on women’s “right to know” as opposed to the fetus’s “right to life,” anti-abortion activists have found increased success in the battleground over abortion access. By holding that there must be some limit on what the state can