Restrictions On Abortion Essay

By the 1960’s, states began to reconsider the legalization of abortion in response to the high rate of hospital admissions resulting from illegal abortions and a change in public opinion (“Abortion in Law, History, and Religion”). By the early 1970’s, 17 states had altered their abortion laws towards liberalization (“Abortion in Law, History, and Religion”). In 1973, the Supreme Court declared in Roe vs. Wade that most existing state laws were unconstitutional. The case ruled out any legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on what restrictions could be passed on abortions in later stages of pregnancy (Sauer).

The district court ruled in McCorvey’s favor on the merits, but didn’t grand an injunction against the enforcement of the laws barring abortion. The courts decision was based upon the Ninth Amendment.

They also stated that the fetus wasn’t a life until the first trimester of pregnancy. Due to this case and the ruling of it all states have legalized abortion.

The Roe v. Wade law disallowed abortion by fabricated means aside from when the mother's life was in jeopardy. The act was translated as a “nearly complete ban on abortion.” (Hoffer, Peter. Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History, 2nd Edition (Landmark Law Cases and American Society. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. 2010. Print.) Roe believed that a woman had the right to end her pregnancy, while wade believed that our State had a responsibility to defend that unborn child . Disputed from the point it was discharged, Roe v. Wade politically separated the country tremendously, and keeps on to inspire intense discussions, legislative issues, and even brutality today.

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)

The ruling of Roe v. Wade included three key ideas. The first key idea was that women had the right to choose to have an abortion during the stage of pregnancy when the fetus had little chance of survival outside the womb and that women were able to obtain an abortion within unreasonable interferences from the state. The second idea confirmed a state’s power to restrict abortions when a fetus could live outside the womb, except in the case when the mother’s life was at risk. The final key idea that was decided in the ruling was that the state has interests in both the health of the women and the life of the fetus (Brannen and Hanes, 2001).

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.

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.

It states in the decision of Roe v. Wade that, “The constitution does not define “person” in so many words” (http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ 18). The amendment discusses “person” 3 times in it, but it does not indicate that it has any possible pre-natal relevance; this is what made the abortion issue so hard. The state court ruled in favor of Roe, but the verdict was not strong enough to change the arrest of abortion doctors in Texas because the exact part that dealt with the right to privacy could not be decided

In the case of Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court outlawed any state laws to restrict a woman's right to an abortion at any point in her pregnancy.

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.

Proponents of punishing pregnant women, who put their fetuses at risk, have highlighted some pertinent legal and ethical issues. One is that a viable fetus (fetus after 27 weeks gestation) has certain rights and privileges. They are of the opinion that as soon as the fetus is viable and can survive independently from it mother, it becomes a

In 1992, Roe v. Wade was upheld in Casey v. Planned Parenthood. However, the Supreme Court had become significantly more conservative in that time, and this ruling favored the states‘ rights to establish tighter abortion restrictions. In Pennsylvania, women were only permitted first trimester abortions if they had been given information about the fetus’s gestational state and the dangers of having the procedure. A married women was also required to inform her husband prior to having the abortion, and minors had to seek approval from at least one parent unless given a legal bypass. On top of these restrictions, there was also a mandatory 24-hour waiting period (McBride, “Casey v. Planned Parenthood”).

I found a interesting article created March 4th 1986 in volume 95, The Yale Law Journal. I chose to do this web report on "Roes Trimester approach" definition from Chapter 11. Roes trimester approach is the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court that implies during the first trimester of pregnancy the public or state interest is limited to that of the pregnant woman; in the second trimester states may regulate abortion but only for purpose of the health of the woman; and in third trimester the states interest includes prohibition of abortion to protect the viable fetus but not to interfere with abortions necessary to protect the health of a pregnant woman. This article goes over the trimester framework established by the supreme court in Roe vs.

In the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade of 1973, they stated that a woman and her doctor may decide to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester. State governments can restrict abortion after the first trimester with laws to