Homework #2: History and overview of the Policy Issue
Should Abortion be determined by the State or Mother?
Abortion has been one of the most controversial topics in America. Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed in the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy. Abortion is when the pregnancy is ended to prevent child birth. The pregnancy is taken out of the uterus of the women by medical abortion which involves taking medicines to cause a miscarriage or by surgery, where the pregnancy is out of the uterus. The policy issue at hand is whether the decision to terminate the pregnancy be given to the mother or the State, also known as Pro-Choice or Pro-life movements.
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The law gave all minors the opportunity to appear before a court for consent to have an abortion without parental consent and discretion (Bellotti 1979). The 1990 Hodgson v. Minnesota case challenged the state statute that requires minors to
Contain consent or notify both biological parents before having an abortion. The law had no exceptions for un-married, divorced, or unknown parents. This law gave minors the option of obtaining judicial consent for abortion, when they were not able to obtain it from parents
(Hodgson 1990). Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey of 1992 challenged restriction on abortion in Pennsylvania. The court kept constitutional protection for the right to choose, but adopted the undue burden test for evaluating restrictive abortion laws. Under this test, the state laws can make it through the constitutional review without putting substantial obstacles in the path of a women seeking an abortion (Casey 1992). The 2006 Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England case challenged the law that required doctors to notify a parent at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor, and that contained no exception for abortions performed in a medical emergency. The
Supreme Court issues its opinion in the case, in which they affirmed that
Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside of the uterus. Once a women finds out that she is pregnant she does have a constitutional protected right to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. Abortions are conducted by women from all forms of life. The typical woman who terminates her pregnancy may either be young, poor, or
Abortion is known as ending pregnancy by removing the fetus before it survives outside the uterus. Also known as a miscarriage. Abortion is currently legal in the united states of America. However, individual states can limit the use of abortions which would make the abortions illegal.
Some anti-abortion activists argue that a woman has “waived control over her own body” when she makes the decision to engage in sexual activity, an activity which could lead to pregnancy. (Roy 339) “Thus where sex is voluntary, the pregnant woman has at least tacitly consented to the possibility of pregnancy.” (339) If this is the case, these anti-abortionists argue, then a pregnant woman has given up the right to “make a choice,” as the choice-making phase of the
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy before the time of extra-uterine viability. An abortion terminates the life of the embryo, (the fertilized egg before three months of growth) or the fetus after three months” (Pederson & Watson, 2003).
Most minors voluntarily involve their parents in abortion cases and if they don’t involve their parents, it's usually because they wouldn't be cooperative; “Since "privacy" rights have been found to be fundamental and protected by the due process clause, it is plausible that these rights are also fundamental for purposes of equal protection clause analysis” (Wand). The Court has stated that minors are protected by the right to privacy, so minors should have the right as to whether or not to terminate her own pregnancy. In addition, government intrusion does not make family relations stronger and could just sway a woman’s decision. The Court supported this in 1976 during the case Planned Parenthood v. Danforth. In this case, Missouri legislators passed a law requiring abortion doctors to obtain a written statement of the mother’s consent that stated that “the consent was freely given and not the result of coercion” (“Planned Parenthood v. Danforth”). The Court upheld the written consent of women, however, it concluded that spousal and parental consent requirements amounted to an unconstitutional "veto power" over a decision which should be left to the "medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician" according to Roe (“Planned Parenthood v. Danforth”).
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”).
mean any death of a baby in the womb of its mother and the expulsion
In the past few decades, the issue of abortion rights has created debates and controversy within the United States. Those who criticize the act of abortion – pro-life – argue that the act of abortion is equivalent to the murder of a baby. Those who support the legalization of abortion – pro-choice – argues women should be able to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion. Currently, abortion is legal in all states – a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe vs. Wade. However, it has become increasingly common for states to create anti-abortion laws, which makes it more difficult to have an abortion. In 2014, Missouri state representative Rick Brattin proposed H.B.131, a house bill that would require women to receive a written consent from the biological father in order to have an abortion. This bill serves to prevent women from having an abortion.
The morality of induced abortion is one of the most controversial moral issues of our time. Abortion has grown to be one, if no the most, debated argument of modern times. In the following web-page, we will be discussing abortion in three of its major aspects: Public Opinion, Congress and Courts, and Interest groups.
What is abortion? An abortion is a medical or surgical procedure used to terminate a pregnancy. A medical abortion is an abortion that is brought about by taking medications that will end a pregnancy. (1) A Surgical abortion is an abortion which ends a pregnancy by emptying the uterus (or womb) with special instruments. (1) Some of the reasons for a woman to get an abortion may be that they can't afford a/another child, health reason of the child's or her own safety, social reasons such as unwanted child or not ready for having a child, and rape or incest. Abortions performed in the seven to nine weeks of the first trimester are medical abortions. (2) All abortions after nine weeks are surgical abortions. Surgical abortions are
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo, resulting in or caused by its death. In the beginning
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy resulting in the death of the embryo or fetus.
Of all the legal, ethical, and moral issues we Americans continuously fight for or against, abortion may very well be the issue that Americans are most passionate about. The abortion issue is in the forefront of political races. Most recently the “no taxpayer funding for abortion act”, has abortion advocates reeling. Even though abortion has been legal in every state in the United States since the monumental Supreme Court decision, “Roe v Wade”, on January 22, 1973; there are fewer physicians willing to perform abortions today than in 2008. (Kraft) At the heart of the ethical dilemma for many in the medical profession is the viability of the fetus. And just to make this whole dilemma more confusing, according to the United States
In In Re A.C. the trial court ordered a cesarean be done at the request of the hospital administration without her informed consent and against her mother’s wishes in order to save the life of her fetus because physicians felt she would not live long enough to give birth. This case presented one of the earliest controversies surrounding the maternal-fetal conflict and a pregnant women’s rights to informed consent, privacy and bodily integrity. Any situation where the pregnant woman’s well-being or wishes conflicts with fetal benefit creates a maternal–fetal conflict. Past and recent court decisions “aimed at protecting the fetus as separate from the woman have challenged the rights of pregnant women to make decisions about medical interventions and have criminalized maternal behavior that is believed to be associated with fetal harm or adverse perinatal outcomes” (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), 2005). Since being pregnant does not limit a woman’s right to informed consent, right of privacy and bodily integrity; any medical procedure taken on behalf of the fetus must require consent by the pregnant woman directly if possible and not forced by the courts or state interests.
xAn abortion is defined as a deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. There are many chemical contraceptives and morning after pills that some would also consider a form of abortion though for the sake of this paper we will only define the two main methods for performing an abortion. An Aspiration is a surgical abortion usually performed within the first month gestation. This 10-15-minute procedure involves the suction of the uterus to remove the fetus and placenta. Recovery time can take as long as a few hours after the procedure. Dilation and Evacuation is a surgical abortion performed beyond the 16-week gestation period. This involves a synthetic dilator the day before, as well as using a shot to guarantee fetal death. After this, removal of the tissue away from the lining will begin. Suctioning completes the process to ensure all contents are completely removed. This procedure usually last between 15-30 minutes. Both Aspiration as well as Dilation and Evacuation procedures can come with the risk of side effects including cramping, nausea, bleeding, sweating and infection.