Congress wasted no time coming back to work and has now proposed new anti-abortion laws, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. These laws are called “fetal pain” measures, based on studies saying that “fetuses are sentient after 20 weeks of pregnancy, assuming that an abortion procedure after that point would be painful for them” (Culp-Ressler 1). 20-week abortion bans have become increasingly popular on the state level, “nine states currently cut off legal abortion access at 20 weeks based on the assumption that fetuses can feel pain at that point” (Culp-Ressler 1). Many believe that focusing on later abortions is a “winning strategy” because it can be considered moderate ban.
Two lawmakers introduced a measure to ban
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Those that support abortion ban say it would be same as murder, because after 20 weeks the fetus can now feel pain and is considered “alive.” Which brings in the other side of the argument that “fetuses cannot survive outside the womb until about 28 weeks of pregnancy,” (Culp-Ressler 1) which means that if taking away an abortion after 20 weeks, and a problem happens between 20-28 weeks, the baby could not be aborted and could cause potentially health risks to the mother, even though the baby could not survive outside the womb. Also it should be the woman 's choice to abort the child or not. The mother might not have the conditions to take care of the baby, or it is too risky of a pregnancy to be had, it is not right to impose one’s beliefs onto others. The mother has to have the choice, especially if she is not capable of taking care of the child. One should not interfere with other people’s lives, the abortion ban could potentially ruin many children’s and mother’s lives. Fetal pain measures represent a politically popular way of defining a policy that can force women to carry doomed pregnancies to term.
1/20/2015
The push for the 20 week abortion ban continues to be encouraged by GOP control of the House and now also the Senate, and they “are rallying behind a bill they believe will be the first step in a new
Agreeing to a time-based restriction could protect older fetuses and still safeguard the rights of most of the women seeking abortions, who are usually within 12 weeks of pregnancy. Coming to an agreement as to when the fetus is truly alive, is the next step to coming to a time-based restriction agreement. Medical science has advanced the ability of the fetus to survive outside the womb from about 28 weeks to about 23 to 24 weeks. Since the progression of medical technology is always changing, suggestions for compromise propose a cutoff date for elective abortions at eight to sixteen weeks, which is well before viability (Flanders 25). One of the strictest proposals includes prohibiting abortions after approximately the eighth week when fetal brain waves can be detected. Some say that this is appropriate because this is the same way that doctors determine the end of a person’s life. Some supporters go so far as to say that there should be a sixteen week allowed time period, opposed to the eight week. Pro-choice people argue that this restriction would be less objectionable than the eight-week restriction since ninety percent of all abortions are performed within the twelfth week of pregnancy (Driefus 101). Millions of pro-choicers and pro-lifers believe that any such compromise would be impossible. From different ends of the argument, they criticize any proposal of time limits that would violate the rights of women or violate the rights of fetuses. They all agree
In today’s society, there are many topics that cause a lot of uproar and controversy. Certain topics like politics, homosexuality, and climate change are just a few topics that are debated on a daily bases. One other topic that has been debated on for centuries is abortion. Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth; this results in the death of a fetus or an embryo. Abortion happens in different countries around the world, but it is commonly known in the United States. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world where abortion is legal in some states. Many people know about abortion and what it is, but what some people do not know is that there are several different types of it. Just a few types of abortion are early abortion, late-term abortion, and partial-birth abortion. There is early abortion, which is when the pregnancy is terminated before the fetus is available, and then there is late-term abortion, which is when an abortion is performed after the second trimester. The most crucial type of abortion, partial-birth abortion, is a form of late-term abortion that ends a pregnancy in which the fetus is removed intact and results in death. Although some people believe abortion is not the best decision to make and that it should be illegal, early abortion is a little better than late-term abortion. All in all, late-term abortion should be banned because it is similar to killing a fully developed child.
----An abortion is a medical procedure the effectively terminates a pregnancy by destroying the fetus in the mother’s womb. Abortion had been previously banned in 30 of the USA’s states, however, in the 1970s, a major dispute in the Supreme Court ended with retracting the decision to ban it. The new ruling essentially made abortion legal in all of the US states, however, major controversy has still clouded the topic. All of the US states have to accept abortion in the early stages of a mother’s pregnancy, despite their personal viewpoints, But they are allowed to forbade an abortion if the choice is made in the later points of the fetus’ growth. The fetus begins to take shape after the first trimester, no longer an unidentifiable group of cells. The major discussion is whether abortion should be banned or allowed, each side having exceptions to their
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.
Many of them these supporters are from big committees such as Health, Education, Labor, and Pension. This bill removes the largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood and its affiliates in in America by cutting the federal funding for them. In short, the bill cuts the federal funding of Planned Parenthood Federation of American, Inc., and its affiliates. The proposal would force Planned Parenthood to not perform the abortion procedure at any of their clinics for one full year pending an investigation into the acts of the company. Before this measure was taken, the funding for Planned Parenthood was a whopping half billion dollars a year. However, they will not be seeing any of that federal money until it can be confirmed that Planned Parenthood is not selling the body parts of the babies that they aborted for profit. This was uncovered from a video leaked in May from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas. (Jessen)
Roe vs. Wade case was a ground-breaking landmark case because it gave a woman the right to choose. Since then landmark cases and legislation restricted a woman from having an abortion. The rights of the unborn are the reason why a woman's rights to have an abortion are being eroded. In addition, violent events have occurred because a woman has a right to have an abortion. Clearly, this topic has affected the political, health, social, and religious, aspects of our society. Currently, women are choosing not to have an abortion. The sentiment is so strong that a Harris poll showed that 72% of Americans say abortion should be illegal after the first 3 months of pregnancy. To make this point, abortion rates are down in the states where the abortion
Abortion is a one-day procedure that can have important lifetime consequences. There is potential for procedure failure as well as physical, emotional, or mental suffering, which is why there is a need for some form of deterrence. In the hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice of the committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, it was stated that this bill would restrict tax deductions for women who use their own money for abortion or if they purchase insurance that covers abortion, in turn this will raise the tax for women should they choose to make that decision (House of Representatives. Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. Committee on the Judiciary, 2014). This sort of disincentive would ultimately make abortions more costly and may deter women from
Politicians, especially the old men who think that they know what is best, should not be voting on whether women should have their basic rights to their own bodies. President Obama agrees, he even stated, “As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters,” (Obama, 2012). Most states have strict abortion policies, which makes it difficult for women. Forty-two states have gestational limits, in which the states can prohibit the abortion unless it is dangerous for the woman. Gestational limits should be removed because it closes the door on many women who want or even need abortions. There are 17 states that require mandated counseling, where they discuss, and almost perpetuate the idea that abortions are bad by lecturing about a connection between abortion and breast cancer, the chance of a fetus to feel pain, or long-term mental health effects for the woman. This draws out a time period where it might not be safe anymore for the woman to have said abortion. Elizabeth Nash, the leader of a pro-choice health research group from Guttmacher Institute, discusses, “The people developing these counseling materials are not really interested in talking about the facts. They are interested in persuading a woman from getting an abortion in the first place,” (Nash 2012). Even after the counseling, 26 states would make the woman go through a waiting period of one to two days, while making more than one visit to the clinic, before she is allowed to receive an abortion. It is too inconvenient and difficult for women to be able to enjoy the basic right to their own bodies. The legal limitations need to be revised in order for women to really be able to be a part of this society. Restrictions, including refusal to perform an
The issue of abortion is a tough, important, and long-lived one because there are numerous factors to consider and many people with strong opinions with the proof to support them. There are religious claims, human rights that need to be protected, attempts to avoid psychological damages, and even funding issues that are equally important, with evidence to support either side. Our overall position on this issue is to keep abortion as a legal institution in America. But the graphic condition of abortion procedures mandates that partial birth abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest, danger the woman’s health, or fetal abnormality, are strictly prohibited. Seeing that “58% favor the
While Americans long have been split on the general question of abortion though a majority do believe it should be legal in at least some circumstances, a number of polls show that a majority of voters oppose abortion after 20 weeks” (Sneed). The republicans have proposed a bill that bans abortion after twenty weeks, if a person were to have an abortion after this time period it will be considered illegal and there will be consequences. If a woman was raped and got pregnant if she does not wish to have the child according to the new law being proposed, that said woman has to report the rape to the police and then she can proceed with the abortion. As stated by the article, “Abortion rights supporters counter with polling that shows voters are more supportive of abortions after 20 weeks in cases of fetal abnormalities”(Sneed). In some extreme cases a few people believe that abortion should be allowed after the twenty week time period has passed, for instance in situations where it’s not safe for the fetus and or the mother to continue with the pregnancy, or if the baby will have some sort of birth defects. All republican presidential candidates and those considering to join the presidential candidate race are all supporting the twenty week abortion ban. Americans have been clear that they do not want politicians to interfere with their health care decisions. Meanwhile
Since the legalization of abortion, more than 126,000 abortions have been performed every day and more than 46,000,000 each year (AbortionTV). One may say they can’t understand how a mother can just kill her child because of her irresponsibility. She may rebuttal back with the answer that the fetus is not yet human and it wouldn’t feel any pain anyway. Studies show that the
Imagine a woman was raped and later became pregnant. Shouldn 't she have the right to abort the child or should she be forced to deliver? Put yourself in her shoes. Can you imagine the pain she might feel every time she looks at the child? Should she be forced to endure this? Women should be allowed to have abortions under circumstances such as these.
A common debate in the world today involves abortion, the deliberate end of human pregnancy, and whether or not it should be legalized. “Every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day” (“Abortions Worldwide this Year”). On one side of the argument, people are not disturbed by this grotesque number, and on the other side there are people outraged and simply appalled. Although people attempt to deem abortion acceptable in society because of circumstances like the mother not being able to support the child or in instances of rape, it is still morally wrong.
Abortion is a deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. There are series of legal, moral and ethical issues which may arise about abortion. Most arguments about abortion are often focused on political insinuations and the legal aspect of such actions. Some frequently asked questions’ regarding the issue is if the practice should be outlawed and regarded as murder or should women have the right to practice it. For example, prior to becoming pregnant, some women feel that they would be able to choose the abortion option without trouble. However, even with reasons why having an abortion would be the best option, some women feel that this decision would not be right for them. On the other hand, some women have a strong belief that abortion is unethical prior to becoming pregnant.
Abortion has become a common argument topic in America; numerous individuals consider themselves pro-life and others pro-choice. Those who consider themselves pro-life oppose abortion, while those who are pro-choice advocate for abortion to be legalized. I believe that abortion should be illegal and that life should be recognized upon conception.