Legal Issues Regarding Abortion Rights - Research Paper Example

? Legal Issues Regarding Abortion Rights History of Abortion Abortion is one of the most responsive debates that the world has witnessed in modern time. Basically, abortion is termed as the voluntary termination of pregnancy by a woman, a process that results to the death of the fetes or embryo (Reagan, 2). Apparently, this controversial practise has existed in most societies while the Roman law considered it as legal. As of present, over two thirds of women in the world are able to access a legal abortion (Reagan, 3). In light of this, pro-choice groups in various states and countries argue that women should be granted the right to access any kind of health care they might require. In addition, there should have the right, and control over their own body particularly in relation to pregnancy. Conversely, the pro –life groups argue that the embryo or fetes is alive and as such, its termination is equivalent to murder. Thus, these groups consist of opponents in regard to abortion in given states and countries (Tushnet and Amar, 74). According to the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that about a quarter to half a million women die yearly due to illegal abortion. Never the less, curbing of such an epidemic has been difficult as most of the causes of abortion globally are instigated by government policies (Essig 17). WHO argues that the initiation of abortion law in most parts of the world and it establishment is highly likely to give an explanation on the mandate of governments in acting or not acting towards the laws. Numerous research carried out in relation to this issue have given varying opinions in reference to acceptance, morality, community use and the legality on the practise of abortion (Essig 17). The Church The centralisation of the Catholic Church in the last two centuries has sparked enormous debate on their optimal take as a church in reference to abortion. In essence, the Catholic Church is convinced that abortion at all extremes is wrong. Although there is partial historical information that is uncertain about abortion, individuals in authority termed the issue as illegal and as such, was a punishable offence. Similarly, the Act of 1623 reversed the presumption of a still birth, and articulated that any woman had to provide evidence of having a still birth in any given case of abortion. Failure to this, the woman would suffer death for a crime committed. It further emphasised that it is the act ‘sex’ that was sinful and was hence the crime. The Medical Profession The issue of having men dominating some of the duties that were originally done by women especially in the previous centuries such as, mid wifely, management of reproductive, and birth system is overwhelming. In fact, the medical practitioners have more developmental ways in undertaking abortions particularly when there is a need to save the life of the mother. In light of this, it is commonly argued that procedures such as induced labour and craniotomy are legally safer procedures as compare to early or illegal abortion and hence commonly used to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (O'Halloran and Walch, 109). During the passing of the English Offence Against the Persons’ Bill of 1861,evidence was given pertaining to a Lancet journal that entailed an uncompromising demand in relation to curbing abortion although procedure continued to be accessible. In the United States of America, after the mid nineteenth century, physicians began to campaign for public morality and behavior in an attempt to influence the change of behavior. This was instigated by rampant increase in abortion clinics, which had hit the media through advertisements in newspapers and magazines. In the same way, it was perceived that abortion was mostly done by desperate unmarried women although with time women from middle, and upper classes took up the routine and began seeking the services (Reagan, 4). Also, the Australian Medical Association began condemning abortion and was very vocal in supporting the passing of laws especially the late eighteenth century. This immediately translated to the criminalization of the issues for a number of reasons. First, the association believed in the moral rightness of the decision they had taken. Second, there was growing concern on the abrupt drop in the rate of birth especially in middle and upper classes. Third, immigrants during the time came along with their huge families, a situation that made men from both middle and upper classes feel that there was something wrong with their women as they were no longer giving birth (Essig 21). Consequently, penalties given in relation to abortion revolve around the church and state. In regard to church, the impact of its opinion has largely reduced due to the fact that there is pluralist society domination. In addition, medical practitioners had taken upon themselves the responsibility of changing their public image, and as such they wanted to safe guard the health of women at all cost. On the other hand, governments and states globally, began to work collectively towards rationalising the laws on abortion. As of now, there is international recognition on choice in relation to child bearing, which has become a basic human right. Basically, the Universal Declaration of Human right in reference to article 1, 3, 12 and 23 denotes that an individual has the right to decide what to do with their life with the inclusion of child bearing (Tushnet and Amar, 76). Similar organization such as, The World Population Plan of Action and the International Conference on Human Rights held in Teheran collectively agreed that parents and unmarried women were entitled to having a basic right in making a decision towards the spacing and the number of children they required given the necessary information and education (Tushnet and Amar, 77). The Legality of Abortion in the United States Similarly, the history of abortion in the United States of America has been one of the most complicated as opposed to the perception of most people. In fact, abortion in the United States of America has had varying contention for close to 200 years. In regard to this, abortion has never in history enjoyed protection in the world until 1973. Today, most American women, have been granted the right to obtain an abortion in all states in the United States of America. Apparently, women are now in a position to perform an abortion at any particularly point in the nine months period under any reason (O'Halloran and Walch, 108). In particular, the Supreme Court affirmed that the autonomous rights on abortion were built in the constitution of United States of America denoting that any legal barriers attached to the issue were unconstitutional. In actual sense, the ruling concluded that according to the 9th and 14th Amendments specified in the Constitution, a woman had been guaranteed the right to privacy which extends to right to abortion. The decision to make the declaration on legalized abortion was influenced by the verdict on two cases that are presented before the Supreme Court, which were aimed at challenging the state criminal abortion laws that came from Texas and Georgia (O'Halloran and Walch, 108). Roe v Wade The first case from Texas entailed Roe Vs Wade, where Roe as a pregnant single woman was suing a Dallas County district Attorney, Henry Wade for pursing a prohibition in relation to Texas’ abortion. The complaint alleged that the defendant wanted to prohibit abortion in Texas. In regard to this, Roe as a single pregnant woman had no complication with her pregnancy, and as such would not be allowed to proceed with the abortion. Of importance to note is that prohibitive abortion laws had continuously existed in Texas with minimal changes from the eighteenth century, although it had included the exception of carrying out the procedure in case it was necessary to save the life of the mother. In the ruling, it was articulated that although the state has an interest in giving protection to the life of a foetus, the interest was not persuasive until the foetus was viable. Viability in this case meant that the pregnancy was at the start of the third trimester. As such, states that forbade abortion in the first six months were said to have invalidated the abortion laws. In the same way, abortion during the last trimester or during the last three months would only be declared as legal in case the pregnancy threatened the health or life of the mother (Reagan, 4). Doe v Bolton In Georgia, the abortion case entailed a married woman who was denied the right of privacy, and eventually undertaking the procedure after she was alleged not to have met the necessary requirements by the state. Apparently, the Georgia law allowed for termination of pregnancy on three exceptions; life of the mother being threatened, the baby being seriously deformed, or when the pregnancy was as a result of rape (O'Halloran and Walch, 109). Never the less, the ruling given out by the District Court ruling was split as it articulated that some unnecessary burdens on bureaucracy were capable of hindering an individual, and in this case a woman from receiving a due abortion. In contrast to this, state has the obligation to deny women abortion in relation to the principle that had been put in place. These two decisions were appealed in the Supreme Court and verdict given on the same day. It is worth noting that, during the verdict on the case of Doe, the health of a woman or mother was relatively broad as it comprised of her physical, emotional, psychological, and familial well being which had to incorporate the age of a woman (Reagan, 6). These factors related to health, and as such, the physician expected to carry out the procedure had to give his best medical judgement to determine whether the procedure would be legal. Parenthood v. Danforth In 1976, the debate on abortion made its way back to the Supreme Court. This time state laws that mandated spouses or parents to give consent before an abortion was carried out were declared invalid leading to their dismissal in court. Correspondingly, cases entailing the requirement to give women necessary information in relation to alternatives of abortion, the need to educate women on prenatal development, and the potential risks of abortion were also dismissed (O'Halloran and Walch, 109). In a general sense, these cases and similar others were argued to have violated the rights to privacy for women in various parts of the United States of America. Despite the arguments through law, abortion has remained rigid since the verdict of Roe was made. In fact, the verdict given by the judges pertaining to the cases has continuously defined federal abortion policy after it first invalidation of 200 years as state law. In this regard, abortion has become the second central issue in the life of Americans from slavery (Petchesky, 20). The Reformed Abortion Law as a Human Rights Issue It is with no doubt that the reform law in abortion has not been approached by any government and state as a human right that is basic. In particular, the United States of America only recognised the reform as a private issue during the verdict on the Roe v Wade of 1973. Through this, governments and states around the world have been constantly accused of demonstrating less commitment to women and their rights to a point of viewing them as less human being (Reagan, 24). Of importance to note is that abortion has been termed as a human right and social justice. It is for this reason that rights must be administered in a way that demonstrates full citizenship. From this point of view, disregarding and playing dictatorship on women could demonstrate an insult on them in terms on portraying them as lacking the capacity to make decision pertaining to motherhood enforced to them through law, panel, doctor, and any other related entity leaving them with a responsibility that they did not make a decision towards (Petchesky, 28). Research has showed that abortion is eleven times safer as compared to birth. One pronounced action that is related to abortion is the fact that women are not trusted enough in term of making a critical decision and as such cannot be entrusted with their own responsibility on whether to keep the child or otherwise. In the same way, scholars have argued that if the world embraced women as equal human beings then it would not be necessary to have both abortion and prostitution laws. The audacity over women’s body Since time immemorial, religious and political institutions globally, have taken strategic responsibility with regard to power and control in women and families. This is so because it is argued that abortion forms a wider perceptive of motherhood, a basic family unit, and the state as a whole. Scholars associated with the activism of social justice argue that men must be challenged in taking up their responsibilities as they play a huge role in abortion case especially when they do not want to take responsibilities for their actions (Petchesky, 22). Of most importance in the legality of abortion is that political and human right are capable of controlling fertility. Conservative scholars argue that women cannot be fully entrusted with their bodies as they are capable of being destructive to the point of overdoing the purported human and social right-abortion. In the United States of America, legal abortion is known to play a more symbolic function in the formation of a right wing constituency. To them, the anti abortion concept is meant to separate the Godly from the Ungodly, as well as, the innocent from those who are guilty (Petchesky, 26). In essence, there is a need to save people in the United States of America by saving the foetus, there is a necessity of having sombre minds in coming up with such decisions. Never the less, whatever the rationale, rights of women, freedom from any kind of violence, and the right to work should be upheld at all cost (O'Halloran and Walch, 108). Legal issues, regulations and restrictions that states can make in order to avoid unsafe abortion In the United States of America, different states have come up with ways of regulating and restricting through the use of some component. In essence, Texas and Mississippi are some of the states that have ensured that the welfare, safety and health of women have been taken care of during and after abortion particularly in small clinics (Essig, 24). Apparently, renowned obstetrician gynaecologist, and blogger in Texas, Dr Jen Gunter has on numerous occasions given her contribution towards unsafe abortion in parts of the United States of America. She says that a substantial number of women did not have access to safe abortion due to lack of funds and the fact that some of these clinics’ were too far from their reach while they still lacked good equipments. In light of this, it is argued that the general laws on abortion in the United States should be less restrictive to allow women to be at liberty of undergoing an abortion without necessarily having to follow certain conditions. Similarly, clinic offering such procedures should be well equipped to avoid losing the life of the mother while the procedure is being performed. For instance, the clinics should have facilities such as elevators to ease up the movement of patients in the facilities. In the same way, there should be enough parking lots for anticipated patients to avoid unnecessary congestion (Reagan, 8). Of importance to note is that, the government should aim at ensuring that abortion clinics are publicly known through legalising them and the medical practitioner are qualified for these procedures. Through this, there will be reduced cases of unsafe abortion, and the life of mothers and women will not be endangered (O'Halloran and Walch, 109). Conclusion Abortion is one of the most responsive debates that the world has witnessed in modern time. It is termed as the voluntary termination of pregnancy by a woman, a process that results to the death of the fetes or embryo. In light of this, pro-choice groups in various states and countries argue that women should be granted the right to access any kind of health care they might require, and control over their own body particularly in relation to pregnancy. Conversely, the pro –life groups argue that the embryo or fetes is alive and as such its termination is equivalent to murder. As of now, there is international recognition on choice in relation to child bearing, which has become a basic human right. Of most importance in the legality of abortion is that political and human right are capable of controlling fertility. In the United States of America, legal abortion is known to play a more symbolic function in the formation of a right wing constituency. To them, the anti abortion concept is meant to separate the Godly from the Ungodly as well as the innocent from those who are guilty. Works Cited: Essig, Andrew. The World Health Organization’s Abortion Agenda. Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute Newyork.2010. Print. O'Halloran, Kate and Walch, John. Cases And Controversies In U.S. History. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch.1993. Print. Petchesky, Rosalind. Abortion and Woman's Choice: The State, Sexuality, and Reproductive Freedom. Boston: Northeastern University Press.1990. Print. Reagan, Leslie. When Abortion Was A Crime: Women, Medicine, And Law In The United States, 1867-1973. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1997. Print. Tushnet, Mark and Amar, Vikram.Global Perspectives On Constitutional Law. New York: Oxford University Press.2009. Print. Read More