Supreme Court case - Essay Example

The judges vote on the ruling was 7 to 2 with majority choosing to have abortion legalized basing it on the right to privacy, which is spelt under the clause of due process in the 14th amendment. In the written ruling by Justice Harry Blackmun, he justified the legalization of abortion because of the fact that illegalization infringed upon women’s right to privacy and the ruling subsequently, overruled all other state antiabortion statutes. According to Alcorn, the ruling issued in this case permitted the state to intervene during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy when there is an urgent need to protect the pregnant woman and/ or even the unborn child (28-31).

However, it is important to note that the trimester consideration was struck out leaving the main fact about the ruling as that a pregnant woman had the right to abort until ‘viability.’ Murti stated that despite the numerous cases being filed to repeal this judgment, a ruling made 1992 in the case of Planned Parenthood versus Casey reaffirmed the right to abortion that had been granted under the Roe versus Wade case, but it permitted further restrictions (33-36). . The pro-life group refers to those who are against the ruling while the pro-choice refers to those who support the ruling citing the fact that a woman has the right to decide whether she would want to keep the pregnancy or not (45-56).

Without including matters of the law or legal principles into the discussion, Murti stated that the greatest opposition to the ruling made by in the Roe versus Wade case has been based around religious and moral ideologies or views (88-89). The pro-life advocates have continually stated that the ruling given in the Roe versus Wade case goes against religious teachings in all the faiths where abortion has been openly condemned and classified as a sin against the Lord. With reference to religious teachings, Alcorn stated that the Bible has openly refuted the act of abortion since the Lord referred to children as a blessing and therefore, it would go against the Lord’s wishes if a pregnant woman terminates a pregnancy thereby failing to give the unborn child the right to life (67-73).

For example, Amos chapter 1 verse 13 states, “the help of the Lord is essential, for He has dominion over human life and its origin. Parents cooperate with God in bringing forth life. Because this whole process is under God’s dominion and therefore, it is sinful to interrupt it.” This versus was written with reference to the violent acts that were taking place in Gilead where attackers were ripping open expectant mothers, thus killing their unborn children. This verse by Amos clearly indicates that pregnancy is under the dominion of God and therefore, it is a sin before the Lord.

Additionally, Biblical teachings repeatedly in several versus condemn the killing of the innocent while other versus refer to the