The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History - Essay Example

Roe v Wade Roe v Wade Roe v Wade, 411 US 113 (1973) was a groundbreaking ruling in the second halfof the 20th century whose delivery in 1973 immediately evoked debate on the limitations of the right of pregnant women to procure abortion. In this case, the US Supreme Court extended right of pregnant women to have an abortion before the fetus could become viable, specifically before the third trimester. This case was also later debated in the same way as Doe v. Bolton 410 U.S. 179 (1973), considering that both of them delved in almost similar issues. The main issue that was raised in the two cases were; a) the legality of abortion laws passed by states seeking to criminalize all forms of abortion when interpreted in the letter and spirit of the US Constitution; b) the parameters of the Due Process provision of the 14th Amendment as a safeguard against the right to privacy in abortion; c) whether states had the authority to legislate laws that may prohibit abortion; d) whether the natural termination of Roe’s pregnancy rendered her case, on the same issue, which was pending before the court meaningless; and e) whether the district court was correct in denying injunctive relief. This paper will discuss some of the issues relating to the right of privacy based on the ruling on Roe. History of abortion in the United States In 1880s abortion was legalized in United States specifically to protect the mother’s life from harm. Since the country was facing low birthrate during that particular period, especially among the whites, the government and other human rights agencies were concerned about the negative impacts of the policy. They termed the declining population of whites through abortion as having the same bad effect as suicide since they wanted the women who were born in United States to reproduce. Abortion was had been previously illegal and thus if a woman had to procure an abortion it depended on the race, economic situation, and the location where one lived (Critchlow, 2010). It is notable that poor women who came from other races could not afford it due to the high related cost. In early 1960s, however, the trend somehow changed by virtue of the formation of a group known as the Clergy Consultation Services on Abortion. The group drew its membership from church ministers and rabbis who dealt with illegal abortion since they sympathized with women of color who were disproportionately affected by the problem. The corresponding growth of civil rights and antiwar movements during the period campaigned for and came up with women liberation movement seeking the legalization of abortion. The movement considered abortion part and parcel of women reproductive rights. In 1963, another group that had trained women created abortion support services though they claimed that they were counseling individuals in cases of abortion. In 1967 to 1973 some of the states started reforming abortion laws. Progressive jurisdictions created some leeway as to when women could legally carry out abortion. Cases such as of rape and incest attracted the sympathy of pro-life advocates in states that legalized the practice (Rubin, 2001). In 1970, New York became one of the first states to reintroduce abortion laws in which case it was legal within the first 20 weeks of conception. Roe v. Wade (1973) The case of Roe v. Wade raised weighty issues relating to abortion in history United States, most probably for the first time in the country’s history. Roe was a pregnant woman who was challenging the constitutionality of Texas abortion laws. Under the state laws, it was illegal to attempt abortion except when a woman was instructed by medical practitioners, most probably when her life was in danger. At the center of the case was Hallford, a clinician who was being accused of violating abortion laws. The other case (Doe) was challenging the abortion laws by arguing that the laws were unconstitutional. The primary issues that were being raised in the cases were whether it was constitutional to procure an abortion that was not meant to save an expectant mother from the risks of the pregnancy; whether the privacy rights of citizens under the 14th Amendment could be extended to cover abortion; whether there was any law that prohibited abortion in its entirety. After Roe’s pregnancy terminated naturally, the issue then was whether she had any rights to petition the court and she could withdraw the case; and finally, whether the lower district court provided adequate reasons in its interpretation of national and state abortion laws. In deciding the case, the Supreme Court held that any abortion laws that criminalized the practice were unconstitutional since they break the cardinal rule of individual privacy under the 14th Amendment. The Court added that women could not deny right to abort but human life must be protected regarding her health. It was also established that Roe’s pregnancy did not abort due to natural causes, sparking the debate on Roe. Right to privacy From the time the Supreme Court made the ruling in the case of Roe v Wade where abortion was legalized in some states it has been more than 40 years of legal transformation towards permitting abortion. In 1973, the court decided that the right to privacy under the Constitution of United States protected pregnant mothers from the legal risks of carrying out an abortion. Based on the privacy rights under the 14th Amendment to the US constitution, the Court interpreted abortion as emotional and an issue that should be limited to pregnant women and the relevant clinicians. The decision to have an abortion was held by the Court as personal in the same way a citizen can vote for a presidential candidate based on their abortion policy proposals tabled ahead of polls (Garrow, 2009). The Court arguably drew parallels of the private aspects of abortion from the way marriage institution operates, by indicating that the use of contraception, relationships and how individuals can bring a child up among others remain within the matrimonial rooms of the partners. As such, individuals cannot be barred from enjoying their liberty unless the court intervenes where it is appropriate to safeguard constitutional provisions upholding the right of a viable fetus to life. Supreme Court decision Roe saw the Supreme Court overturning Texas laws on abortion and thus legalizing abortion in United States. The landmark decision made by the Court was that any individual who wanted to carry out an abortion under the advice of a qualified doctor would be allowed to do so early enough into the pregnancy. Since then abortion during the earlier months of pregnancy has not restricted by law but lately procured abortions, especially during the third trimester has ever since remained illegal. The Supreme Court concluded that state laws were not allowed to limit women’s right to abortion in the early days of pregnancy on the grounds that the viability of the fetus outside of the mother’s womb is impossible under optimum conditions. State laws Various abortion limitation laws that had been enacted by states before the delivery of the landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court were immediately repealed in order to keep them in line with spirit of the Supreme Court ruling. The states laws that did not allow women to access abortion through the help of qualified doctors in the first early pregnancy were replaced with more slacken laws, which allow pregnant women the freedom to decide what to do with their pregnancy within the first 30 weeks of conception. Abortion services which were previously restricted by the state laws from access by expectant women from as early as the second trimester was eventually set aside by the Court. The Court lowered the bar on abortion from medically induced causes only to a free for all affair, provided the pregnancy is not past the viability stage. Regardless, even though the Supreme Court decided to accept abortion be conducted in United States, the laws did not allow all the states to do it. Other states had customized rules and regulations that were followed and thus did not allow abortion. Specifically, the decision to carry out an abortion in early pregnancy was left to medical teams and the victim in question while the second trimester it was done if the conditions met the interests of the state. This was according to the laws of abortion on the protection of the mother and the unborn baby from harm, hence the argument that when the fetus could survive outside the mother’s womb after considering the health of the woman, then it became a matter of interest to the state to protect the life of the pregnant woman and the fetus. Statistics In May 2009 a poll was conducted on the issue of legalizing abortion. The outcomes showed that 37% of the Americans believed that abortion should be legalized. This was compared with 41% of the United States residents who supported the legalization of abortion the previous year. The figures showed that there was a drop in the percentage on the issues of abortion. In the same year the polls were conducted again by Pew Research Center, and the outcomes indicated that individuals who supported abortion to be legalized accounted for 54% while in 2009 the support was 46%. This showed percentage drop in public support for abortion and thus the issue of abortion became vital for government to work towards eliminating it. The statistics were based on the trends of politics in United States since they were hard to differentiate and interpret. Political and public opinion Abortion issues have dominated US politics since President Reagan’s administration, which leaned towards pro-life side of the debate. A high percentage of individuals felt that abortion was a matter of concern, and the number of individuals who supported abortion was largely unclear. The president did not accept abortion and in the subsequent debate that followed the ruling in Roe, Reagan termed it as unworkable. Other individuals who were not in support of abortion were associate justice Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork, who opposed Roe v Wade (Schwartz, 1988). They tried in vain to mobilize support against legalization of abortion. On the other hand, public support increased when the court ruled that abortion was legal in the first trimester of pregnancy, with as many as 56% of the respondents voicing their concerns in favor of abortion while 40% opposing it. Pro-life vs. Pro-choice In the ensuing debate, pro-life advocates argued that life starts at the time a woman conceives and thus life is precious and should be preserved at all cost. Even though Wade tried to challenge the legalization of abortion, she considered that abortion was not right because it resulted in the loss of precious human life. By contrast, the pro-choice individuals argued that abortion was a personal issue just like marriage, use of contraception, and the relationship among married partners, hence does not require the input of third parties (Staggenborg, 2006). The choice was granted when abortion was legalized in United States, with the choice being left to the mother and her doctor in the first and second trimesters of the pregnancy. But if the health of the pregnant woman was in danger, then she had the right to carry out an abortion under her privacy rights. Media coverage The media played an important role in the controversy pitted pro-life advocates against pro-choice supporters. For example, the media provided adequate coverage of the Supreme Court case and went public with the news that Americans were allowed to carry out an abortion for the first time in the history of United States. Additionally, media created interactive platforms where citizens could vote in favor of or against abortion in order to establish where the public opinion was (Hull, 2004). In addition, the media gave important updates on the rights of individuals under the constitution, for example, the right to privacy which was under the 14th Amendment. The rule of viability The rule of viability indicated that abortion was to be carried out by willing parties during the first weeks of pregnancy. As such, the states that were still prohibiting abortion were ordered by the Supreme Court to revise the laws immediately (Hull and Peter, 2001). In the case of Roe v Wade, Roe’s pregnancy was established to have terminated naturally and thus she could not have done anything regarding her pregnancy. Regardless, the Court allowed abortion during the first and second trimesters of the gestation period. The rule of viability was accepted based on the fact that an individual has the right to privacy according to the bill of rights in the 14th Amendment. Future court decisions that were directly influenced From the period that abortion was legalized in 1973, subsequent judicial decisions have been made based on the precedent. For example, the pro-choice individuals introduced the right to life in the Constitution (Greenhouse, 2005). This was the result of erosions of abortion rights under the law. As a consequence, the pro-choice groups are striving to reclaim the lost protections of life under the National Abortion Right Action League (McCorvey and Meisler, 1994). Additionally, in 1976 the movement lobbied for the exclusion of federal funds such as Medicaid from funding abortion causes. In 1992 President, George Bush came up with “gang rule” that required all the workers in clinics not to mention abortion to the patients. The Rule was later ended by Bill Clinton in 1993 on the grounds that it was against the constitution of United States. Conclusion Abortion is a personal right to privacy, and this is the reason it was legalized in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade upheld the right to privacy among pregnant women looking in the direction of abortion provided if it was procured early enough. Statistics have shown the public perception on abortion, with many citizens showing disapproval of the practice for its violation of the right of the fetus to life, more so if the life of the mother is not in danger of complications occasioned by the pregnancy. References Critchlow, T. (2010). Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America. New York: Oxford University Press. Garrow, J. (2009). Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade. New York: Macmillan. Greenhouse, L. (2005). Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmuns Supreme Court Journey. New York Hull, H., Peter, H. (2001). Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. Hull, N. (2004). The Abortion Rights Controversy in America: A Legal Reader. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. McCorvey, N. & Meisler, A . (1994). I Am Roe: My Life, Roe V. Wade, and Freedom of Choice. New York. Harper Collins. Mohr, C. (1979). Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800–1900. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rubin, R.(2001). The Abortion Controversy: A Documentary History. Westport, CT: Greenwood. Schwartz, B. (1988). The Unpublished Opinions of the Burger Court. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Staggenborg, S. (2006). The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the Abortion Conflict. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More