The Arguments for and Against the Right to Have an Abortion - Assignment Example

The Arguments for and Against the Right to Have an Abortion In 1973 a decision handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States established that the state prohibition of abortion was unconstitutional. The outcome of this decision was based on the right of privacy which was determined to protect a woman's freedom to choose whether or not to abort an infant. This particular decision created a great number of different controversies, including the right to life/right to choose conflict, which has been at the core of abortion debate.

In addition, it also put into conflict whether or not the court was using its proper role by making this decision. Roe v Wade was both seen as a victory and defeat. As the Texas law prohibiting abortion was put under debate and ended with women having the right to choose for themselves (Lively & Weaver, 2006). Because the debate over this controversial legislation has been the foundation of many platforms for politicians, the public has continued to be depressed by this conflict of ideas. There are a number of different reasons why people will come down on the side of making abortion illegal.

In Texas, where the Roe v Wade controversy began, the state was justifying the restriction of abortions based on the idea that a fetus is a person and therefore the life interests had to be protected under the due process clause, which is in the 14th amendment. Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote for the majority did not accept this promise. Although a fetus may be a life under some religious and moral codes, the majority decided that it could not be considered a fetus in a constitutional framework.

Blackmun believed that the rights given under due process of the 14th amendment should be extended to women as well. And therefore this conflict came down on the side of women rather than the fetus (Hall & Clark, 2002). In 2005, the number of abortions in the United States was approximately 19.4 per 1000 women. Of that percentage, 3.2 per 1000 were given to women under the age of 15. The right to have an abortion has had a significant effect on the plight of women are not well supported in the United States in terms of providing for and giving care to children when they are left without a partner.

The welfare system is not set up to help women raise children, but rather to try and get them out working in conflict with the act of raising children. One strong argument for the legalization of abortion is that the state does not provide enough support, and society has a negative attitude towards women were trying to raise children but do not have the economic means to do so on their own. The other side of the argument is that every life has the right to an opportunity and therefore through religious and moral grounds the right to choose is in conflict with the right to life.

The argument that abortion should be illegal is based on the idea that the unborn are valuable and should have separate status from a woman. In this argument, the status of the unborn is the actor on which the decision for making abortion illegal is made (Beckwith, 2007). The purpose of my final paper will be to examine both sides of the abortion issue. From an objective perspective, looking at different arguments and examining the value that they have in terms of ethical argument. Arguments such as those from philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson, who felt that the status of the fetus even in valued, did not necessarily mean that abortion is morally impermissible will be included so that the overall status of the arguments both for and against can be objectively analyzed (Beckwith, 2007).

ReferencesBeckwith, F. J. (2007). Defending life: A moral and legal case against abortion choice. London: Cambridge Univ. Press.Hall, K., & Clark, D. S. (2002). The Oxford companion to American law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Lively, D. E., & Weaver, R. L. (2006). Contemporary Supreme Court cases: Landmark decisions since Roe v. Wade. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.United States. (2012). Statistical abstract of the United States, 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.