For decades, a woman’s right to abortion has been one of the most debated issues in both Washington and inside the homes of millions of Americans. In 1973 the national case of Roe v. Wade, sparked political decisions that created the national right to abortion. However, this case did not end the debate, nor, did it stop both sides for continuing the fight for their individual beliefs. Similar cases like Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey likewise ruled to allow abortion, but the judge’s choice was not an easy one. The very ideals our country was founded upon were brought into discussion, by the means of taking into consideration how the mother’s privacy, liberty and dignity were involved in a woman's right to abort her child. These cases and other interconnected ones challenged the legality of restrictions by the means of laws established in our Constitution.
In America, abortion was a common although dangerous practice until approximately 1880, by which point the majority of states had banned it, with the exception of cases that threatened a woman's life.Women who could afford it could leave the country, or in some circumstances, find a willing doctor to perform the procedure, although at an inflated price. By the late 1920s, some thousands of women a year died from abortions because safe, legal procedures were nearly impossible for most to obtain. In the 1960s, inspired by the civil rights and antiwar movements, women organized a women’s liberation movement, heavily focusing on reproductive rights. Ultimately, the widely discussed and highly controversial issue of abortion would be brought to the Supreme Court as to make a national ruling. The year is 1970, Norma McCorvey is a single mother, trying her best to raise a family on her limited income. While living in Dallas Texas she became pregnant with a another child. March of the same year, McCorvey filed suit against the state of Texas. From then on Norma McCorvey would be known by the generic name Jane Roe to protect the very right of privacy which she was fighting for. Roe claimed that the disallowance of abortions was an infringement on her personal privacy. In her opinion, this right was such protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth amendments. She was not sueing for herself singularly but for all of women. On January twenty-second, 1973 Justice Harry Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding the Roe vs. …show more content…
Wade case. In summary, the Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy addressed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments, and denial of such rights would be a direct constitutional violation. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. The Court argued that the right to privacy addressed in the Constitution was general enough to encompass abortion. Therefore the choice to have an abortion is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution from regulation by the states. However, the trimester system was created to also protect the fetus’s right to live after it is viable, meaning abortion is not an unlimited right. The term dignity was also largely at play in this case. By definition dignity is “the state or
In America, abortion was a common although dangerous practice until approximately 1880, by which point the majority of states had banned it, with the exception of cases that threatened a woman's life.Women who could afford it could leave the country, or in some circumstances, find a willing doctor to perform the procedure, although at an inflated price. By the late 1920s, some thousands of women a year died from abortions because safe, legal procedures were nearly impossible for most to obtain. In the 1960s, inspired by the civil rights and antiwar movements, women organized a women’s liberation movement, heavily focusing on reproductive rights. Ultimately, the widely discussed and highly controversial issue of abortion would be brought to the Supreme Court as to make a national ruling. The year is 1970, Norma McCorvey is a single mother, trying her best to raise a family on her limited income. While living in Dallas Texas she became pregnant with a another child. March of the same year, McCorvey filed suit against the state of Texas. From then on Norma McCorvey would be known by the generic name Jane Roe to protect the very right of privacy which she was fighting for. Roe claimed that the disallowance of abortions was an infringement on her personal privacy. In her opinion, this right was such protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth amendments. She was not sueing for herself singularly but for all of women. On January twenty-second, 1973 Justice Harry Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding the Roe vs. …show more content…
Wade case. In summary, the Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy addressed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments, and denial of such rights would be a direct constitutional violation. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. The Court argued that the right to privacy addressed in the Constitution was general enough to encompass abortion. Therefore the choice to have an abortion is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution from regulation by the states. However, the trimester system was created to also protect the fetus’s right to live after it is viable, meaning abortion is not an unlimited right. The term dignity was also largely at play in this case. By definition dignity is “the state or