The biggest case that represents Right to Choose is the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. Roe was pregnant and wanted an abortion but living in Texas at the time she was not allowed to unless her life depended on it. She and two lawyers went against a Dallas County Attorney, Wade. After she lost the Texas trial it was brought to the Supreme Court where she won with a 7-2 ruling. Her lawyer Sarah Weddington was the youngest lawyer ever to win a Supreme Court case. Abortion was then considered to be in the privacy zone for woman and protected by the constitution. Abortion was legal but it did come with restrictions but those restrictions were not determined by the Supreme Court. For years those who were Anti-abortion protested but to no avail. The controversy in this topic is still heavily debated and even the court case of Roe v. Wade is questioned at times.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=410&invol=113
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/p/roe_v_wade.htm
The case of Planned Parenthood v. Robert P. Casey took place in 1992. Five abortion clinics and a physician went up against Casey saying that the 5 provisions that a woman must go through to have an abortion were not Constitutional and go against the rights inside of the privacy zone for abortion. Before the case went to the Supreme Court, the district court said that the provisions became a permanent injunction to the state. This case was then brought to the Supreme Court and was seen as another way to overrule Roe v. Wade to many people but that did not happen. Once at the Supreme Court it was a vote of 5-4 that the provisions were unconstitutional. In the end it was decided that the state was to only keep 3 of the 5 provisions.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/casey.html
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Current Interpratation
At the moment there is no nationally set law about abortion except that it is legal if the abortion takes place during the first trimester. Depending on the state an abortion can happen in the second and third trimester and even then some restrictions are put on the abortions. Also, depending on the circumstances of the pregnancy some exceptions may be given among states. Those exceptions are usually based on the type of abortion that is being taken place for example if a woman was raped and her fetus was viable than she may be given an opportunity to have an abortion. Most of he restrictions are the same law but vary by enforcement from state-to-state.
There are some restrictions that are more common than others such as more sates require abortions to be preformed by a licensed doctor than not. Other restrictions are "Partial Birth" abortions, state-mandated counseling, parental involvement in minors, and allowing doctors to refuse to preforming abortions. One issue that goes by state to state is insurance and public funding. Some states are willing to pay for the abortion while others will not unless the woman life is in danger. With private insurance only four states restrict the coverage of abortion.
http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_OAL.pdf
There are some restrictions that are more common than others such as more sates require abortions to be preformed by a licensed doctor than not. Other restrictions are "Partial Birth" abortions, state-mandated counseling, parental involvement in minors, and allowing doctors to refuse to preforming abortions. One issue that goes by state to state is insurance and public funding. Some states are willing to pay for the abortion while others will not unless the woman life is in danger. With private insurance only four states restrict the coverage of abortion.
http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_OAL.pdf
Constitutional Connection
The abortion topic is divided into three different categories: Privacy Zone which includes Amendments 1,3,4,5,9; Due Process which includes Amendments 5 and 15; And "Person" which is most of the 14 Amendment. The abortion topic does not come up specificity within the Amendments but there are parts that abortion can fall under which is Privacy Zone and Due Process.
Privacy Zone is the aspects of life that are protected by specific constitution guarantee or it is what is expected to have private in ones life. What it is is that the government cannot intrude into your private life on a whim (search and seize) without a legitimate reason. Also what you expect to be private cannot be breached by the government under the constitution, in this case, abortion can be considered something private. All because of the Roe v Wade case. With this government can't do much about someone who has gotten an abortion because it is private and they most likely do not with to share that information with the government. That right is protected by the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9 Amendment.
Due Process is the principle that the government must respect legal rights given to a person by the law. All it is is that the government is not allowed to go against a law the protects a persons right, even if it protects that person in a wrong way. In the Right to Choose topic this means that if someone got an abortion they cannot get in trouble with the law because woman are allowed to get abortions. The law is that abortion is legal but there are restrictions that very from state to state. The protection of the Right to Choose in Due Process are in Amendments 5 and 14 giving the woman the right to have an abortion without having to explain herself to the government.
The last one is "Person" in the 14th Amendment. Person is a human being, not a fetus, thus this person must have been born to have the rights to the 14th Amendment. The dispute it that those Pro-life feel that even as a fetus it has this right to this in personhood as a "physical being created in the eyes of god", male and female, from the earliest biological beginning (Genome, Embryo)" Pro-life has has trouble with the first section because it say the person must have been born but the fetus is not yet born so this right cannot protect it. Leaving the 14th amendment unable to defend the fetus but only the mother.
Privacy Zone is the aspects of life that are protected by specific constitution guarantee or it is what is expected to have private in ones life. What it is is that the government cannot intrude into your private life on a whim (search and seize) without a legitimate reason. Also what you expect to be private cannot be breached by the government under the constitution, in this case, abortion can be considered something private. All because of the Roe v Wade case. With this government can't do much about someone who has gotten an abortion because it is private and they most likely do not with to share that information with the government. That right is protected by the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9 Amendment.
Due Process is the principle that the government must respect legal rights given to a person by the law. All it is is that the government is not allowed to go against a law the protects a persons right, even if it protects that person in a wrong way. In the Right to Choose topic this means that if someone got an abortion they cannot get in trouble with the law because woman are allowed to get abortions. The law is that abortion is legal but there are restrictions that very from state to state. The protection of the Right to Choose in Due Process are in Amendments 5 and 14 giving the woman the right to have an abortion without having to explain herself to the government.
The last one is "Person" in the 14th Amendment. Person is a human being, not a fetus, thus this person must have been born to have the rights to the 14th Amendment. The dispute it that those Pro-life feel that even as a fetus it has this right to this in personhood as a "physical being created in the eyes of god", male and female, from the earliest biological beginning (Genome, Embryo)" Pro-life has has trouble with the first section because it say the person must have been born but the fetus is not yet born so this right cannot protect it. Leaving the 14th amendment unable to defend the fetus but only the mother.
Issue Explanation
Abortion is represented in the Democratic Ideals by Life, The Pursuit of Happiness, and Equality. Pro-Life speaks about how everyone has the right to life. This is one that is highly disputed between the two sides of the abortion topic throughout the three Democratic Ideals.
Those who are Pro-life say that even though the child has yet to be born it is still viewed as a human being in the eyes of God. Personhood is something they feel strongly about. This is a person or a spirit that is being created in the image of God from the earliest biological beginning until natural death. This goes with Life of the Democratic Ideals saying that the unborn child has the exact same right as someone who is of any other age. The other side of the argument with Pro-choice is that the fetus is not yet an individual, it is just a fetus who is not yet considered a human being. The Pro-choice's side for this is not very strong, it's not that those who are Pro-choice encourage abortions, they don't like it as much as the Pro-life people do. All it is is that the Pro-choice people feel that woman should have the right to choice if they want or need a abortion.
The Pursuit of Happiness give everyone the right to attain happiness in their own way. Pro-life has a similar argument here as they did for they did for the Life Democratic Ideal. The same with Pro-choice. Both of these topics are very controversial, they bring up the ideas of when an unborn child or a fetus can be considered a citizen or a human being, when life begins. This Democratic Ideal is focused on a citizens right, Pro-life says the unborn child is a citizen of the United States so it has every reason to attain happiness. Pro-choice counters that with a United States citizen is someone who is born in the United States or has applied and been accepted as a citizen. The fetus is unborn so that creates a conflict and Personhood is brought into play again. This Ideal is one that bring in a lot of controversy amongst the topic.
Equality is one Democratic Ideal that disembarks the way the two sides disagree about the unborn child or fetus and when it's decided when it starts its life. This is more about how the child is as equally as important as the mother. In the ideal of Equality say that no matter what, every citizen is granted equality amongst others. Pro-choice does approach the topic, again, with when the fetus can be considered a citizen. This works because a citizen is someone who was born or native to some place, because the fetus is not yet born it isn't considered a citizen. Pro-life doesn't come about it that way with this one, they say that even if the unborn child is in the womb it still should be considered equal human beings and have a chance.
None of these topics that are linked with abortion are black and white, they're Grey. It can be such a vague topic amongst people in discussions.Depending on your views of god or life you can be Pro-life for the most part but have the opinion of someone who is Pro-choice when another ideal comes up. This is why this issue of abortion is mostly state based with restrictions from state-to-state.
Those who are Pro-life say that even though the child has yet to be born it is still viewed as a human being in the eyes of God. Personhood is something they feel strongly about. This is a person or a spirit that is being created in the image of God from the earliest biological beginning until natural death. This goes with Life of the Democratic Ideals saying that the unborn child has the exact same right as someone who is of any other age. The other side of the argument with Pro-choice is that the fetus is not yet an individual, it is just a fetus who is not yet considered a human being. The Pro-choice's side for this is not very strong, it's not that those who are Pro-choice encourage abortions, they don't like it as much as the Pro-life people do. All it is is that the Pro-choice people feel that woman should have the right to choice if they want or need a abortion.
The Pursuit of Happiness give everyone the right to attain happiness in their own way. Pro-life has a similar argument here as they did for they did for the Life Democratic Ideal. The same with Pro-choice. Both of these topics are very controversial, they bring up the ideas of when an unborn child or a fetus can be considered a citizen or a human being, when life begins. This Democratic Ideal is focused on a citizens right, Pro-life says the unborn child is a citizen of the United States so it has every reason to attain happiness. Pro-choice counters that with a United States citizen is someone who is born in the United States or has applied and been accepted as a citizen. The fetus is unborn so that creates a conflict and Personhood is brought into play again. This Ideal is one that bring in a lot of controversy amongst the topic.
Equality is one Democratic Ideal that disembarks the way the two sides disagree about the unborn child or fetus and when it's decided when it starts its life. This is more about how the child is as equally as important as the mother. In the ideal of Equality say that no matter what, every citizen is granted equality amongst others. Pro-choice does approach the topic, again, with when the fetus can be considered a citizen. This works because a citizen is someone who was born or native to some place, because the fetus is not yet born it isn't considered a citizen. Pro-life doesn't come about it that way with this one, they say that even if the unborn child is in the womb it still should be considered equal human beings and have a chance.
None of these topics that are linked with abortion are black and white, they're Grey. It can be such a vague topic amongst people in discussions.Depending on your views of god or life you can be Pro-life for the most part but have the opinion of someone who is Pro-choice when another ideal comes up. This is why this issue of abortion is mostly state based with restrictions from state-to-state.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Right to Choose
Are there any major complication that come with getting an abortions? What are the risks with back-ally abortions? What kind kind of restrictions can be placed on abortions if it was made Legal on a national level? What are the extremes that each side goes to to make abortion legal or illegal? How big of a part does religion play into an opinion of those who are Pro-life?
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