Carrington James Mr. Raboy U.S. Government and History December 7th, 2015 An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. In Roe V. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, The Supreme Court addressed the issue of abortion by recognizing the right to privacy through the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments and creating a new, less strict interpretation of the “undue burden” standard of review. In the 1970’s, a pregnant woman named Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) pursued a case against the Dallas County, Texas District Attorney. She challenged a Texas law that made it a crime to get an abortion. An exception of …show more content…
Wade had an impact on other Supreme Court cases. Almost 20 years after the Roe V. Wade decision, the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case came along. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that it was a woman’s constitutional right to undergo an abortion procedure. After the Court’s ruling, states felt the need to try to place limits on the procedure, and some even thought that the Roe case decision should be completely overturned. In 1988 and 1989, Pennsylvania eventually made some changes to its abortion law. Some new changes included that a woman must consent prior to the procedure, a doctor had to imform the woman about the abortion procedures 24 hours before the procedure. That change inevitably created a mandatory 24-hor waiting period. Women under the age of 18’s parents had to grant consent or a judge would have to sign off on the procedure. It also made for married women to notify their husbands about the abortion procedure and sign a statement saying that she had done it. It was mandatory for abortion providers to report and keep records of these things. Many clinics and doctors challenged it and said that they were unconstitutional. A district court eventually reversed all the new provisions. The case eventually ended up going back into court and the court enforced all of the district court’s current decisions, except the spousal notification …show more content…
The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives. The Constitution serves human values, and while the effect of reliance on Roe cannot be exactly measured, neither can the certain costs of overruling Roe for people who have ordered their thinking and living around that case be dismissed.” This shows that women have been looked at differently in society because of their reproductive roles. The Court ruled that women notifying their husbands placed an “undue burden” on them or choosing to have an abortion, it was unconstitutional because the law violated a woman’s right to due process. The “undue burden” was a way for the courts to effectively test the constitutionality of abortion restrictions. In Roe V. Wade, the Court had ruled that the state could not mandate abortion procedures happening in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Casey decision overturned that part of the Roe V. Wade decision. Roe v. Wade brought the controversial issue of abortion to the forefront,
Wade, one of the most controversial cases of it's time, and of today. Many beg the question: do women have the right to decide what to do with their unborn child? Some say “ it is her body, and she has the right to do as she pleases; and some say absolutely not”. In the 1960s there was no laws regulating abortions, because most states had already placed a complete banned on the procedure. The only way one could have an abortion performed, is if the life of the mother was in danger.
wished to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion 'performed by a competent, licensed physician, under safe, clinical conditions'; that she was unable to get a 'legal' abortion in Texas. . . . She claimed that the Texas statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy. . .
The ruling stated that the law violated the constitution, the courts legalized abortion at the federal level, so wade took it to the supreme court where there was a seven-two vote that, again, it violated her rights. “The Court argued that the Texas Constitution’s First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s ‘zone of privacy against
This case would serve as a turning point in determining the extent to which a woman’s reproductive rights should be left to her discretion. Similarly, on the same day that Roe v. Wade was decided, Doe v. Bolton was decided, concerning Georgia’s severe abortion restrictions, which limited abortions to rape, a highly disabled fetus, or a threat to the woman’s health. In both cases, the Court agreed that “women’s rights to abortion outweighed states’ rights to regulate abortions”. As a result, these two cases aided in the establishment of the access of abortions for women, with a set precedent utilized in later cases. Finally, the last case of the 70’s to expand upon women’s reproductive rights was the case Bellotti v. Baird.
Initially, Roe v. Wade was between a man named Henry Wade, Dallas district attorney, and Norma McCorvey, a resident in Dallas, Texas known as Jane Roe. Roe had fought for her ability to terminate her unwanted pregnancy in 1969 merely because she was not financially stable enough to care for her child. At the time, “ the estimated number of illegal abortions in the United States ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year ” (History.com). Of course, due to the unprofessionalism of these procedures, there were risks and many fatalities. This did not go unnoticed by the supreme court and in a seven-to-two decision, they successfully abolished Texas banning abortion.
The decision expanded those rights and the abortion law in Texas is considered
Prior to the case it was the state that determined the legality of abortions. Jane Roe, (alias), was an unmarried and pregnant Texas citizen in 1970. She wanted to have an abortion, but Texas abortion law made it a felony to abort a fetus unless “on medical advice for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.” Roe filed suit against Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas to challenge the law outlawing abortion. At the time, many states had outlawed abortion except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger.
Since the Roe vs Wade case in 1973, the issue of a woman’s decision to have an abortion has been legalized at the federal level. States do have the right to place restrictions on obtaining abortions. In 2013, Texas passed abortion clinic regulations that reduced the clinics in number from forty-one to nineteen. The right to life of an unborn child should be guaranteed and abortion should be outlawed. It is inhumane to end a defenseless human life if the mother’s life is not endangered.
This case, known as R v. Morgentaler, was a major turning point towards the liberalization of abortion legislation. Morgentaler argued that section 251 of the Criminal Code created unequal cross-country access to safe, legal abortions and was a violation of the “life, liberty and security of the person” outlined in section 7 of the Charter. The court’s decision was split 5-2 with the majority assenting to Morgentaler’s claims. Justices Brian Dickson and Antonio Lamer’s reasoning concluded that, “[f]orcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction, to carry a fetus to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations, is a profound interference with a woman’s body and thus a violation of security of the person.” As such, the ruling of this case struck down the existing abortion law as unconstitutional and redefined abortion as a healthcare issue.
Seward, S. (2014). Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). Retrieved from The Embryo Project Encyclopedia:
“On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Roe v. Wade, a challenge to a Texas statute that made it a crime to perform an abortion unless a woman’s life was at stake. The case had been filed by “Jane Roe,” an unmarried woman who wanted to safely and legally end her pregnancy. Siding with Roe, the court struck down the Texas law. In its ruling, the court recognized for the first time that the constitutional right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy” (Roe v. Wade, 1973).
When writing to her state government didn’t work out, she then wrote of her problems to the Supreme Court saying that she feared that her rights to her own body were being controlled by someone that was not her. The Supreme Court looked over her case multiple time deciding if it was worth it and if they should look further it. After they decided to do it they ruled that abortions should be legal and that women should have a say because it is their own body not their husband or a case of
The Right to Abortion On January 22, 1973, in a 7-2 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down it’s landmark decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, which recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions — including the decision to have an abortion without interference from politicians (Planned Parenthood). There are many moments in history when Roe v. Wade has been so close to being overturned, yet it is still in place. Abortion should stay legal, or not overturned, for the health of women everywhere. First, this important case took place at the time of abortion being illegal in most states, including Texas, where Roe v. Wade began.
Before Roe v. wade the number of deaths from illegal abortions was around 5000 and in the 50s and 60s the number of illegal abortions ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year. These illegal abortions pose major health risks to the life of the woman including damage to the bladder, intestines as well as rupturing of the uterus. The choice to become a mother must be given to the woman most importantly because it’s her body, her health, and she will be taking on a great responsibility. A woman’s choice to choose abortion should not be restricted by anyone; there are multiple reasons why abortion will be the more sensible decision for the female.
In 1992 in the case Planned Parenthood versus Casey, set up guidelines for what point a woman is able to have an abortion up until. Abortion is still a major debate and people take sides on this issue to either be pro-life or pro-abortion. “Maybe you want to tell him. Why? You don’t owe him anything.