Roe vs. Wade 1973
Roe vs Wade banned abortions except to save the life of the mother. The court’s ruling was that states weren’t allowed to outlaw or gullet any aspect of abortion during the first trimester, could only abort babies if it affected the mothers maternal health in the second and third trimesters, and could protect the fetus in the third trimester. Roe vs. Wade politically split the nation more than any other debates in its history and is still a continued problems and national divider in the USA today.
During the time of the Roe vs Wade decision many states restricted and banned abortions. The first challenge of these restrictions were brought up during the 1960’s feminist revolution. in 1970 Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington challenged the abortion law on behalf of Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) claiming that the Texas Law violating abortions violated Roe’s constitutional rights. The lawsuit was filed against Henry Wade, Dallas Country District Attorney, thus bringing about the name Roe vs. Wade. The Texas Supreme Court ruled with Roe, that not allowing her to have an abortion was against her constitutional right, though angered by this decision Wade appeal to the US Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision ruled that the Texas statute violated Jane Roe’s constitutional right to privacy. “The Court argued that the ‘zone of privacy’ was ‘broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.’ This decision involved myriad physical, psychological, and economic stresses a pregnant woman must face” (PBS). The Supreme Court ended up ruling against Roe “protecting all fetuses under this contentious view of prenatal life was not sufficiently important to justify the state’s banning of almost all abortions”
Roe vs. Wade was released in January 1973 and still remains very controversial to this day. This Supreme Court case was the most famous because it brought in controversy from every view of life, ethics, politics, religion, and biology. Abortion laws are still highly controversial today and many states disagree with one another around the laws of abortion.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you explained why the Roe vs Wade case has been one of the most controversial cases in history because it encompassed "life, ethics, politics, religion, and biology." This case is very interesting because it also brings up the question whether fetuses are included in the constitution. It seems unjust to determine whether a fetus should live or not because it has the potential for life, in which case it certainly has constitutional rights. Another famous case on this topic was Griswald vs Connecticut, which stated that it was unconstitutional to outlaw contraceptives(devices to prevent pregnancy). Link to Griswald: http://www.abortionfacts.com/cases/griswald-v-connecticut-1965
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt is always interesting to mention at the end how topics that created great controversy in the past are still creating controversy in the present. To follow up on that I think that it would be interesting if you also analyzed the Gonzalez v. Carhart case of 2007. LeRoy Carhart was a physician from Nebraska that was performing abortions late in pregnancy, and the Supreme Court would favor Carhart. Later Gonzalez would appeal the ruling. Ultimately the case would be a great victory for those who favored abortion.
ReplyDeleteLink: https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/gonzales-v-carhart-2007