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... people have different religious and moral beliefs. The courts ruled in the Roe case with what is known in ethics as Natural Rights. Natural Rights state that the fetus is not a human being with human rights until it is able to live outside of the mother and not be dependent on other people to sustain its life. Roe v. Wade was such a significant case because the Supreme Court ruled upon an implied right, which means a right that is not spelled out in the Constitution, but it is implied to be a right which is given to all citizens of the United States.
The right to privacy has been used many times as a basis for other cases particularly in the abortion field, but also in other genres. The reason that the Roe case is so much more influential than the Griswold case is because it dealt with such an influential and controversial topic. Sarah Weddington, lawyer for Norma McCorvey and author of her own book after the case said this about the importance of what she was fighting for in the courts: "Finally I was given a few minutes to point out in the most passionate yet professional way I could the varied impacts of pregnancy on a woman's life. I stressed that legal abortion in early pregnancy is eight times safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. I concluded that portion of my presentation by saying that to a woman, pregnancy is perhaps the most determinative aspect of her life: 'It disrupts her body, it disrupts her education, it disrupts her employment, and it often disrupts her entire family life. And...
because of the impact on the woman, this certainly, in as far as there are any rights which are fundamental, is a matter... of such fundamental and basic concern to the woman involved that she should be allowed to make the choice as to whether to continue or terminate her pregnancy, '" (Weddington 115). The Roe v. Wade decision was such a big deal because people made it such a big deal. Even today it is one of the most recognized Supreme Court cases in history, even though it was based on previous ideas and concepts.
Implied laws are often now pleaded to the Supreme Court in some part because of this case. Although I do not personally believe in abortion because of the description I gave in my paper about where life begins, I also believe that the Supreme Court was correct in establishing that abortion should be included in a woman's right to privacy. Implied rights are an important part of the Constitution because it could not be possible for every single right to be spelled out exactly in the Constitution and it is necessary for the Supreme Court to be able to decipher what should be implied from the original. The Court also made an unusual, but appropriate decision to rehear the case the second time. If the Supreme Court had left the decision the way it was the first time, it would be dangerous even today. With all of the controversy surrounding the abortion issue today, without the study base of this case, the foundation for abortion and the political system would be even more shaky.
The second time the Supreme Court heard the case, they made sure that they asked all of the appropriate questions and knew the case inside and out before they made an important decision. American politicians and pro-life activists would be questioning the decision even more today if they had left it questionable as to where they drew the implied rights. Roe v. Wade influenced the country more than anyone involved thought it would. The implied right to privacy was not intended to be the main idea of the case, but added on top of the abortion issue, it was one of the most important cases in history. Rarely does a court get to influence so many things at once and the Supreme Court in 1973 made sure they knew what they were deciding.
If they had decided that there was no right to privacy implied in the Constitution, and that abortion was completely illegal, the United States might have ended up more like Latin American where the number one cause of death among women is illegal abortion because the doctors are not regulated by the nation, but women continue to do it (Weddington 261). Roe v. Wade was not only a turning point in abortion rights, but was also a turning point in government. The Supreme Court flexed its muscles to show that they can make decision affecting the lives of most of the country.
Every person is guaranteed a right to privacy, and the Roe case made it certain that it would be upheld in even the highest court. In Roes case, the Supreme Court found the Texas abortion statute unconstitutional. In the courts opinion, the court held the Texas law violated a right to privacy guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Also, the court further held that such a right is a qualified one and subject to regulation by the state.
The state has legitimate interests in protecting both the pregnant womans health and the potentiality of human life. (i. e. the life of the fetus. ) To have an abortion the Supreme Court divided a womans pregnancy into trimesters. During the first trimester of a womans pregnancy, the first three months, a woman could have an abortion on demand without the interference of the state. During the second trimester, the second three months, the state is allowed to regulate abortions for the safety of the mother and child, but could not prohibit them entirely. And in the third trimester of pregnancy, the last three months, the state could regulate or forbid all abortions except when an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother.
This decision or judgment was made in January 22, 1973. The court also cited judicial precedent in holding the fetus is not a person as defined by the Fourteenth Amendment. In does case, the only real difference between Roes and Does case is the court stated the Georgia statute is unconstitutional, holding that it infringed on privacy and personal liberty by permitting abortion only in restricted cases. The Supreme Court also ruled that the statutes four procedural requirements violated the constitution. The state could not require abortions be performed only at certain hospitals because it had not shown that such restrictions advanced its interests in promoting the health of the pregnant woman. Such a requirement interfered with a womans right to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, which the Court in roe had declared was outside the scope of state regulation.
After the Supreme Courts decision on Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Dolton, the states began to liberalize their abortion laws. Abortion quickly became a divisive political issue of Americans. President Reagan used the anti-abortion movement to help him win the presidency. President Reagan attempted to change the abortion laws but didnt have much of an affect.
Regan even quoted Mother Theresa, which she said, The greatest misery of our time is the generalized abortion of children. Opponents of abortion refer to abortion as a silent holocaust. Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said Im not sure technology is going to come up with a perfect way to kill a baby. (Franz 2) The Supreme Court said an abortion, covered by the Fourteenth Amendment, is a promise of the constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter. The Court also invoked the legal doctrine of stare decision, the policy of a court to follow previously decided cases rather than overrule them. Lets get past the moral and political issue of the life or death of a baby through abortion and let people think for we have free will given to us from God. The will to decide what we, in this case woman, think is right for us or themselves, not outside forces such as anti-abortion groups or pro choice groups.
We as human normally do we think is right for ourselves and others. People do not want the hassle of other people telling them or scaring them to do what is right in their eyes. I mean it is crazy the lengths people will go to wade your mind to convince you their way is right. Such as the violence by anti-abortion groups at anti-abortion clinics.
I feel people should do what they think is right and legal for themselves. Any way people look at abortions it is a womans legal right to have an abortion if a woman chooses to. Bibliography: Corelli, Richard. "Harry Blackmun... dies. " Seattle Times 4 March 1999. Cunningham, MacDonald and Grant. From Conception to Birth; the drama of life's beginnings.
New York: Harper and Row, 1971. Hamblin, Hannibal, M. D... "Life or Death by EEG. " Journal of American Medical Association (1964): 113 - 115. Henshaw, Stanley K... "Abortion Services in the United States, 1991 and 1992. " Family Planning Perspectives 26 (1994): 101 - 112.
Lejeune, Jerome, M. D... "The Human Life Bill. " Op. cit. , 1 (1996): 8. Like, Albert W. M. D...
Statement, U. S. Congress, Senate, Subcommittee on constitutional Amendments of the Committee on the Judiciary, Ninety-Third Congress, Second Session, "Abortion Part 2. " S. J. Res. 119. Rorvick. "What the Fetus Feels. " British Medical Journal 55 (1980): 234.
Settles, Landrum M. D... "Why Pain Hurts: Unlocking an Agonizing Mystery. " Time 123 (1984): 58 - 63. Torres, Aida. "Why Do Women Have Abortions?" Family Planning Perspectives July 1988: 169 - 176. Tribe, Laurence H. Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes. W.
W. Norton and Co. , 1990. Weddington, Sarah. A Question of Choice.
New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
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Research essay sample on Life Or Death Supreme Court
