Linsey Grantz
Professor Sheldon
Federal Government
September 16, 2019
Journal 1
Abortion is a hot topic right now with more and more states passing restrictions,
making it harder and harder for women to get safe abortions. Currently, 43 states prohibit
abortions, generally expect when to protect women’s life or health. Georgia, Louisiana,
Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio have passed heartbeat bills banning abortion
after six to eight weeks, around the time a fetal heartbeat is detected. Abortion is right a
right all women should have, the right to have a safe, private abortion, and in an equipped
facility. People seek abortions for many different reasons and those reasons are their own
choice. We have a right to privacy, we have a right to free speech, we have a right to
freedom of religion, we have the right to bear arms, so why cant why we have the right to
control our own bodies. In society men have always governed us, started wars, ushered us
into new eras, and made laws and policies. They have made decisions for women on
things that they have no room to make decisions on. What if women could make
decisions for their own bodies make their own choices how would that change society,
would it change it at all? These are questions we need to ask in order to understand just
how a decision that seems so small could have a major impact on the society we live in.
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As American citizens we have certain rights that are given to us at birth. Row v.
Wade determined that The Constitution’s zones of privacy are broad enough to
encompass a women’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy, but the state
could limit it. In Alabama a bill was passed that would make providing or helping
someone obtain an abortion a crime with no exceptions for rape or incest. Georgia,
Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio passed heartbeat bills prohibiting
abortions after six to eight weeks around the time fetal heartbeats can be detected.
According to the US National Library of Medicine the average time a women discovers
she’s pregnant is 5.5 to 6 weeks. That means that when the average women finds out
she’s pregnant she may only have days to decide, if she’s lucky. There are currently 20
states at risk of overturning Roe v. Wade, some of these states have existing Pre-Roe
abortion bans or trigger laws that could ban abortion immediately if Roe were overturned.
Before Roe v. Wade illegal abortions cause 1 in 6 pregnancy related deaths and thats just
according to official reports; doctors think the actual numbers are a lot higher. Prohibition
of legal abortion particularly hurt people with low incomes; a survey conducted in the
1960s found that among women with low incomes in New York City who had obtained
an abortion, eight in ten had attempted a dangerous, self-induced procedure. If Roe v.
Wade is overturned or further eroded, one-third of all women of reproductive age in
America could lose the ability to access abortion in their state. After abortion became
legal it also, became one of the safest medical procedures in the united states.
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These new laws or bans are directly challenging Roe v. Wade and the precedent set by the
1973 Supreme Court ruling, which affirmed that a women has a right to seek an abortion
up until the point that the fetus could be “viable” outside of the uterus. Viability has to be
determined on an individual basis, generally between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. Eric
Johnston the president of the Alabama Pro-life Coalition said "We want to stop abortion
of unborn children. And the only way we can do that is to go back and revisit the Roe
decision.” Roe v. Wade must be protected it is pivotal in abortion rights and if it not many
women will lose access to their right to choose. Today, 73% of Americans don’t want Roe
v. Wade overturned the right to a safe and Legal abortion has been law for over 45 years,
and is a part of the fabric of this country. Nearly 1 in 4 women in America will have an
abortion during her lifetime. Where will these women go if Roe v. Wade is overturned and
abortion is outlawed in their state?
In Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the U.S. Constitution
protects a person's right to make their own medical decisions, including the decision to
have an abortion. Through the more than 45 years since that landmark ruling — in
decisions including Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and
Whole Woman’s health v. Hellerstedt —the Supreme Court has never wavered from this
principle. If it’s not upheld it would be detrimental to women’s health rights. It was
Agreed that “the fetus was to be regarded as part of the mother, and it’s destruction,
therefore, was not homicide.” If the fetus is regarded as part of the mothers body she has
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the right to choose what happens to her body, doesn’t she? The states are trying to
overturn the ruling that gives us the access to our choice. Currently 42 states allow
institutions to refuse to perform abortions, 16 of which limit refusal to private or religious
institutions. 27 states require a woman seeking an abortion to wait a specified period of
time, and 14 of these states have laws that effectively require the woman make two
separate trips to the clinic to obtain the procedure. 37 states require some type of parental
involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion. 26 states require one or both
parents to consent to the procedure, while 11 require that one or both parents be notified.
While abortion may be legal it is not easy to obtain it is not a right, Roe v. Wade must be
protected if not women will lose their access to abortions. Which can be argued is not a
protected right.
While Roe v. Wade is under attack, there are certain states fighting to protect and
expand the Supreme Court ruling. New York’s Reproductive Health Act the Act ensures
that if Roe v. Wade were ever overturned abortion would remain a legal Health procedure
in New York. It also expands access to abortion later in pregnancy if the pregnancy
cannot survive and Doctors and patients would not go to jail. Illinois, New Mexico and
Rhode Island have introduced similar Reproductive Health Acts, which would codify in
law what we already know: abortion is not a crime. These bills would safeguard
residents’ right to access abortion safely and legally, no matter what might happen at the
U.S. Supreme Court. The data shows overwhelming support for Roe v. Wade 67% of
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Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. When state legislators
introduce or amend abortion laws, most Americans want them to focus on protecting or
expanding abortion access rather than trying to restrict it. Also, 65% of Americans think a
trend to restrict access to abortion care is going in the wrong direction. Moderates support
the ruling, with 71% of self-described moderate Republicans and liberal Republics and
82% of moderate and conservative Democrats. Every Six in Ten in the Catholic
Community support the decision and 82% of 18-29 year olds. All the data shows
overwhelming support for Roe v. Wade in the American people. It also shows that most
Americans want lawmakers to stay out of the issue of abortion altogether rather than pass
new laws to restrict access. For generations now, we have had the right to make our own
personal decisions about when and whether to become a parent, including the right to
access to safe, legal abortion services. Americans simply don't believe that politicians or
judges should be making personal decisions for people about their pregnancies.
We have a right to privacy, we have a right to free speech, we have a right to
freedom of religion, we have the right to bear arms, so why cant why we have the right to
control our own bodies. As American citizens we have certain rights that are given to us
at birth. Row v. Wade determined that The Constitution’s zones of privacy are broad
enough to encompass a women’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
Abortion must become a protected right and for that to happen Roe v. Wade must be
protected its is instrumental in Womens Reproductive Rights.
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Works Cited
• “An Overview of Abortion Laws.” Guttmacher Institute, 4 Sept. 2019,
www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-abortion-laws.Branum, Amy M,
and
• Katherine A Ahrens. “Trends in Timing of Pregnancy Awareness Among US Women.”
Maternal and Child Health Journal, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2017,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5269518/.
• Parenthood, Planned. “Roe v. Wade: The Constitutional Right to Access Safe, Legal
Abortion.” Planned Parenthood Action Fund, www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/
issues/abortion/roe-v-wade.
• Keating, Dan, et al. “The Widening Gap in Abortion Laws in This Country.” The
Washington Post, WP Company, 28 May 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/
2019/05/09/which-states-are-blocking-abortion-and-which-are-enacting-protections/?
noredirect=on.
• “Strict Abortion Laws Passed in Several States.” ProConorg Headlines,
www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005441.
• Gordon, Mara, and Alyson Hurt. “Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed
Them?” NPR, NPR, 5 June 2019, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/
2019/06/05/729753903/early-abortion-bans-which-states-have-passed-them.
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• Rebecca, K. K. “Abortion Bans: 9 States Have Passed Bills to Limit the Procedure This
Year.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/
interactive/2019/us/abortion-laws-states.html.
• “HB314/SB211 (2019) - Abortion Ban.” ACLU of Alabama, 24 May 2019,
www.aclualabama.org/en/legislation/hb314sb211-2019-abortion-ban.
• “On This Day, the Roe v. Wade Decision.” National Constitution Center –
Constitutioncenter.org, constitutioncenter.org/blog/landmark-cases-roe-v-wade.
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