Roe v. Wade and the legal debate over abortion rights

Abortion

Donna

Only half the patients who go into an abortion clinic come out alive."

Author Unknown 1980

Abortion is immoral, cannot be justified under any circumstances and is associated with several complications. The definition of a fetus according to the Crystal Reference Encyclopedia is "The fetal stage begins seven to eight weeks after fertilization of the egg, when the embryo assumes the basic shape of the newborn and all the organs are present. This stage continues until birth." (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007) in George Lakoff's book which was published in 2004, "Don't Think of an Elephant, Benjamin Wolozin" writes, "Conservatives are generally pro-capital punishment but anti-abortion. How can they favor death on the one hand but oppose it on the other?"

Stillbirth vs. abortion

When a woman has a stillbirth most of the time the mother is not given a birth certificate, she's given a death certificate. In a recent movement, parents of stillborn children are fighting to change that policy and in 14 states across the Nation they've already been successful. Liz, the mother of Janelle, is still mourning the loss of her stillborn daughter. In the beginning, Liz found Janelle's death certificate. She didn't want to post that on the wall, so she called the hospital to find out when she'd get Janelle's birth certificate. The hospital told her that her daughter was never born; they told her that she gave birth to her after 24 hours of labor, but she was never born. (Siegel, 2007)

Mother's who experience the loss of a child feel very alone; they feel as if their baby was not grieved enough by other people. Women who have experienced this kind of loss have founded a movement called Missing Angels Bills. This bill will grant birth certificates to their stillborn babies. These parents lose moments that they dream of experiencing such as squeezing their child's hand around their finger, their first day of school, prom, or seeing their child get married and have children of their own. Women who choose to willingly abort their child before they are born take away that child's ability to grow and experience the firsts in life. The first day of college, the chance to fulfill their dreams of one day becoming the President, a doctor, lawyer, school teacher, or whatever they want to be in life. They are not given the opportunity to choose life. (Siegel, 2007) personal friend of mine was 4 months pregnant when she found out her baby had died, her babies heart had stopped beating. As she was watching the sonogram screen, she could see the look of sadness on the face of the technician while she performed this procedure. The technician was not allowed to tell my friend her babies heart had stopped beating, she had to give the news to her obstetrician and let him tell her. Her obstetrician told her she would need a D&C to remove the fetus. As my friend was admitted into the hospital, she was asked to sign paperwork to perform this procedure. In this paperwork it stated that she would give consent to allow her physician to perform an "abortion." My friend refused to sign this paperwork as she told the hospital personnel she was not having an abortion, she was having a D&C. The staff member told her that the term "abortion" was the legal term for a D&C. My friend insisted that the paperwork be changed that she was not having an "abortion," that she wanted her child very much. She did not want paperwork in her medical history stating that she had an "abortion." After much debate and insistence, the paperwork was changed and it stated that she was consenting to a D&C. Many women are highly offended when they naturally loose a child and require a medical procedure to remove their unborn child and medical personnel are not sensitive to the fact that they are going through the loss of a child.

Statistics and Conclusions

Traditionalists say that promiscuity, divorce, abortion, and infidelity have all been removed from moral categories and are now know as "lifestyle choices." Today, no one but him/herself is allowed to render a moral verdict on themselves, most of the time the verdict they give themselves is pretty much always not guilty of immoral behavior. (Ferguson, 2007) report based on the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth informs that in 1994, about 44.7% of all pregnancies were unintended, and 71% of pregnancies among 15 to 19-year-old women were unintended; 54% of all unintended pregnancies ended in abortion, whereas 45.3% of unintended pregnancies among 15 to 19-year-olds ended in abortion. In other words, abortion services continue to be widely used in the United States, and state-level restrictions to abortion access can potentially affect a wide segment of the female population. Presently, 16 states fund all abortions sought by Medicaid recipients, 32 states only fund abortions resulting from rape or incest, and two states only fund abortions in cases of life-threatening pregnancies. (Sen, 2007)

Studies that directly examine the effects of these laws on sexual behavior and contraception use, find there is no significant reduction in sexual activity, or significantly show an increase in contraception use. Studies that use STD prevalence rates at state levels find no significant associations between STD rates and no public funding or parental involvement as a proxy for prevalence of risky sexual behavior. It appears that while the presence of abortion restrictions reduces the incidence of abortion, it has not led to substantial changes in sexual behavior or precautions against (unwanted) pregnancies. (Sen, 2007)

Because abortion rights and restrictions are among the most controversial issues of our time, policy implications are going to be a subject to the general public for debate. What does seem clear is that preventing abortions by restricting access to them may not be enough to protect the life of a child. Thus, the moral policy is that abortion restrictions should also have more social resources that are being devoted to family counseling, financial support, and educational services for those women who are most likely to carry pregnancies to term because of the presence of the restrictions. The other policy implication is the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. In that case, it becomes important to look at the effectiveness of abstinence-only vs. other types of sexual educational programs. Also to consider whether low-income adult women should be offered more help with family planning and access to contraception so that they can better avoid unintentional pregnancies. (Sen, 2007)

The following is a table of state laws regarding abortion:

State Laws Pertaining to Abortion

States

Parental Consent

Parental Notification

Alabama

Effected 1987

No law

Alaska

No law

Arizona

No law

Effected 1982; revoked / enjoined 1987

Arkansas

No law

Effected 1989

California

No law

Colorado

No law

Connecticut

No law

Effected 1990; revoked / enjoined 1998

Delaware

No law

Effected 1995

District of Columbia

No law

Florida

No law

Georgia

No law

Effected 1991

Hawaii

No law

Idaho

Effected 2000

Effected 1997; revoked / enjoined 2000

Illinois

No law

Indiana

Effected 1984

Effected 1982; revoked / enjoined 1984

Iowa

No law

Effected 1997

Kansas

No law

Effected 1992

Kentucky

Effected 1994

No law

Louisiana

Effected 1991

Effected 1992

Maine

Effected 1989;

No law revoked/enjoined

Maryland

No law

Effected 1992

Massachusetts

Effected 1979

No law

Michigan

Effected 1991

No law

Minnesota

No law

Effected 1980, 1990;

revoked/enjoined 1987

Mississippi

Effected 1993

No law

Missouri

Effected 1979

No law

Montana

No law

Nebraska

No law

Effected 1991

Nevada

No law

New Hampshire

No law

New Jersey

No law

New Mexico

No law

New York

No law

North Carolina

Effected 1995

No law

North Dakota

Effected 1981

No law

Ohio

No law

Effected 1986

Oklahoma

No law

Oregon

No law

Pennsylvania

Effected 1994

No law

Rhode Island

Effected 1982

No law

South Carolina

Effected 1990

No law

South Dakota

No law

Effected 1997

Tennessee

Effected 1998

Effected 1990; revoked / enjoined 1998

Texas

No law

Effected 1999

Utah

No law

Effected 1976

Vermont

No law

Virginia

No law

Effected 1998; revoked / enjoined 2002

Washington

No law

West Virginia

No law

Effected 1984

Wisconsin

Effected 1998

No law

Wyoming

Effected 1989

No law