Let us roundabout back to the discussion of the fourteenth amendment and dive into a case and subject of ENORMOUS controversy… Roe versus Wade and the topic of a government’s role in abortion rights.
Roe v. Wade has always been a case that has intrigued me because it made me wonder; “why does the government even care about what a woman does to her own body?” For those who do not know the case well, Roe v. Wade was argued in December of 1971 and decided in 1973 regarding a woman’s right to get an abortion in Texas. Jane Roe (a false name to protect her actual identity) filed a lawsuit against the district attorney in Dallas County, Texas wanting to challenge the law that made abortions illegal unless performed to save the mother’s life. The case went to the supreme court and in 1973 it was determined that a woman’s right to choose fell under the right to privacy provided by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It was determined that in the first trimester of pregnancy (the first three months) a state cannot impose any restrictions on whether or not a woman can get an abortion. But in the second and third trimesters, the state can impose regulations and ban it entirely (third trimester) to protect the mother’s health and to protect the child once it has grown and “reached the point of viability”.
Roe won her case but the decision was presented after she had her child, and she went on to be a key speaker on the Pro-Life side of the argument.
I personally agree with the court’s decision because it should be a woman’s choice to have a child or not, and it becomes inhumane to abort a child once they are fully developed. Although it is an entirely personal, and often religious and ethical decision to make; it is the woman’s decision alone to make and I think that no person nor government has any right to say otherwise. I think that Voltaire’s saying; “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” applies to this situation because even if a person disagrees with getting one themselves, I believe that other women’s rights to do so should be protected at all cost.
This case was an enormous stride in women’s rights, especially reproductive rights. It gave her control of her own body and it saved so many women from self-harm and illegal abortions; because it was estimated that there were “between 200,000 and 1.2 million illegally induced abortions occur[red] annually in the United States.’ As many as 5,000 to 10,000 women died per year following illegal abortions and many others suffered severe physical and psychological injury” (Center for Reproductive Rights) before the Roe v. Wade Decision. Legalizing abortion saved so many women’s lives because they were able to have the procedure professionally and safely.
Sources:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18
https://www.reproductiverights.org/document/roe-v-wade-then-and-now
PAS #7