The U. S. Constitution: Roe v Wade II

The Issues: Pro-Choice and Pro-Life (continued)

Pro-Choice. Another pro-choice perspective is that no child should come into this world unwanted ("Should Abortion Be Legal?"). This point seems to be quite a significant one since it is difficult enough to go through life, but to go through life unwanted and unloved seems barbaric. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: unintended pregnancies are associated with birth defects, low birth weight, maternal depression, increased risk of child abuse, lower educational attainment, delayed entry into prenatal care, a high risk of physical violence during pregnancy, and reduced rates of breastfeeding. 49% of all pregnancies among American women are unintended ("Should Abortion Be Legal?").

Abortion diminishes the costs of welfare to the taxpayer. While evaluating anti-abortion legislation, that would serve to disallow all abortions beyond the twenty week pregnancy period, the Congressional Budget Office, determined that added births would raise the federal deficit by $225 million within a nine month period as a consequence of the additional need of Medicaid coverage. Also, since the majority of women who request abortions in the later periods are economically underprivileged, the increase in welfare recipients should be expected. Pro-choice advocates suggest that abortions aid in the reduction of crime. Quarterly Journal of Economics issued a peer reviewed study that indicated that abortions contribute to crime reduction. Using 18 years of data, crime rates dropped quickly where abortion was available, and in areas where abortion was an option earlier, the crime rates declined earlier. The report indicated that "women who have abortions are those most at risk to give birth to children who would engage in criminal activity" (Donohue and Levitt), “and women who had control over the timing of childbearing were more likely to raise children in optimal environments, crime is reduced when there is access to legal abortion” ("Should Abortion Be Legal?"). 

Another consideration proposed by pro-choice proponents is that abortion helps to reduce our population (Saunders). According to the United Nations, global population is escalating at ever increasing rates. Overpopulation dilemmas such as poverty, starvation, lack of proper health and academic services, malnutrition, pollution, resources conflicts, and pollution are all a function of having too many people on Earth. Abortions reduce populations and aid in helping overpopulation issues. In 2014, it was determined that there were at least 40 to 50 million abortions globally ("Abortions Worldwide"). A philosopher, Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University supported the recognition of abortion’s contribution to reducing world overpopulation (Saunders). 

According to a Gallup Poll on a number of questions on abortion, the results were: "Do you think abortions should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?" ("Abortions"). On May 4-8 2016, 29% of the respondents said legal under any circumstances; 50% said legal only under certain circumstances; and 19% said illegal in all circumstances. Of those who responded that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances, "Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only in a few circumstances?" ("Abortions"). During the same time frame, 29% of the respondents said legal under any circumstances; 12% said legal under most circumstances; and 37% said legal in only a few circumstances; and 19% said illegal in all circumstances ("Abortions").

On the question, "with respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?" ("Abortions"). Within the same date period, 47% of the respondents said that they were pro-choice; 46% said that they were pro-life; and 3% said that they were either mixed or neither; and 3% said that they did not understand the terms; 2% stated that they had no opinion. Responses from other polls indicated that during the period from Oct 7-11 2015, 49% of the respondents said that they were pro-choice; 44% said that they were pro-life; 2% said that they were either mixed or neither; and 2% said that they did not understand the terms; 2% stated that they had no opinion. On the matter of whether the issue of abortion would impact your vote, on the issue the candidate must share your views 20% responded favorably; on the issue abortion would be one of many considerations 49% responded favorably; on the issue that it was not a major issue 28% voted favorably; and 4% had no opinion ("Abortions").

Pro-Life. The other side of the abortion coin is found in the assertions made by the pro-life advocates. One of the fundamental principles of the pro-life perspective is that abortion is viewed as murder ("Pro-Life Arguments”). The supporters state that abortion is the killing of human beings who are innocent and vulnerable and they need to be protected, despite not being born yet. Pro-lifers say that an unborn baby is viewed as a human being by the American government ("Protection of unborn children"). In support of this opinion, they point to federal law. The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, was instituted for the purpose of providing protections for unborn children who are the victims of assault or murder, and the law provides “if the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall . . . be punished . . . for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being” ("Protection of unborn children"). A law similar to this has been passed in at least 38 states.

Another popular pro-life argument is that life begins at conception as opposed to achieving viability at the point the fetus can live on its own outside the womb (“Viability”). A human being, they say, is created upon fertilization and has particular genetic traits that follow the person throughout their life. The just fertilized individual has a basic right to live, and it is a right that must be protected. Jerome Lejeune, a French geneticist, who identified the Down Syndrome chromosomal abnormality, said that the nature of the being which they maintain from conception to death is the basis of scientific evidence.

Pro-life backers state that a fetus experiences pain (Agresti). The actual time when a fetus experiences pain is at controversy, but most say that by 20 weeks after fertilization, they can have a reaction to pain stimulus. Some say that it is earlier, some say later. The medical accuracy is not definitive. The question is whether the brain has developed enough to register the pain sensation. Maureen Condic, PhD, an Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, says that the spinal reflex, which is a primeval reaction to pain occurs at eight weeks during gestation (Ertelt). Condic states that there is unequivocal agreement that a fetus experiences pain in during the first trimester. A professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology and neurobiology, at the University of Tennessee Science Center, Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand, MD, Ph. D., expressed that after 20 weeks he believes that the fetus would experience “excruciating” ("Unborn Pain") pain in the case of an abortion. Bernard Nathanson, MD, an abortion doctor who later switched his beliefs and advocated for the pro-life position, said that when a 12 week fetus is aborted, that you can see on the ultrasound that the child has a reaction and opens their mouth in a silent attempt to scream, and that “this is the silent scream of a child threatened imminently with extinction” (Grimes).

Pro-lifers contend that abortion is killing and as such is in defiance of God’s Word ("Abortion: Ten Bible”). The life supporters say that the Bible does not distinguish between a fetus or a baby. They point to the following scriptural references, "before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." (Jeremiah 1:5). Pro-lifers also point to the Sixth Commandment which says, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13), and point out that there is no distinction between unborn babies and human beings. The Hindu religion is also pro-life (Murti and Derr). The Kaushitaki Upanishad, a holy text, equates abortion to killing one’s parents. In traditional Buddhism, life starts at conception and abortion is rejected because it is considered the termination of a life ("Buddhism and abortion").

Not every Supreme Court Justice supports abortion (Bilger). In fact, before his death, Justice Antonin Scalia, a Constitutional textualist, in terms of the manner in which he analyzed the U. S. Constitution, which means that he was neither a strict constructionist (limiting judicial review), nor a judicial activist, (a judge who enacts legislation through their court rulings), said that there is no right to privacy found in the Constitution. Scalia was in full agreement with Justice William Rehnquist, who dissented in the Roe v Wade opinion in 1973. Scalia’s opinion on Roe was very strong, he said:

My view is that regardless of whether you think prohibiting abortion is good or whether you think prohibiting abortion is bad, regardless of how you come out on that, my only point is the Constitution does not say anything about it. It leaves it up to democratic choice.  Some states prohibited it and some states didn’t.  What Roe vs. Wade said was that no state can prohibit it.  That is simply not in the Constitution (Bilger).

When asked about the case he said that Roe v Wade was an “absurdity” (Bilger).

Pro-life supporters advocate that abortion can cause psychological damage to the mother ("Abortion Risks”). Medical records from Mediaid patients who had abortions in California indicated that women that had abortions were 160% more likely to seek or be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. This percentage remained high for four years afterward. Another study indicated that of the patients that had abortions eight weeks before, 44% found that they had developed nervous disorders, 36% found that they had developed sleep disturbances, 31% found that they ultimately regretted their decision, and 11% had received psychotropic medication ("Abortion Risks”). A study by the Southern Medical Journal, which was peer reviewed, found that 173,000 women from the U. S.: were 154% more likely to commit suicide than women who carried to term. A 1996 study published in the British Medical Journal reported that the mean annual suicide rate amongst women who had an abortion was 34.7 per 100,000, compared with a mean rate of 11.3 per 100,000 in the general population of women ("Should Abortion Be Legal?").

Another point made by the pro-lifers is that when a woman has an abortion, the number of adoptable children is reduced ("Should Abortion Be Legal?"). There are many women who are unable to conceive and so, they should make the effort to give their new born to a person who is seeking a child of their own. They point to the fact that in 1973 of the babies that were born, 9% of them were given up for adoption, yet since that time, the number has decline to only 1% of babies born, reducing the available number of babies from 90,000 to 18,000 between the years 1971 to 2007 ("Should Abortion Be Legal?").

Works Cited

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"Abortions." Gallup. Gallup, Inc. n. d. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx>.

"Abortions worldwide this year." Worldometers. Worldometers.org. n. d. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.worldometers.info/abortions/>.

"Abortion: Ten Bible Reasons Why It Is Wrong." Bible Believers. James L. Melton. n. d. Web. 6 September 2016. <https://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/abortion.html>.

Agresti, James. "Science Confirms Unborn Children Feel Intense Pain During Abortions." LifeNews.com. 13 June 2015. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.lifenews.com/2015/06/03/science-confirms-unborn-children-feel-intense-pain-during-abortions/>.

Bilger, Micaiah. "8 Times Justice Scalia Affirmed There is No Right to Abortion in the Constitution." LifeNews.com. 16 February 2016. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.lifenews.com/2016/02/16/8-times-justice-scalia-affirmed-there-is-no-right-to-abortion-in-the-constitution/>.

"Buddhism and abortion." BBC. 23 November 2009. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml>.

Donohue, John, J. and Levitt, Steven, D. "The Impact of Legalized Abortion and Crime." Quarterly Journal of Economics. May 2001. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.rochester.edu/college/psc/clarke/214/Levitt01.pdf>.

Ertelt, Steven. "Expert Tells Congress Unborn Babies Can Feel Pain Starting at 8 Weeks." LifeNews.com. 23 May 2013. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/23/expert-tells-congress-unborn-babies-can-feel-pain-starting-at-8-weeks/>.

Grimes, William. "B. N. Nathanson, 84, Dies; Changed Sides on Abortion." The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 21 February 2011. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22nathanson.html?_r=0>.

Murti, Vasu and Derr, Mary Krane. "Hinduism Is Prolife on Abortion." Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Journal. Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association. <http://www.fnsa.org/fall98/murti.html>.

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Saunders, Peter. "Peter Singer Backs Abortion for Curbing Population Growth." LifeNews.com. 30 October 2012. Web. 6 September 2016. <http://www.lifenews.com/2012/10/30/peter-singer-backs-abortion-for-curbing-population-growth/>.

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