The U. S. Constitution: Roe v Wade III

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

Pro-Life. Pro-life advocates state that the process of selective abortion, where an abortion is performed based on the set of genetic abnormalities an unborn child might have is discriminatory (Berlatsky). The fact that a person has one or another disability does not render their existence less than human. Supporters point to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which is a law that establishes civil rights to individuals with disabilities and recognizes their right to live a full and productive life. The National Down Syndrome Society also supports this position, as well. They argue that individuals with Down Syndrome should not be made victim to selective abortion. These individuals are a valued part of the community just as much as any other citizen, and persons with Down Syndrome make important contributions to society. The Down Syndrome population has been diminished significantly due to selective abortion, because over 80% of women elect to abort when they are told that their child will be born with the chromosomal condition (Berlatsky). In tandem with this argument is that of abortive gendercide, where a mother aborts an expected girl because for cultural or other social reasons the mother, father or both want a son (Berlatsky). In the documentary It’s a Girl, an interview is conducted with an impoverished Indian woman who said that in her country, women are desperate not to have a girl. She admitted that she suffocated eight of her baby girls after birth in order to terminate their life. The problem is that a dowry, an expensive gift, must be given to a husband when he marries her, and poor Indian women cannot afford a dowry, nor can they afford an abortion, so they make that rather daring choice.

Pro-life proponents also indict women who use abortion as a contraceptive tool, stating that it is especially immoral to kill an unborn baby simply for the sake of convenience ("Abortion as Birth Control"). In a study developed by the Guttmacher Institute, it was shown that 50% of women who have an abortion, have had one previously. Further, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research shows that 8.5% of women who have had abortions, have had three or more abortions previously. The high recidivism rate demonstrates that some women are using the procedure as a form of birth control. Steven Levitt, Ph. D. found that once abortion had become legal, conceptions actually increased by thirty percent, but births decreased by six percent, which shows that some women were using the procedure as a means of contraception, “a crude and drastic sort of insurance policy" ("Abortion as Birth Control").

Pro-lifers believe that, in effect, if you made your bed, now lie in it ("Responsibility of the mother"). They contend that if you have sex and conceive, then you should be responsible for the consequences of your failure to use proper contraceptive measures and, basically, you should deal with it. When you have sex with or without the use of contraceptive, there is a risk that you will become pregnant. You do not get to punish the baby for the errors of the adult. Pro-life champions admonish, that at a minimum, unintended mothers should give their child up for adoption. 

Right to lifers contend that doctors should not perform abortions because when they first become physicians, they take the Hippocratic Oath ("The Hippocratic Oath and Abortion"). Both the traditional oath and the modern version of the oath, revised in 1964 either affirmatively state or imply that a doctor should not perform an abortion. The traditional version specifically recites that an abortion will not be performed, and the modern version indicates that a doctor should not play God.

Anti-abortionists say that the abortion mindset encourages a throw away culture (Weldon). They declare that the pro-abortion policy communicates that life has very little value. Pro-life promoters refer to Pope Francis who spoke about the tendency of people to simply throw things away, food, dispensables and people. Randy Hultgren, a Republican congressional House of Representatives member, stated that inconvenience should not be the basis for discarding human lives. An example of the throw away culture is the man who encourages his girlfriend to have an abortion because having a child will negatively impact his career plans, or a mother who selects abortion due to genetic abnormalities or gender preferences (Weldon). In these instances the projected struggle outweighs the anticipated happiness.

Right to life defenders caution that abortion is not consistent with the intent of the Founding Fathers (Schieber). They point to the words in the Declaration of Independence as evidence. It reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” ("Declaration of Independence"). Abortion denies the unalienable rights of unborn human beings.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, Black women were more likely than White women to have an abortion, and citing records from New York City, there were more Black babies aborted than babies that were brought to full term (Caruba). Susan A. Cohen, vice president for the Institute, said that the rate when comparing Black abortions to White abortions was almost five times higher, and stated that the reason is that Black women have far less access to contraceptive services than White women. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, reported in 2013, that “Black women terminated pregnancies at a rate of 67.3 per 1,000 women ages 15 to 49, a rate far higher than any other racial or ethnic group” (Caruba).

Anti-abortionist state that the abortion procedure terminates possible contributions to society of a potential human being. Tim Tebow, a well known football player, and now minor league baseball player, who used to wear eye black that had various biblical verses inscribed within, made things personal, when he described that his mother did not follow the advice of doctors who had suggested that she have an abortion (Alcorn). The abortion recommendation was apparently also given to the mothers of Pope John Paul II, Justin Bieber, Cher, Celine Dion, and Nick Cannon, if their mothers had followed those recommendations, we would not have become aware of their talents.

The final thought presented by the right-to-life advocates is that the abortion can ultimately lead to nascent maternal medical problems. The International Journal of Epidemiology declared that 15% of the miscarriages that occurred in the first-trimester coincide with a previous induced abortion, with vacuum aspiration leading the pack as the methodology most impactful (Sun, Che, Gao, Olsen and Zhou). In the Indian Journal of Cancer, a 2013 peer-reviewed study determined that there is a relationship between having a history of abortions and breast cancer. This was supported in 2014, by another study in Cancer Causes and Control, that states as the abortion rate goes up, the cancer risk goes up. Death. Women who have an abortion are more likely to die the next year than women who give birth to their babies ("Abortion Risks”). Cervical, ovarian and liver cancer. Studies indicate that women who have had one abortion are more likely to have cervical cancer than women who have never aborted. Women who have had two abortion have an even higher risk. The same is true for ovarian and liver cancer. Uterine Perforation. Less than 4% of abortion patients experience uterine perforation, although this often goes undiagnosed and therefore, not treated. Placenta previa. An abortion intensifies the risk of placenta previa should the mother become pregnant later by seven to fifteen times. Later Preterm Deliveries. Women who have had one or multiple induced abortions have a higher likelihood of having a later pre-term delivery as opposed to women who carry full term.

Roe: The History and the Decision

Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion in Roe v Wade, stated that abortion was a procedure utilized by the Greeks and Romans and at the time was unrestricted ("Roe v Wade 2"). In 1821, Connecticut was the first state in the United States to create a statute that criminalized abortions. By the 1900s all states had established legislation on the subject of abortion. Blackmun indicated that although abortion was viewed as a common law crime, it did not grow from the traditions of English common law.

In 1969, Norma L. McCorvey became pregnant and was having her third child (Mattox). She wanted to have an abortion, but abortion was illegal in Texas, except in the cases of incest or rape. Her friends suggested that she advise that she had been raped so that she could have a legal abortion. She was unsuccessful, though, because she was unable to produce a police report documenting the rape. She then tried to get an illegal abortion, but the clinic had recently been closed down by the police. Thereafter, she met Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, Texas attorneys (Prager). The pair filed a lawsuit on her behalf, yet in the meantime, McCorvey gave birth to her child. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas for McCorvey using the pseudonym Jane Roe. The defendant was Henry Wade, who was the Dallas County District Attorney representing the State. McCorvey stopped asserting that her pregnancy was due to rape, and admitted that she had lied about her circumstances (Mattox). On June 17, 1970, the District Court held unanimously that the Texas law prohibiting abortion was unconstitutional because it was in violation to a person’s right to privacy based on the Ninth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. The District Court used Griswold v Connecticut as the basis for its conclusion (Prager). 

Roe was appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court in 1970 (Prager). Jay Floyd, represented the State of Texas. Sad for him, he presented his opening argument with a joke, stating that the two beautiful female attorneys would clearly have the last word, and he thought there would be laughter following his statement, but it was met with icy stares and some say that they thought that Chief Justice Burger would actually come at him from the bench, his glare so hard and cold (Weiss). Not a good time to audition to become a comedian when standing before the Supreme Court in what would ultimately become a landmark case.

The justices concluded that the law was unconstitutional, but there were a variety of reasons regarding why (Roe v Wade 2). Chief Justice Burger gave the assignment to write the opinion to Blackmun. In 1972, Blackmun suggested that the case be reargued and this occurred in October. Weddington represented Roe, and Texas Assistant Attorney General Robert C. Flowers took over for the budding comedian, Jay Floyd. Blackmun, in the meantime did some research on abortions at his old stomping grounds, the Mayo Clinic. The Court’s decision was rendered in January of 1973, in a 7 to 2 majority vote in support of Roe. Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion, and Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall and Powell joined. Burger, Douglas and Stewart filed concurring opinions, while White and Rehnquist dissented (“Roe v Wade”).

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