January 22, 1973 marked the day of the United States Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade, which struck down all state laws that prevented women from obtaining abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy.
This landmark case was originally brought to court by Norma McCorvey, better known as Jane Roe in Roe v Wade, who wanted to obtain an abortion but could not because she lived in Texas, where abortion was prohibited unless it was necessary to save the mother’s life.
Now, 8 years later, what has been the impact of this monumental decision? What will its impact be on future generations?
Myths on Abortion
If you want to be an informed voter, there’s one topic you should familiarize yourself with: abortion. Here are some common myths about abortion and its impact on our society that are still floating around out there.
We’ll separate fact from fiction in today’s post. The main thing to remember is that whether or not you believe in abortion as a right, Roe vs.
The Government's Role in Abortion
Since 1973, Congress has tried more than a dozen times to cut federal funding for abortion. Those efforts have come to naught for two reasons: They've failed to win enough votes in both chambers of Congress, and presidents from both parties have threatened to veto them.
Now that President-elect Donald Trump will take office with a Republican-controlled House and Senate in January, it's unclear what will happen next.
It's not clear whether there is even much interest in trying once again on Capitol Hill—and it certainly isn't clear what Trump might do about defunding Planned Parenthood. But people who believe abortion should be legal are worried.
Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice
The debate over abortion has been around since before most of us were born. The pro-life camp believes that life begins at conception and ends with death. Pro-choice supporters believe in a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, as well as medical science indicating that a fetus is not viable until 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Despite differing viewpoints, there is one thing everyone can agree on: that our country needs change. The current political climate regarding abortion decisions should be shifted towards federalism, where each state can make its own decision without having to comply with any sort of national policy on reproductive rights...
Pain of Abortion
It was exactly 39 years ago today that America legalized abortion. But, did you know that there are still more restrictions on abortions in America than almost any other country? In fact, even China has easier access to abortion services than we do.
Almost 200 countries allow some form of legal abortions; we’re number one in limiting it. This is a stain on our national conscience. One third of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion;
yet millions of women cannot access an abortion or have trouble paying for it when they need it most. America’s largest providers have reported up to a 24% increase in patient traffic since 2007.
Another Way
There’s a lot of support in America for more restrictions on abortion, and while I personally believe that abortion should be legal in most cases, I’m aware that many people don’t. But after eight years of Justice Clarence Thomas deciding 5-4 cases on women’s rights to health care,
I find myself somewhat comforted by his decision on one case recently. In that case, Whole Woman's Health v Hellerstedt , he declined to overturn a Texas law that effectively shut down most of the state's abortion clinics.
He wrote a dissent from his conservative colleagues' decision not to review an appeals court ruling against Texas laws requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and requiring clinics to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.