Abortion

Term Paper # 100973

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Abortion

An analysis of federal policy issues and the public's impact on abortion laws.

1,953 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the debate over abortion. It describes the arguments of the pro-life and pro-choice groups and then discusses the federal policy issues and the public's impact on abortion laws. The paper analyzes the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in "Roe v. Wade" and discusses the impact of the decision for women's rights in terms of abortion.

From the Paper:

"For them, the pro-choice argument that a fetus in a mother's womb is not really human until it develops consciousness and is physically capable of surviving on its own is valid on both logical and moral grounds. Despite their importance, it is not simply a matter of personal rights of freedom, it is a matter of reaching a rational conclusion based upon the evidence available from medical science. (Tribe 155-156)"
"But this logic is rejected by pro-life advocates in the federal government and the public, for they insist that life has to begin before birth. In their view, the development of fetuses past conception is evolutionary and is manifested by a gradual change, not by an ambiguous and indefinable instant in the second trimester when life is achieved. Because of this gradual development of a human fetus, life must be recognized as beginning upon conception, for this is a definable moment of massive and total change, when a sperm and an egg become a miniature, living human being. (Baird 195-197)"

Sample of Sources Used:

Alcorn, Randy. Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments. New York: Multnomah, 2000.
Baird, Robert M. The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. New York: Prometheus Books, 2001.
"Bush's Judicial Nominees." SourceWatch. Online. Available: http://www.source watch.org/index.php?title=Bush's_judicial_nominees. 29 November 2006.
Gold, Rebecca Benson. Abortion and Women's Health: A Turning Point for America? New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1990.
Johansen, Jay. "A Summary of Pro-Choice Arguments." Online. Available: http://www.pregnantpause.org/abort/choicarg.htm. 30 November 2006.