Abstract This paper reviews the current abortionlaws in the United States. It argues that the laws governing abortion need to be tightened considerably. Specifically, the paper argues that rampant abortion in the United States (and throughout the western world) is taking place at a time when more young Americans are needed, not fewer, and where the country is already facing a critical lack of human resources in many areas. It also looks at the potential physical and psychological problems for women who undergo abortions.
From the Paper "Lastly, there are the physical and psychological effects of abortion. Most notably, there is the definitive risk that an abortion can leave a woman sterile or with other health maladies - especially in nations where medical expertise lag behind the demand for the service (Davanzo & Grammich, 27-28). Suffice it to say, a woman who is rendered sterile in this manner can become deeply depressed (particularly if she is young and childless) and mental illness can follow. As well, it is intuitive to suggest that young women who find themselves inadvertently pregnant and who seek out an abortion may have deep-seated pangs of regret later in life. As a result, American law should - in addition to either restricting or banning outright late-term abortions in all American jurisdictions - pass measures requiring psychological and medical consultations (in addition to spousal and parental notifications) before such a dramatic procedure is undertaken."
Abstract This paper examines various aspects of abortion and abortionlaw such as social and ethical concerns as well as the law, and more specifically concerned to that of women's rights.
From the paper:
"While medical science is making abortion much safer for the woman, the debates and the legal battles continue unabated. In the United States, the battles rage in the courts, the Congress and state legislatures. There have even been violent confrontations in the clinics where abortions are performed. There are people in favor of giving the woman the right to abort, and people who are not prepared to allow abortion except when it puts the life of the mother in danger. In between these two extreme positions, we have people taking intermediate positions."
Abstract This is an essay discussing the issue of abortion. The paper attempts to explain why abortionlaws differ from state to state and the struggle and conflict between states, using examples of past cases. Shows how pro-life groups have had more influence in some states than other and how the laws are stricter.
From the Paper "Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. In many countries, this is regarded as a criminal act. However, other countries have legalized abortion, although, restrictions vary from country to country (Abortion pg). Abortion is a passionate issue of debate in the United States. Pro-life groups frequently picket abortion clinics, at times leading to violence. Perhaps no other issue stirs such deep-rooted convictions as the issue of abortion. Anti-abortion groups view the act as murder, while pro-abortionists view it as a woman's right to make decisions regarding her body. It is indeed an issue of passion and conflict. In the United States, each state sets its own guidelines, therefore, abortion laws differ from state to state (Abortion pg)."
Abstract This paper will discuss the idea of fetal and abortionlaws that currently are being placed within the United States. By analyzing the different levels of state and federal mandates placed on abortion, we can discover the different levels of life, as defined by these laws.
Abstract This paper delves into the legal, ethical and religious aspects surrounding abortion, while also focusing on the feminist view of this hotly-debate topic. The writer of this paper traces the roots of the abortion debate back to Susan B. Anthony. Anthony opposed abortion because the medical procedure, in her time, was unsafe and endangered a woman's health and life. This paper examines how feminists today defend the development of safe and effective birth control as a means to prevent abortion. This paper also looks at the views of various feminist organizations such as Feminists for Life and Feminists Against Abortion. This paper discusses the media's impact in the evolution of the "Pro-Choice" and "Pro-Life" movements. This paper also discusses how the laws regarding legal abortions have changed over the past 40 years. In 1965, all 50 states banned the procedure, with some exceptions. In 1973, The Supreme Court reversed the situation in the case of Roe vs. Wade, declaring most existing state abortionlaws unconstitutional. The writer of this paper explores the issue of abortion in various religions, including Judaism and the different Christian sects. While those of the Catholic faith do not believe that abortion is an acceptable solution to undesired pregnancies, they do accept that there may be situations when an abortion must be considered. This paper also touches on the ethical side, where many believe that abortions should only be considered when the life of the mother is at stake. However, shades of grey enter into the picture when other reasons are offered as well, as detailed in this paper.
From the Paper "Although those of the Catholic faith do not believe that abortion is an acceptable solution to undesired pregnancies, they do accept that there may be situations when an abortion takes place as the outcome of trying to deal with another medical issue. For example, the Church would allow "the doctrine of double effect" if the mother requires a life-saving operation that may possibly end the pregnancy, since it is the first priority to save the woman's life rather than end the pregnancy.
Many Protestant denominations including the Anglicans, Methodists and Quakers have been disinclined to be as strict as the Catholic Church. Frequently, they accept that there are certain occasions when abortion is an unavoidable result of deciding between the "lesser of two evils."
To further complicate the issue, explains Ellingson, there is even disagreement among the Catholics and among the Protestants. "It is not just a Catholic and Protestant Debate."
Abstract This paper explains the theories of French 20th century philosopher Michel Foucault, which focus on relationships of human power to knowledge and discourses and on manifestations of these in real life based on various power dynamics. The paper suggests that the application of Foucault's theories to the topic of abortion is appropriate because abortion is a procedure only made possible by science. Therefore, abortion is an abstract entity based on the doctor's medical knowledge and power to accept or reject a patient for an abortion for scientific reasons. The paper reviews the abortion process and laws and concludes that these distinctions among various countries point to diverse nationally-based power/language influences.
From the Paper "In terms of other, often invisible, power relationships that also bear on abortion law in any given location: before being enacted or even proposed, especially in the U.S., such potential laws are likely discussed; lobbied for or against; fueled or derailed by non-lawmaking, influential peoples' or groups promises; bribes; threats; phone call or email campaigns, etc. Each has to do, also with language-power relationships Foucault describes. For instance, hypothetically, U.S. Congressional Representative A, R-Georgia, a strongly Baptist anti-abortion state, proposes a new bill outlawing abortion."
History of abortionlaws in the United States and the controversy of funds available for abortion in federal agencies as well as civilian medical insurance providers.
2,400 words (approx. 9.6 pages), 9 sources, 2002, $ 89.95
Abstract This paper examined the historical evolution of the legalization of Abortion in the United States. The controversy over federal funding of abortion was also examined. The roles of interest groups, government agencies and the position of civilian insurance companies over the funding issue were explored, and arguments for and against the use of federal funds in abortion were also examined.
Abstract This paper discusses how, since the establishment of the case, challenges to the legitimacy of Roe v. Wade (1973) have occurred on a state level. Of these dilation and extraction abortion procedures, which are also referred to by the term partial birth abortions, have made significant headway in the courts to contest the terms under which Roe v. Wade provides protection to personal privacy in the context of abortions.
From the Paper "The assessment of federal control over the corporal state of the American person has long been contentious. Abortion is one of the forums through which this issue is frequently expressed, as all efforts to identify whether abortion is an acceptable procedure from a moral and ethical perspective is challenged through the imposition of federal law over the woman's body. Precedent was established in Roe v Wade (1973) that limitations on abortion are unconstitutional as these are invasive controls over the woman's personal privacy. "
Abstract 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 abortionlaws. 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)"
This paper discusses whether or not abortionlaws as they currently stand in the US promote promiscuity, or sex outside of a committed, long-term relationship like marriage.
1,650 words (approx. 6.6 pages), 5 sources, 2002, $ 62.95
Abstract It presents the author's personal views on promiscuity and abortion, as well as the state's view of these topics. The author concludes that while unsafe sex and sex intended for procreation are essentially the same act, there has been no notable increase in unsafe promiscuous sex due to the legality of abortions.
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that abortion today has become a highly contentious ethical issue and the limits to which it is enforced within a legal system is primarily centered on the rationale of an unborn baby being (un)able to claim personhood. The writer points out that arguments are numerous both for and against this and are ultimately aimed at legally justifying access, or restriction, to abortion services. This essay argues that grounds for legalizing abortion are not conclusive and that they are in-fact arbitrary and fallacious in some cases. The writer puts forth a case for illegality in abortionlaw except under exceptional circumstances, through the objection of the pro-abortion arguments of fertilization being process, and a fetus is only a potential human being.
From the Paper "To insinuate that there is no difference between an ovum before and after fertilization is contrary to current scientific inquiry. The proposition of using the 'process' argument as a justification on relaxing the legal limit to abortion is at very least vague and the consequences of being wrong is worrisome. Being able to distinguish an exact point of personhood, based on subjective criteria, on a continuum, comes across as impossible and plagued by arbitrary judgments.
"Garrett Hardin, formally professor of biology at the University of California in Santa Barbara, writing before the 1967 legalizing of abortion in the United States reasons that the killing of very young embryos is not the same as killing at another stage in life, claiming we are not the same person at different stages of life."
Abstract This paper is on pro-life vs. Pro-choice of abortion. Abortionlaws date back to the early 19th Century. Most abortions became illegal during the 20th Century.
Abstract This paper discusses the pros and cons of abortion. It examines issues such as the right of the woman to decide versus the right of the child to live, the view of the majority of Americans, abortion in the historical perspective, psychological effects on the woman and the threat to the mother's health.
From the Paper "Much has been written on the issue of abortion both in the popular press and in the philosophical literature. The debate focuses on two distinct issues: (1) whether a human fetus has a right to life, and, if so, (2) whether the rights of the mother ever override the fetus's right."
Abstract This paper explores whether policy endogeneity partially explains the negative relationship generally reported between parental involvement laws and abortion rates, since parental involvement laws are found to be negatively related to both teen and adult abortion rates. Since parental involvement laws may be more likely to be passed in jurisdictions with a higher level of anti-abortion sentiment, both the laws and anti-abortion sentiment may be responsible for lower abortion rates. To explore this possible interrelatedness, a religiosity-level variable was used as a proxy for anti-abortion sentiment, since anti-abortion sentiment might affect abortion rates directly and indirectly through the greater likelihood of the enactment of parental involvement laws.
From the Paper "The relationship of parental involvement laws and religiosity level to abortion rates was analyzed for teens and adults; regressions were estimated for four age groups: 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, and 30-34 years old. Residence county-level 1995 abortion rates were regressed against parental involvement laws and religiosity levels as well as several control county-level variables--restrictive public funding, unemployment rate, population density, percent of college graduates, extent of poverty, percent of married-couple families, and geographic region. The sample consisted of the 1,008 counties from the 17 states that reported abortion numbers by county and by age group."
Tags:abortion, involvement, laws, parental, rates, research, study
Abstract The first part of this paper studies the state-based laws that restricted abortion from the 1960s to the 1970s. The second part then examines how the women’s movement and reproductive rights supporters successfully challenged these state-based laws with the passing of Roe vs. Wade. It also studies how reproductive rights groups have successfully used "Roe vs. Wade" and Constitutional Law to protect abortion and reproductive rights. The third part of the paper focuses on the anti-abortion groups. Particular attention is given to their shift from noisy “shaming” campaigns and protests to legal arguments regarding fetal rights. It evaluates how the anti-abortion crusade has framed their campaign on the personhood and the rights of the fetus. In the conclusion, this paper assesses the future of reproductive rights, in the face of the many legal challenges being mounted by anti-abortion groups.
From the Paper "In 1973, through the landmark case of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court made first trimester abortions legal in the United States. The decision struck down a host of state anti-abortion statutes and was hailed as a landmark of women's reproductive rights. It also gave birth to a vocal umbrella movement of anti-abortion groups that continue to challenge Roe vs. Wade both on moral and legal grounds. Almost three decades later, the issue of abortion remains the greatest moral flashpoint facing America today. More than any other moral issue, the question of abortion has divided communities, determined the outcome of many elections and incited quiet citizens to become activists."
