Abortion

What is abortion? Abortion: the deliberate killing of an unborn human life by means of medical and surgical procedures From ancient times through the 19 th century, safe, surgical abortion; conducting an abortion caused great risk to the mother Pre-modern methods covered everything from herbal concoctions, to cliff-diving, to strenuous labor by the mother, to extreme heat applied on the mother’s abdomen These procedures often prevented any discussion about legalizing or legitimizing abortion on a widespread scale because women undergoing the procedure were at such a risk of injury or death

What is abortion? Modern medical procedures, especially advances in surgical practices, led to abortion procedures becoming less and less risky for mothers through the early and mid 1900’s List of modern abortion procedures in all three trimesters List of modern abortion procedures in all three trimesters All of these procedures are violent by nature; poisoning and dismemberment are the two foundational actions in modern abortion procedures

Quick abortion statistics Around 45 million abortions occur throughout the world each year; most of these (around 38 million) are in developing nations There 28 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age In the United States there are about 1.2 million abortions performed per year Since abortion was legalized in 1973, there have been over 54,000,000 abortions performed in the United States The vast majority of abortions, about 89%, occur during the first trimester (up to about 16 weeks at the latest)

Quick abortion statistics The cost of an abortion in the United States ranges anywhere from as low as $300 during the first trimester to over $1,000 for late term abortions Estimates range from around $800 million to a little over $1 BILLION is spent on abortions in the U.S. each year; still in comparison to the scope of the healthcare industry in the U.S., this is a tiny slice of the pie; the U.S. spends about $2.1 trillion per year on healthcare

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Legalized abortion in the United States The official date for the legalization of abortion in all 50 states is January 22, 1973; this is the day that the United States Supreme Court issued decision in Roe vs. Wade Basic point, the Supreme Court declared that any state which sought to make abortion illegal would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 14 th Amendment The 14 th amendment states: “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Legalized abortion in the United States For many years, in many different cases, regarding many different issues, the Supreme Court had begun defining a “right to privacy” At the beginning, this right had only to do with a person not having their personal privacy violated by prying media sources (ex. tabloids) Over the years though this concept of “right to privacy” expanded greatly until finally in 1965 the Supreme Court declared that a “right to privacy” existed under the Constitution

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Legalized abortion in the United States The specific court case was Griswold vs. Connecticut; it was a court case regarding contraception; Connecticut had a law making use of contraceptives illegal and the Supreme Court said this law violated the Constitution based on a married couple’s “right to privacy” Goes so far as to declare that the marital chamber is a “sacred precinct” where the government can never intervene Essentially makes privacy a zone of decision making freedom for good or evil Eventually this right to privacy is extended to unmarried couples as well in 1972; now both married and unmarried people can use contraceptives

Roe v. Wade facts “Jane Roe” was a pseudonym for a woman from Texas named Norma McCorvey; Henry Wade was the name of the Texas attorney who was defending Texas’ law At the time, Texas had a very tough abortion law; McCorvey wanted an abortion and filed a Federal lawsuit saying that Texas’ law violated her Constitutional rights By 1970, this case makes it all the way to the Supreme Court where there all also other cases regarding the legality of abortion waiting to be argued

Roe vs. Wade facts The court rules 7-2 in favor of McCorvey, declaring that the Texas law banning abortion violates her Constitutional right to privacy In the text of the decision, the Court declares that the big issues are the health of the mother and the law’s duty to uphold “potential human life” The Court admits that if it can be proven that unborn human life are indeed “persons” then under the Constitution abortion would have to be illegal in all 50 states, no matter what the circumstances might be

Roe vs. Wade facts Following this admission, the Court declares though that it is not within its power nor any government agency’s power to declare when real human life begins; it is a question to be left to the philosophers and theologians of the world The Court bases its decision on trimester system: – First Trimester: abortions can be obtained for any reason whatsoever; no state can prohibit abortion for any reason at this stage – Second Trimester: states can prohibit abortion but only in the interest of the mother’s health – Third Trimester: states can prohibit abortion BUT must include exceptions in the case of the mother’s physical AND psychological health

The Viability Mistake Very quickly, people realized this trimester system was very shaky ground on which to be basing abortion policy Two main reasons why the viability issue is so shaky: – The age of viability keeps changing with the constantly improving part of medicine dealing with premature babies – Viability never truly exists in human beings if by viability we mean the ability to live without the help/aid of others; human beings are dependent on others from conception to death

Roe vs. Wade facts In later S.C. cases the health of the mother is GREATLY expanded to the point where abortion becomes legal for basically any reason whatsoever Problem with the decision is that in fact they ARE deciding when human life/personhood begins: AT BIRTH Here is where we find rights to be competitive; the unborn life is defenseless against its mother because the Supreme Court says it doesn’t have its own Constitutional rights to compete against its mother Once birth happens though, the baby is granted Constitutional rights and can compete against the mother’s desires with its own “right to privacy”