Roe V. Wade

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade was a huge turning point on women, and the decisions they made, the constitution manipulate women’s bodies, which was unconstitutional making women rebel and uprise against the court. Woman had always been underestimated and Jane Roe changed history with this case, although many complications came up this was a robust way of fighting for women’s rights. Jane Roe, also known as Norma McCorvey challenged Texas authority to be able to exercise her constitutional rights. McCorvey should be given the freedom to chose whether or not she would like to move forward with the abortion. Abortion should be legalized and should be based on the individual’s choice because women with unwanted pregnancies should not be forced to conceive the child they do not wish to have, it is a woman’s constitutional right, their privacy, and if having an abortion is not permitted women decide to perform it themselves.

The case was first argued in December 13 of 1971, at this moment Jane was barely informed that she was pregnant, the case was called back in and reargued in October 11 of 1972 ten months after, giving her no choice than to have the child. Jane Roe was an unmarried woman that was not trying to have an unwanted pregnancy, it is not verified but Roe’s claims to be raped although to this day is still considered to be a theory. Texas only permitted an abortion to take place if the pregnancy was damaging the patient’s health and if there were any complications but Roe did not seem to have any, she simply did not wish to have a baby. Henry Wade was the Dallas County District Attorney and he argued that her health would not be affected by the pregnancy, but her issue was that the state court did not allow her to make her own decisions as if they controlled women’s bodies which was unconstitutional. Jane Roe argues that the fourteenth amendment in the constitution protects her right to privacy which means that she can do what she wishes to her own body.

Abortion is a very controversial topic and even though it has its benefits it also has its disadvantages, most of the woman who ask for an abortion were either raped or the pregnancy was just a mistake (unwanted/accident). "Against our will, woman and rape" a book written by Susan Brownmiller in the 1970’s where she states the truth about movements for social change and specifically the positive changes in society that were created due to vigorous women during that era. Susan states that "the human male was a natural predator and the human female served as his natural prey, not only might the female be subjected to at will to a thoroughly detestable physical conquest from which there could be no retaliation in kind a rape for a rape, but the consequences of such a brutal struggle might be death or injury, not to mention impregnation and the birth of a dependent child". Susans argument should be taken to consideration because if women are taken advantage of and raped they should be given the right to get rid of the fetus. Woman should have options as to what to do with the fetus and if they were raped it should be there right to be able to get an abortion as well as Jane Roe, if her statement about her being raped was proven to be true it is crucial that she is given the option to abort. Not on only are the women with unwanted pregnancies affect socially but also mentally. If they don’t have the option to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy so the mother either has to decided whether she wants to keep the child or give them up for adoption, which is just placing another child in the system.

Many doctors either deny performing an abortion or do it in secret because the law was clear that no women would be allowed to receive an abortion unless the pregnancy was life threatening or the female was raped. There were women who had an unwanted pregnancy and got so desperate that they themselves would perform the abortion. Self- induced abortion is not only harmful for the fetus, but they are removing woman organs from the mother. James Hubert Hallford, a physician decided to go away from his profession to join Jane Roe in this case. He too filed against the Texas authority, he claimed to being arrested for violating the Texas abortion laws. He claimed that as physician he was not able to tell whether they fell in or out of the exceptions to giving an abortion. Also that the state violated the doctor-patient confidentiality.

The law was prohibiting women from having an abortion unless the pregnancy in some way was threatening the life of the mother. Jane Roe was not able to get a legal abortion done in Texas and she could not afford to travel to another state to get the abortion. Although Roe realized that what the state of Texas was doing was unconstitutional and was invading her privacy. This issue was first debated with the Texas district court which agreed with Roe that the law was unconstitutionally violated her right to privacy under the Ninth Amendment, which is where all of the rights are, like that of privacy, not clearly named in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and the fourteenth amendment. Although it did not allow Roe to have an abortion she had to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ended up ruling that the Texas law was unconstitutional. In Women’s Community Health Ctr., Inc. v. Cohen, 1979 its state’s "right of privacy… is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy."

Abortion in the 1970’s and abortion in the 21st century have changed in a drastic way, a year before Roe v. Wade it was claimed that around 5,000- 10,000 woman died. According to AGI (Alan Guttmacher Institute ) there was an estimated 744,600 abortions conducted during Roe’s first year. The technology that the 21 first century asserts less maternal deaths who are looking to terminate there pregnancy, in Europe more than 1.5 million terminated the pregnancy and only a few of them had to go back to get a second check up. Women should have control of their own body and it is their choice if they would like to keep the fetus or abort it. Women have been ignored for too long and Roe v. Wade was a huge influence on females and their rights to privacy and liberty as the constitution states many times. Arguments made by the Texas court are unconstitutional because they contradict the constitution and the unalienable rights of every person.

Sources

Supreme Court of United States. "ROE ET AL. v.WADE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF DALLAS COUNTY. " Google Scholars. 1973 . Web. September 9, 2017

Brownmiller, Susan . Against our will, woman and rape. 1975, Chapter 1, Pelican Books Edition, September 12, 2017