Rights Of Women: Roe V. Wade

I have learned a great deal since enrolling in Political Science 2302. Of the subject areas discussed and studied this semester, there were a few topics that truly sparked my interest. A subject area that I enjoyed learning about was the Rights of the Criminally accused. Learning this topic allowed me to be more aware of the rights I possess as a citizen. There are many people today who work for the law who easily abuse their power; knowing my rights as a citizen allows me to take a stand against these individuals. I gained a more thorough understanding of the constitutional powers of the President in a recent lesson. Watching the Presidential Candidates’ speeches will be more interesting because some candidates speak of promises they cannot fulfill because it simply is not attainable with the powers given to the President. The topic of Civil Rights sparked my interest because it is a large part of history that should not go untaught. Learning about the hardships of African Americans during this time was eye-opening which taught me to never take these rights for granted. A current political issue is jeopardizing some rights of women today. There is an ongoing debate about whether abortion is unjust and new bills are being introduced that could possibly overturn Roe v. Wade.

Abortions were outlawed in the United States until the case of Roe v. Wade overturned the decision in 1973. In the case of Roe v. Wade, a female resident of Texas, Roe, chose to abort her pregnancy. Roe was unable to undergo the procedure because abortions were only done if the woman’s life was in danger. Eventually, the court ruled in Roe’s favor. It held that women have a right to abortion through the right of privacy as stated in the fourteenth amendment. The right to privacy was first recognized in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 (Oyez). Griswold “was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Connecticut when she was arrested for violating a state statute that prohibited counseling and prescription of birth control to married couples.” (McBride). It was argued that a right to “marital privacy” is liberty under the Due

Process Clause (Chapman). The court agreed and held the decision that ruled in Griswold’s favor. Georgia has recently passed a “heartbeat” bill that prohibits abortion after the six-week mark of a pregnancy which is when a heartbeat is first detectable in a fetus (King). The bill is set to go into effect at the start of 2020. This raised concerns because many women are not aware that they are pregnant at this time. Women who believe in pro-choice are in opposition of this bill because they feel that the choice of abortions should be left to pregnant women alone with no interference. This new bill is being considered by various other states and is only causing greater controversy. A similar bill was recently passed by the Senate Health Policy Committee in the state of Florida that would require females under the age of 18 to get consent before they can get an abortion. Many people are not in favor of the bill because some underaged, abortion-seeking females are afraid to notify their parents of their pregnancy. Some teens live in households where they fear they would be abused if their parents found out they were pregnant. To try and appease those in opposition; the bill also states that the minor would possibly be able to waive the consent of a parent in cases of child abuse or sexual abuse (The Associated Press). Recently in the state of Alabama, a law was introduced that would ban abortions altogether except for when the woman’s health is in danger. In the state of Texas, abortion laws are more reasonable than those of some other states. Here, abortions are allowed up to twenty weeks of the pregnancy unless the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus has a “severe abnormality” (ACLUTx). Minors in Texas can get an abortion with parental consent.

Abortion is a sensitive topic to discuss and base laws upon. It is sensitive due to it concerning the life of an innocent, unborn child. Abortion laws must create a basis and not tread on the rights of United States citizens who are protected under the constitution. The laws must be constitutional and hold no bias. The basic human rights of citizens can be found in the bill of rights and in the fourteenth amendment as well. The addition of the heartbeat bill created a problem: getting an abortion is now infeasible and the bill impedes on the rights of citizens.

There is a simple solution to the problem created by the “heartbeat” bill; appeal the bill. Appealing the bill would continue to allow abortions up until the twentieth week of pregnancy which is more reasonable (Ellis). Enforcing the bill is simply a round-about way of attempting to ban abortions altogether without doing so directly. The bill attacks women’s rights and should not be allowed. It takes medical care decisions out of the hands of the patients and doctors and gives it to lawmakers. Many lawmakers are in no position to direct the care of others, let alone women. Medical expert Melissa Kottke in an interview stated: “Having medical care directed by lawmakers is extremely dangerous” (Ellis). The right to abortion is a decision that should be decided upon only by the woman herself; women should be able to control what happens to their own bodies.

There is much to learn from the controversy around abortion: if a vast majority is outraged with a legislative decision, then something is wrong and needs to be reassessed from a different standpoint. The decision of Roe v. Wade should remain to stand because it contains rights that every woman must have. Women around the country will continue to stand up to legislators until they reconsider the bill and understand the baggage that comes along with it. No one can be sure of the future; one can only speak their mind, have hope that their voice is heard, and trust that the government will listen. It is times like this that people tend to lose trust in their government. Losing trust in the government is detrimental to the government because, without the citizens, there would be no government. The two must coincide to work as a functioning system for the sake of the country.