Roe V. Wade
...ancy but defined levels of state interest for regulating abortion in the second and third trimesters. In their decision, the Supreme Court split up a woman’s pregnancy into trimesters and allowed for unrestricted abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. The Court decided that states could enact certain regulations to ensure a woman’s safety during second trimester abortions. In the third trimester, the court ruled that a state could restrict abortion if it is in the best interest of the child. The one exception to the rule is in regard to protecting women’s health. Health was defined by the court as “any condition that might impact her physical, emotional, psychological, or financial well being.” This therefore extends abortion rights for the full term of a pregnancy if these criteria are met. “The Court today is correct in holding that the right asserted by Jane Roe is embraced within the personal liberty protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is evident that the Texas abortion statute infringes that right directly. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more complete abridgment of a constitutional freedom than that worked by the inflexible criminal statute now in force in Texas. The question then becomes whether the state interests advanced to justify this abridgment can survive the ‘particularly careful scrutiny’ that the Fourteenth Amendment here requires. The asserted state interests are protection of the health and safety of the pregnant woman, and protection of the potential future human life within her. But such legislation is not before us, and I think the Court today has thoroughly demonstrated that these state interests cannot constitutionally support the broad abridgment of personal liberty worked by the existing Texas law. Accordingly, I join the Court's opinion holding that that law is invalid under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” (Potter Stewart, Roe V. Wade Concurring opinion). Abortion is “the termination of the fetus or unborn child while the child is still in the mother's womb.”(National Health Institute) There are two sides to the abortion topic, the pro-life stance which is those who are against abortion altogether and believe that abortion is morally and ethically wrong; and the pro-choice stance, people who believe it is the woman's right to choose if she wants to have an abortion. These two groups support different solutions to the problem. The pro-life solution is to have the child and basically live with it. Abortion is not an answer. The pro-choice solution is a view that women must have control over their bodies and thus be able to have abortions. I personally agree with the decision in Roe V. Wade establishing a woman’s right to choose. I am Catholic and I understand that supporting birth control, let alone abortion, is obviously against my religion. I strongly believe however, that no person, organization or entity should have control over another person’s body in any way, especially not their reproductive organs. At the same time, I do not look at abortion as an easy cure for a potentially serious issue and therefore abortions should not be granted or sought indiscriminately. I am a proponent of people having total control over their bodies, but I regret the immense need for abortion in our society. Other means of contraception must be presented to people, and these come in so many different forms. The morning-after pill, RU 486 should be made more widely and easily available to the public. Birth Control, although very prominent already in society, also needs better exposure because of its dual purpose in providing general health benefits to women (regulation of their menstrual cycle, improved skincare) and as an alternative to abortion. To me, these two solutions are more than acceptable means to stop a pregnancy, way before it even starts. This way, the paramount secular issue for many opponents of the decision, the taking of human life, does not even become an issue because it is resolved so early there is not even an egg fertilized. I am strongly in favor of increased contraceptive usage/distribution which has been shown to greatly decrease the number of pregnancies and therefore also, abortions that take place. Our society and especially young people need to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, but also more importantly from the hordes of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) we face today. Many precautions can be promoted and more widely instituted to give women options before they even have to face the serious decision of having an abortion. Sexual attitudes in this country need immediate change. Sex is an act that should be shared between two people who love each other because that’s what sex is, the ultimate expression of love, sharing your body with someone else. I’m a realist, and thus I understand and appreciate that not everyone who has sex, especially today, is married or even loves each other and/or wants to start a family together. I have a problem with that because this exact issue has led to the majority of abortions in this country. I think that people have become so loose in their daily lives that nowadays consequences are more of an afterthought rather than possible deterrents to their decisions, especially when it comes to a person’s sexuality. I’m not saying that people who aren’t married shouldn’t have sex, but I do feel very strongly that if someone is going to engage in sexual relations with someone else, they should be A) Married to that person, B) In love with that person, or C) at least able to handle the possible consequences (e.g. pregnancy or STDs) that having sex with this person could bring. That seems ridiculously broad, but it isn’t. People who are married or in a committed relationship are having sex anyway as a means to express their love, it’s the more random episodes of sex that are not only a personal cause for concern, but a national one as well. How well could you possibly know someone you just met? Well enough that you feel comfortable having sex with them? Fine with me, that’s your body and thus your business, just don’t come looking for any favors if things don’t happen to go exactly as planned. As I am completely in favor of a Woman’s right to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion, I also feel that they have the same choice to sleep with whomever they please. If a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy, or engage in sexual relations, she should have that right. It’s her body and no one else but her is going to have to directly deal with the possible consequences, good or bad, of her decision. I am conservative in that I think society today has a ridiculously permissive attitude toward sex and could even be considered “oversexed” with all the sexual images and material in our general media. This does not however change my views on abortion. This past election, the abortion topic became a paramount domestic issue alon...