Position Paper On Abortion

Abortion can be defined as terminating a pregnancy by extracting the fetus from the womb before delivery. The idea of abortion is a very broad one, which is why it is such a controversial topic. The legal portion of the procedure began on January 22, 1973, when the case, Roe v. Wade, was decided on a federal level in the United States. Jane Roe, a Texas resident, wished to terminate her pregnancy however, Texas law prohibited abortion procedures unless it was performed to save a woman’s life. The question in the case was, “Does the Constitution embrace a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion” (“Roe v. Wade”)? The Court decided a woman’s right to an abortion fell within her right of privacy, the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision allowed women to make the choice to have the procedure any time during the first trimester, and allowed the state to help women make informed decisions about the procedure during the second and third trimesters. The case was one of the first decisions to be made about abortion, and gave rise to many other cases in America. One of the resulting cases was Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In Pennsylvania, the law required women to wait twenty-four hours after their initial decision to make an abortion, to actually have the procedure performed. A minor must get the consent of one parent, and a married woman must notify her husband of her intention to abort the fetus. The question was “Can the state require women who want an abortion to obtain