In discussing the legalization of abortion in America, there are two major court cases of which you should be aware.
Together, Roe v. Wade and its companion cases, Doe v. Bolton, made abortion legal during all nine months of pregnancy for almost any reason.
Roe v. Wade is perhaps one of the most infamous court cases in American history.
In this case, Jane Roe (her actual name is Norma McCorvey), had wanted an abortion, but was not legally allowed to receive one in her home state of Texas [1].
Roe first attempted to lie and claim she was raped so an exception could be made, but was unsuccessful. She also tried to obtain an abortion illegally, but was unable to do that either [2].
This case declared that placing restrictions on abortion goes against the 9th and 14th amendments and is therefore unconstitutional [3].
The end result of this court case was that the abortion was declared a fundamental right.
While it technically did allow for restrictions on abortion once the fetus becomes viable, this generally does not happen. This is largely because of the judgment in its companion case.
Doe v. Bolton took things a bit further and filled in more details. In Doe, a woman from Georgia woman was denied an abortion because her life was not at risk, and she was not raped [4].
The decision in this case was that it should not solely be up to the clinician to decide if an abortion is justifiable. It was written that reasons for abortion can be related to a variety of factors:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Psychological
- Familial
- The Age of the Woman
As a result of Doe v. Bolton, abortions are now legal throughout all 9 months of the pregnancy, for virtually any reason.
While many people have heard of the case Roe v. Wade before, many people may be surprised to learn the extent to which these cases made abortion so easily available.
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References
[1] McCorvey, Norma. (1997). Won by Love. Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers, 1997, 241.
[2] Ibid
[3] U.S. Supreme Court. (1973). “Roe v. Wade (No. 70-18) .” Cornell University Law School. U.S. Supreme Court, 22 Jan 1973. Web. 26 Jun 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZS.html
[4] U.S. Supreme Court. (1973). “Doe v. Bolton (No. 70-40).” Cornell University Law School. U.S. Supreme Court, 22 Jan 1973. Web. 26 Jun 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0179_ZS.html
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