While even those most supportive of a woman's right to choose understand that a fetus does acquire fundamental human rights at some point relatively early in the third trimester, opponents of autonomous reproductive rights hold the position that personhood begins at the moment of conception (Mappes & Zembaty, 2008).
This is the main source of legal controversy precisely because it reflects a religious belief defining human life as being created at the moment of fertilization (Mappes & Zembaty, 2008). While that is a perfectly acceptable belief within the framework of religious philosophy, it is a fundamental violation of the concept of separation of church and state to impose that belief on secular laws.
The First constitutional amendment prohibits both the establishment and the prohibition of religion by the government. Going back even further, religious freedom was one of the principle motivations of the original Settlers who left British rule, precisely because of their experiences under mandatory religious affiliation for centuries. Under modern Constitutional concepts and interpretations of the Supreme Court, the imposition of religious definitions of the beginning of life violates those fundamental principles where they influence laws that determined the rights of individuals who subscribe to different religious beliefs (Mappes & Zembaty, 2008).
Ethical Issues:
There are legitimate ethical...
health and reproductive rights, the issues at stake are women's physical health and their physical autonomy. One of the main arguments that the authors make is that women's health has been compromised because of their inability to exercise autonomy. For example, the debate over reproductive rights, whether access to safe and legal abortion or access to birth control, has endangered women's physical safety. However, the ability to exercise autonomy
In Roe v. Wade, the Court applied those privacy rights to the abortion controversy to settle it once and for all on a national level. There are two specific lines of argument typically used to argue against the right to seek an abortion: (1) religious values that condemn abortion as a "sin"; and (2) ethical concern for the fetus (Reiman, 1999). The first basis for objection is absolutely impermissible under
Abortion and Class Bias Abortion has generally been framed as an issue of gender rights, a question of whether women have the right to privacy and have jurisdiction over their own bodies. This formulation has made abortion into a feminist cause. Any attempts to criminalize or otherwise infringe on abortion rights is viewed as a violation of the rights of individual women. However, there is a side to this argument that often remains
Abortion in Politics The argument on legality of abortion is nurtured deep into root of American society. The judgment on Roe v. Wade where abortion became legal to today's politics. This paper analyses in depth the issue surrounding this subject and present solutions and considerations. The struggle for sexual rights has been linked to the process of building citizenship and has been challenged mainly by entrenched conservative groups like Parents' groups, or
40) Interest Group 26) Catholic 03) Dem. Legis. 02) Dem. Governor 08) Women Legis. 04) Liberal State 80 [a] Policies 42) Conserv. Public 1.73) [R.sup.2] Adjusted R.sup.2] Government Funding of Abortions Specific General Interest Specific Opinion Group Full Opinion General Opinion Specific Opinion Interest Group Catholic Dem. Legis. Dem. Governor Women Legis. Liberal State 60 [a] Policies Conserv. Public R.sup.2] 18 [a] Adjusted R.sup.2] 11 [a] General Interest Opinion Group General 76 [a] Opinion Specific Opinion Interest Group Catholic Dem. Legis. Dem. Governor Women Legis. Liberal State Policies Conserv. Public R.sup.2] Adjusted R.sup.2] Notes: Entries are unstandardized regression coefficients from ordinary least squares regression (standard errors are in parentheses). A significant at.01; significant at.05; a.)=significant at.10 For general abortion opinion high = conservative; for parental consent opinion high = liberal; for abortion funding opinion high = conservative. Norrander and Wilcox, 707). Works Cited Den Dulk, Kevin R., and J. Mitchell Pickerill. "Bridging the Lawmaking Process: Organized Interests, Court-Congress Interaction, and Church-State
Conclusion Abortion from a purely moral or ethical perspective can never be endorsed. However, in some medical conditions where the life of the mother is at stake abortion as a life saving intervention is certainly approved. Also in cases where the pregnancy is due to sexual victimization the woman has the right to decide about abortion. Irrespective of the methods used abortion leaves a great psychological stigma and guilt feeling. The more
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now