Professor Lanser
Writing 10
11 December 2015
Abortion
In 1973, abortion was legalized in the United States via the court case of Roe v. Wade. The debate over whether or not abortion should be legal continues to divide Americans after the US Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade declared the procedure a fundamental right. In his article, “How Roe V. Wade Was Written,” David Garrow, a research Professor of History and Law, discusses that the Roe v. Wade case made abortion a woman right. He effectively states:
The Court ruled that the states were forbidden from outlawing or regulating any aspect of abortion performed during the first trimester of pregnancy, could only enact abortion regulations reasonably related to maternal health …show more content…
Pro-choice individuals believe it should be a woman’s choice if she wants to have her fetus or not. In her article, “Abortion and the “Women Question”: Forty Years of Debate,” Reva Siegel, a Law Professor at Yale Law School, discusses how abortion became a woman right. “Then pro-abortion activists . . . changed the question. No longer was our nation arguing about killing babies. The focus, through their efforts, had shifted off the humanity of the unborn child to one of women 's right” (Siegel 1372). There are many reasons on why women have abortions. Those who want to see abortion legal point to the reasons on why a mother would not want to be a mother. In their article, “Understanding why women seek abortions in the US,” Antonia Biggs and Diana Foster, experts on women’s health, discuss the reasons on why women have abortions. They state, “Women’s reasons for seeking an abortion fell into 11 broad themes. The predominant themes identified as reasons for seeking abortion included financial reasons (40%), timing (36%), partner related reasons (31%), and the need to focus on other children (29%). Most women reported multiple reasons for seeking an abortion crossing over several themes (64%)” (Biggs and Foster …show more content…
A fetus should be able to experience the world like other humans. They should have the same rights as any other human being and should be born. Besides having their life ended, children go through a lot of pain during an abortion. In her article, “Previability Abortion and the Pain of the Unborn,” Teresa Collett, a Law Professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, effectively explains that a fetus feels pain during an abortion. Since the 20th century, there has been debates to whether they can experience pain during abortion. She states, “When the lives of the unborn are snuffed out by abortion, they often feel pain, pain that is long and agonizing” (Collett 1214). There is scientific evidence that reveals that children are aware and react to their surroundings. In his article, “Can fetuses Feel Pain?” Stuart Derbyshire, an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, explains in detail that a physician is able to see how a fetus flinches and jumps back from objects. He states, “With the advent of sonograms and live-action ultrasound images, neonatologists and nurses are able to see unborn babies react physically to outside stimuli” (Derbyshire 910). A fetus feels more pain when he is aborted during the second or third trimester because they are almost completely