There are a multitude of reasons, maybe better worded in this case as excuses, why abortion has remained such a polarizing issue in American society in the decades following the Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, in 1973. Roe v. Wade made abortions prior to the last three months of pregnancy legal and required “the state to justify any interference with the abortion decision by showing that it had a ‘compelling interest’ in doing so” (“Roe v. Wade - Then and Now”). In the case Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992) the new standard for abortion rights came to include that a state cannot place “undue burden” on someone seeking an abortion (“Roe v. Wade – Then and Now”). It was a decision made in favor of women’s right to privacy and her right to
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Wade prohibits states from banning abortions before the last three months of pregnancy. Some of the reasons for this time parameter revolve around a fetus’ brain development, which will now be discussed. At around 20-26 weeks the brain begins developing the ability to process pain, and as it continues to develop, quickening will occur, being the point at which the pregnant person can feel a fetus move for the first time. These brain response begin to humanize the fetus, giving it some characteristics of a legitimate person. Movement, such, as flinching, exist as the result of reflexive movement produced by the brain stem and thus still possible even when a fetus has an underdeveloped brain. This point is exemplified by the fact that even fetuses with anencephaly still show reflexive movement in the womb, because these involuntary movements are a product of the brain stem rather than the brain itself (source). Additionally, fetuses do not experience consciousness in the same way that a human adult or even infant experiences it. Though “consciousness requires a sophisticated network of highly interconnected components” and “the thalamocortical complex that provides consciousness…begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation,” an unborn fetus “is asleep” and during the third trimester “a fetus is almost always in one of two sleep states.” (Koch). Putting aside subjective religious arguments about the existence of consciousness as a soul, it can be …show more content…
There are entire websites dedicated to detailing all of the horrible psychological side effects that someone will experience if they decide to have an abortion, but there is very little analysis done regarding the question of why someone would experience such psychological trauma. One website, called Hope After Abortion, consistently uses the word “shame” to describe how women feel after having an abortion (Vandegaer). The stress and shame that supposedly runs rampant among women who have had an abortion, often called “postabortion traumatic stress syndrome,” is not even recognized by The American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association (Cohen, "Abortion and Mental Health: Myths and Realities."). This is a subjective website but it is also shows how readily available this sort of misinformation is, across many platforms. Websites like this exemplify the epidemic of misinformation being given to women. Even more distressing is that individual states are also giving women misinformation, on both the procedure itself and the supposed negative side effects, physically and mentally, of having an abortion (Cohen). For example, thirty-two states in the U.S. have what’s called informed consent, meaning that healthcare providers must inform women about “the
Wade prohibits states from banning abortions before the last three months of pregnancy. Some of the reasons for this time parameter revolve around a fetus’ brain development, which will now be discussed. At around 20-26 weeks the brain begins developing the ability to process pain, and as it continues to develop, quickening will occur, being the point at which the pregnant person can feel a fetus move for the first time. These brain response begin to humanize the fetus, giving it some characteristics of a legitimate person. Movement, such, as flinching, exist as the result of reflexive movement produced by the brain stem and thus still possible even when a fetus has an underdeveloped brain. This point is exemplified by the fact that even fetuses with anencephaly still show reflexive movement in the womb, because these involuntary movements are a product of the brain stem rather than the brain itself (source). Additionally, fetuses do not experience consciousness in the same way that a human adult or even infant experiences it. Though “consciousness requires a sophisticated network of highly interconnected components” and “the thalamocortical complex that provides consciousness…begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation,” an unborn fetus “is asleep” and during the third trimester “a fetus is almost always in one of two sleep states.” (Koch). Putting aside subjective religious arguments about the existence of consciousness as a soul, it can be …show more content…
There are entire websites dedicated to detailing all of the horrible psychological side effects that someone will experience if they decide to have an abortion, but there is very little analysis done regarding the question of why someone would experience such psychological trauma. One website, called Hope After Abortion, consistently uses the word “shame” to describe how women feel after having an abortion (Vandegaer). The stress and shame that supposedly runs rampant among women who have had an abortion, often called “postabortion traumatic stress syndrome,” is not even recognized by The American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association (Cohen, "Abortion and Mental Health: Myths and Realities."). This is a subjective website but it is also shows how readily available this sort of misinformation is, across many platforms. Websites like this exemplify the epidemic of misinformation being given to women. Even more distressing is that individual states are also giving women misinformation, on both the procedure itself and the supposed negative side effects, physically and mentally, of having an abortion (Cohen). For example, thirty-two states in the U.S. have what’s called informed consent, meaning that healthcare providers must inform women about “the