Justification Of Abortion

During the late nineteenth century and on into the twentieth century, quite a few states utilized laws against abortion because abortions were performed in seedy and unclean conditions, which raised the risk of diseases for women. Also, at the time society thought that ending a growing life was wrong. Even so, as time moved on and peoples morals evolved, people begin to question if the government actually had the right to intrude on other people 's’ private affairs.
In 1971, Norma McCorvey, a.k.a. Jane Roe, filed a case against the district attorney of Dallas County Texas, Henry Wade. The D.A. exacted a law that barred abortion unless the abortion was medically necessary, to save the mother’s life. Being a single, pregnant woman in this time …show more content…
Brennan, Harry A. Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell Jr., Warren Burger, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, and William Orville Douglas. Blackman, a past council member to the Mayo Clinic, wrote the Court’s decision. The majority chose their decision based on one out of three justifications. The Court felt that Victorian social concerns and the protection of women 's health were irrelevant because of modern general roles and medical technology. This conclusion was reached after researching history about Ancient Greece’s abortion laws and comparing them to America’s current law. The one justification the Court used was, “that prenatal life was not within the definition of ‘persons’ as used and protected in the U.S. Constitution and that America’s criminal and civil laws only sometimes regard fetuses as persons deserving protection,” (pbs.org). In addition to the Court’s ruling, the Court also stated that because the medical community found that a fetus could survive after six months of growth in the womb, states have the ability to prohibit abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy. The state can also regulate abortions that occur in the second trimester because of the harmful risks that can happen to the mother. Overall, The Court decided that the government cannot regulate an abortion that is performed during the first trimester of …show more content…
They both worked toward the complete nullification of the new law that they had helped put into effect. This could be because of the changing times. Did they change their views because being a single mother is not looked down upon in society as much now? Or, did they change their views because they were no longer in that position? Could it be that they had children and realized that if they had had the abortion, they wouldn’t have their children today? Despite their motion and claim that abortion harms women, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans dismissed their motion to have the case overturned on September 14,