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Rawls’s Fairness Principles of Distributive Justice
Abortion and womens rights today
Rawls’s Fairness Principles of Distributive Justice
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The state can not interfere with a women’s right to control her own body, as this would be interfering with her own basic rights to equal freedom and liberty. Abortion laws are unconstitutional as they take away a women’s basic autonomy through allowing for state interference in personal, bodily decision-making. Justice is only obtained when women have the right to their own body, and their own choices. John Rawls defined justice in two principles. First, that each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties for others; and second, that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and so that they are to be attached to positions and offices open to all. Madam Justice Wilson is known to have taken a strong stand with judgment founded directly on the value of autonomy. Wilson believes that an aspect of the respect for human dignity is the right to “make fundamental personal decisions without interference from the state. ” Women’s liberty is denied through laws that interfere with these decisions; she is not free within society from restrictions imposed by the state’s political views. Drawing on Rawls’ theory of justice and Justice Wilson’s view on the value of autonomy as justice, it will be proven that abortion laws are unjust as they go against a women’s basic right to liberty, autonomy, and security of person The argument of whether or not a woman should have an abortion is not the focus in this paper, but rather the focus is on whether abortion laws restrict a woman’s right to justice or not.
The question of equal rights as a form of justice is addressed immed...
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...ic liberties includes the right to choice, which Justice Wilson supports with her value of autonomy. The right to human dignity and fundamental justice is founded in the rights guaranteed in the Charter, specifically Section 7. She uses this is a foundation of her justice theories, believing that these rights infringed in the Charter erect an invisible fence around each individual, one in which the state should not be allowed to trespass. Justice Wilson states that liberty, in her view, “grants the individual a degree of autonomy in making decisions of fundamental personal importance.” The termination of a pregnancy is a decision that the woman should be free to make, as her own personal values, emotions, religious beliefs and circumstances may dictate. Abortion laws are unjust as they go against a women’s basic right to liberty, autonomy, and security of person.
In her essay “A Feminist Defense of Abortion” Sally Markowitz addresses the Autonomy defense as not being feminist in nature. She comes to this conclusion by recognizing that the right to bodily autonomy is not just a female right but a right that is innate for every person, male or female. Markowitz then asserts that the human right to bodily autonomy in regard to abortion should not be a gender neutral defense. Many feminists have come to the conclusion that the Autonomy Defense works against women in the courts as it shifts the focus away from gender inequality. Feminists have adopted the belief that sometimes gender should be relevant in claiming rights. To fail to claim a right on the basis of gender in the situation of abortion would obscure the relationship between reproductive practices and their oppression.
In her essay “Abortion, Intimacy, and the Duty to Gestate,” Margaret Olivia Little examines whether it should be permissible for the state to force the intimacy of gestation on a woman against her consent. Little concludes that “mandating gestation against a woman’s consent is itself a harm - a liberty harm” (p. 303). She reaches this conclusion after examining the deficiencies in the current methods used to examine and evaluate the issues of abortion. Their focus on the definition of a “person” and the point in time when the fetus becomes a distinct person entitled to the benefits and protections of the law fails to capture “the subtleties and ambivalences that suffuse the issue” (p. 295). Public debate on the right to life and the right to choose has largely ignored the nature of the relationship between the mother and the fetus through the gestational period and a woman’s right to either accept or decline participation in this relationship.
This essay examines and critiques Judith Jarvis Thomson’s, A Defense of Abortion (1971). Thomson sets out to show that the foetus does not have a right to the mother’s body and that it would not be unjust to perform an abortion when the mother’s life is not threatened. For the sake of the argument, Thomson adopts the conservative view that the foetus is a person from the moment of conception. The conservative argument asserts that every person has a right to life. The foetus has a right to life.
...ions over her own body; whether it is parenthood, adoption, contraception, or yes, abortion. After all, it is entirely plausible for people to be personally pro-life but politically pro-choice – this suggests that they respect each individuals’ rights over his or her own body and recognize that each woman should be allowed to have options. Regardless of whether or not she chooses to have the child, it is the fact that she has a choice that is crucial, and it is imperative that each woman have the freedom of individual autonomy. In order for this to occur, abortion must continue to be legal. Ultimately, being pro-choice is not necessarily advocating the use of abortion – it is about ensuring that abortion is legal so that women may have the option to exercise their right to individual autonomy and make the decisions that best reflects their stance in life.
No other element of the Women’s Rights Movement has generated as much controversy as the debate over reproductive rights. As the movement gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning and the repeal of all abortion laws. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision which declared abortion "fundamental right.” The ruling recognized the right of the individual “to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (US Supreme Court, 1973) This federal-level ruling took effect, legalizing abortion for all women nationwide.
Abortion is arguably the most controversial topic in all the issues revolving around reproduction. Women of all different races, classes, and religions have been practicing abortion since before the colonial era in America. The laws pertaining to abortion have changed many times, adding and removing discrepancies and stipulations throughout many years, and still to this day. The views of abortion in society during different time periods have also changed and adapted. At the time of Sarah Grosvenor’s decision to abort, the laws pertaining to abortion did not make the act fully illegal. However in years after Grosvenor’s case abortion was outlawed. The law played a minor part in women’s decisions to have an abortion, however society, and gender played the most prominent role in the decision of abortion.
Abortion has been the topic of controversy for many decades. Many people believe that when a woman terminates a pregnancy, she is committing murder and others argue that a woman has the right to choose life or abortion. There are different procedures to choose when having an abortion, depending on the gestational age and the woman 's health a pill form abortion may be used up to 9 weeks gestation (mifepristone and misoprostol), but for women who are over 12-weeks gestation (late-term abortion), surgical abortion is used (Berer 25). In 1973, the supreme court ruled that abortion was to be legalized, Roe vs. Wade. Women were given the legal right to choose to terminate their pregnancies and make the correct arrangements for their decisions. Different states have different restrictions to accessing abortion procedures, making the woman 's choice to terminate pregnancy less accessible. Restricting a woman 's access to appropriate abortion clinics limits her right to choose.
There are many limitations valued when it comes to the right of abortion. The news media still outlines the pros and cons of anti-abortion rights in certain-states-to soon, the entire country. My perspectives on the issue of abortion have been entitled from it to never be banned among citizen’s rights. The reproduction of pregnancy has been emphasized heavily on a mother’s decision to abort their child, but the father of the child plays an active role since he considers to that particular title. Through this current issue, majority of the people against abortion do not seem to have an open mind to how much it primarily affects the decision of the mother amongst her own views of considering abortion.
Did you know that in the United States an abortion occurs every 25 seconds? This equates to 137 abortions per hour or 3,300 abortions every day, which is more that 1.3 million abortions every year! Abortion has always been a controversial topic and even more so since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling. Most people have very strong opinions about abortion and inadvertently form their opinions without knowing all of the facts. Abortion should be abolished because it is killing innocent human beings, causes health risks in women, and defies the religious and ethical standards of our country.
In the second part of the twentieth century, women’s rights once again gained a lot of momentum. The women’s liberation movement was born out of women civil right activists who were tired of waiting for legislative change for women’s rights. Even though women are being recognized more in society, they still face difficult issues. Sexism –especially in the workforce –is becoming a major issue, birth control pills are still not popular, and abortions are frowned upon in society. The case Roe v. Wade is about a woman with the fake name of Jane Roe who wanted an abortion but the state of Texas would not let her unless her life was in danger. She sued the district attorney of Dallas County saying that it violated the right to privacy under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. Usually, some arguments for being against abortions are because it is like killing a life, religious reasons, and less chance of future pregnancies. Some arguments that approve abortion are the rights of privacy and the mother to make her own decision. I decided to pick the landmark case Roe v. Wade because there are many ways to argue for and against abortions, so I wanted to give it an overarching view before I personally pick a side. Roe v. Wade is a significant case because it shows how rights in the Constitution do not have to be explicitly mentioned for it to implement and the change in abortion laws that affect women.
How would you feel if someone decided that you should never get a chance at life? That
Over the course of the last century, abortion in the Western hemisphere has become a largely controversial topic that affects every human being. In the United States, at current rates, one in three women will have had an abortion by the time they reach the age of 45. The questions surrounding the laws are of moral, social, and medical dilemmas that rely upon the most fundamental principles of ethics and philosophy. At the center of the argument is the not so clear cut lines dictating what life is, or is not, and where a fetus finds itself amongst its meaning. In an effort to answer the question, lawmakers are establishing public policies dictating what a woman may or may not do with regard to her reproductive rights.
The abortion issue is argued from two different views, however, from a moral perspective, it is wrong to terminate a human life. For generations, society has tried to uncover an answer to whether the human life begins at conception or when an infant takes its first breath. The human life is a fascinating topic that fills a person with questions and hypothesizes. Science has mostly proven and answered the vast majority of questions about the human body. Although, there is one question no one can seem to answer. When does the human life begin? If an answer were to arise, would it really matter in the abortion debate? Even if it were proven, abortion would still be wrong and society would need to end the terminating of fetuses.
Abortion Taking out the trash, or taking a human life? That is what most the argument is with abortion, some believe that abortion is okay because the fetus is not yet a person, and that the fetus will be nothing but trouble. On the other side people believe that even all the way down to the zygote (when sperm meets the egg and earliest stage of pregnancy) there is a human growing in you. A growing boy or girl, with their own little fingers, and toes, their own cute as can be toothless smile, and their functioning organs. To them one day that zygote will turn into someone great, a person just like you and I that needs love just as you and I, a person that deserves to not get taken from our world before it even has a chance to take its first breath.
Abortion has been one of the most talked about topics in society just about anywhere from television, magazines, whether or not it should be the right or wrong thing to do. Abortion is a very sensitive issue to discuss, because of its nature. Many people have said that abortion is a very bad thing to do and it should not even be choice whether or not to abort a living fetus. People think that abortion is committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. However, others feel that a woman should have a voice and have the right to choose to keep the child or not and that it is not murder until the baby is born. Majority of individuals who believe that abortion is bad say that the fetus is human who is partly being formed and to have an abortion is considered to be murder. For the people who think an abortion is ok, say that it’s not considered murder unless the child is born. I believe that abortion should be seen in which the stage the fetus is in. if the fetus is in an early stage of pregnancy it is not considered murder, but if the fetus has already began to develop into a larger fetus then it is indeed considered to be murder. There are times when abortion can be accepted, if the mother is having complications due to pregnancy. For example if the mother is enduring complications in her pregnancy that can harm her, because of the child in that case it is ok to perform an abortion to help save the mother’s life. It is also very important to understand this type of situation. The mother has the right to have an abortion and it is her decision because a mother knows best about her health conditions.