Roe V Wade Essay

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Controversy and arguments that were setbacks in the ongoing battle for women’s rights, specifically the right to an abortion, were put to slight a rest with the landmark verdict of Roe v. Wade. The revolution in reproductive rights caused by Roe v. Wade evolved from a spark in the hearts of women everywhere. When women claimed their rights as humans, that was when the face of women’s equality in all aspects started to change. The case of Roe v. Wade was the official legalization of a woman’s constitutional right to get an abortion in the United States, but the aftermath of any case is what makes or breaks the future laws and regulations. Through all of the restrictions, regulations, and loopholes, Roe v. Wade’s verdict stuck and continued to …show more content…

Wade was “the fetal right to life against a woman’s right to privacy,” and which right gets priority (“Roe v. Wade.” Roe v. Wade). An unmarried pregnant woman, Norma McCorvey, but known as Jane Roe, sought an abortion in the state of Texas where abortion, by law, was a criminal offense. Roe challenged the Texas statute arguing that it was unconstitutional (Landmark Supreme Court Cases 2). At the same time of Roe’s challenges, young lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, were seeking a plaintiff to challenge the Texas abortion laws. The trial did not end in time for Roe to get an abortion, but she kept fighting for future women in her same situation ("Roe vs Wade." TheFreeDictionary.com). Up against the District Attorney of Dallas, Texas, and Henry Wade, Jane Roe argued that the statutes regarding abortion were unconstitutionally vague and violated her first, fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendment rights (Landmark Supreme Court Cases 4). Roe was “unable to have a ‘legal’ abortion in Texas because her life did not appear to be threatened by the continuation of her pregnancy” (Landmark Supreme Court Cases 2). Although other jurisdictions offered legal abortions, Roe argued that she could not afford to travel to another jurisdiction and that she had a right to have an abortion “performed by a competent, licensed physician, under safe, clinical conditions” (Landmark Supreme Court Cases 2). Texas refuted the use of the …show more content…

Wade was decided and officially established as a law, it had an immeasurable effect on society and politics. It created a strict division of beliefs; pro-choice or pro-life ("Roe v. Wade and Its Impact"). The verdict established a very clear cut trimester rule of no abortion after the first trimester unless the mother’s life is threatened and excluded the unborn from the rights ensured by the liberty clause (Landmark Supreme Court Cases 3). Seemingly, there is no way around these laws considering they are federal. Lawmakers found loopholes in the law by creating things such as the Hyde Amendment of 1786 and implementing the “global gag rule” ("Roe v. Wade and Its Impact"). These amendments and rules did not ban abortion per say, but they restricted it by cutting funding and limiting free speech. The Hyde Amendment banned the coverage of abortions by federally funded Medicaid insurance (“What is the Hyde Amendment?”). This severely limited the amount of people who are able to obtain an abortion since a large percent of the people seeking abortions are on Medicaid. Unlike the amendment, the global gag rule was not an actual law, it was more of an understood rule prohibiting federally funded clinics from offering or referring a patient for abortion ("The Bush Global Gag Rule: Endangering Women 's Health, Free Speech and Democracy."). Through the unfair amendments and rules, the government has eroded abortion

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