Abortion

Abortion is one of the most controversial ethical issues in American society, particularly because the question at hand involves the "taking" of a human life. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the U.S. rendered a seven to two decision in the now famous case of Roe v. Wade, declaring unconstitutional a Texas law that made abortion a crime in all situations except that in which pregnancy threatened the life of a mother. If we look at the controversy over abortion, we find legal and religious arguments guiding the debate. Since Roe v. Wade, abortion has remained at the center of a national controversy. According to Ely, the issue is a "highly emotional one which touches upon religion, value and belief systems, morality, assumptions regarding a woman's right to autonomy and privacy, and the definition of life itself," (920). Despite such issues, separation of church and state are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, abortion is viewed as a personal decision despite debates over morality. As the Rosicrucian Fellowship maintains, "The State's prohibition of early abortion would be an unconstitutional invasion of a woman's privacy," (Pros 1). As such, women should continue to be afforded the right to choose with respect to abortion, based upon interpretation of the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution.

Since 1977, particularly in the wake of Roe v. Wade, numerous pieces of legislation have been introduced at state, local, and national

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ary upon the argument advanced by Pro Life forces that centers on the religious and moral aspects of abortion (and the position of these groups is nothing less than a statement that any abortion is a form of murder and should be regarded as a criminal act) has rejected the notion that one group has the right to impose a vision of morality upon another. Tribe has stated that in its various decisions regarding the right of a woman to abortion, the Supreme Court has "reached into the Constitution's spirit and structure, and has elaborated from the spare text an idea of 'human' and a concept of 'being' not merely contemplated but required." (1308). In a free society, people have - and have a natural right to have - varied conscientious opinions on this question, which is not subject to empirical resolution. There is, therefore, no religious or philosophical debate on the nature of the fetus that would provide for overturning Roe v. Wade (Berlowitz, Donoghue, and Menard 145). In the shifting debate over abortion, a new focus is on the aforementioned issue of adolescent abortion without prior parental consent. Others have pointed out that in spite of numerous efforts of the part of Pro Life forces to obtain state statutes that requ

Category: Philosophy - A