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Abortion Laws Issues Essay

Related Topics: Law Life Debate Court Case

Pages:3 (1038 words)

Sources:6

Subject:Social Issues

Topic:Abortion

Document Type:Essay

Document:#13785952


Abortion and Its Ongoing issues in America

The issue of abortion, while never far from the spotlight, has been making headlines again recently as New York passed a full-term abortion law (Tolentino) and Virginia has one similar in the works (North). The Virginia bill has been described as infanticide (BBC) and President Trump has even called for a ban on late-term abortions (Green). However, many Americans continue to be divided on the abortion issue. This paper will describe the current state of abortion in America, the ongoing issues regarding what should be permissible and what should be denied, and how the subject continues to be a major political sticking point.

Abortion has been legal in America since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that judged abortion to be the legal right of a mother—i.e., she had the right to determine whether to keep or kill her baby up to a certain point in the child’s development in the womb. Since 1973, when the outcome of Roe v. Wade was settled, abortion has been legal throughout the U.S. as mandated by federal law. Till then, it had been illegal to obtain one. Human life advocates have opposed the Supreme Court decision ever since, arguing that abortion is immoral and devalues life, womanhood, and the entire cultural fabric of society. Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe of the famous court case) has even since flipped on the issue and became a pro-life advocate and abortion opponent until her death in 2017 (Selk).

Those who support legal abortions tend to do so for ideological reasons: they view the matter as representative of the women’s rights movement—as a political issue rather than as a moral or ethical one. They also view an avenue to legal abortions as safer for women than no avenue at all. For that reason, they tend to support federal funding for organizations like Planned…

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…those on the side of the pro-choice issue, God’s law does not factor into the equation. Thus, when President Trump evoked the “holy image of God” in his State of the Union address, he made an ideological appeal to this voter base and accused abortion advocates of cheering “with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth” (Green). The president’s rhetoric is symbolic of the deep cultural divide that keeps Americans separated on this issue.

In conclusion, abortion is still very much a hot topic in America and one that politicians and legislators continue to address. The recent changes in New York law and the proposed changes in Virginia have made full-term abortion the latest issue in the long history of the abortion debate in America. Since Roe v. Wade made it legal to obtain an abortion anywhere in the U.S., the lines have been drawn.…


Sample Source(s) Used

Works Cited

BBC. “Virginia late-term abortion bill labelled 'infanticide'.” BBC, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47066307

Green, Emma. “Trump Sees an Opening With Voters on Late-Term Abortion.” Atlantic,2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/trump-decries-late-term-abortions-state-union-address/582127/

Kliff, Sarah. “The new Trump plan to defund Planned Parenthood, explained.” Vox,2018. https://www.vox.com/2018/5/18/17367964/trump-abortion-planned-parenthood-defund

North, Anna. “The controversy around Virginia’s new abortion bill, explained.” Vox,2019. https://www.vox.com/2019/2/1/18205428/virginia-abortion-bill-kathy-tran-ralph-northam

Selk, Avi. “‘Jane Roe’ made abortion legal. Then a minister made her rethink.”

Washington Post, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/02/18/jane-roe-made-abortion-legal-then-a-minister-made-her-repent/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.35ad2f642945

Tolentino, Jia. “How Abortion Law in New York Will Change, and How It Won’t.” New Yorker, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-abortion-law-in-new-york-will-change-and-how-it-wont

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