Abortion

Central Issues

Central in abortion is the status of the pregnant girl or woman. Whether or not she is able to fully consent to the procedure is vital. If a woman is forced to have an abortion by angry relatives, her husband or lover, or controlling and coercive government officials, she is not the agent of her own body and reproductive choices. When women have the status to choose for themselves whether to continue or to terminate a pregnancy, it is safer for them and better for their families and communities. Controversial, then, is women's power to control their own reproductive lives through various means, including abortion.

Another important issue in abortion is the definition and attitudes toward the nature of a woman's pregnancy. Some people see a pregnancy as a potential future child, a fetus, a zygote, or an embryo. Others envision the pregnant woman as already containing a child or baby within her. People with this point of view discuss the “preborn” and the rights of a child while in the womb. Many people have gradations of views about the meaning of the pregnancy, depending on the length of gestation and the circumstances the woman finds herself in. For example, if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, many people believe the woman may choose to abort or not. However, even in the case of rape or incest, a few people believe abortion is still murdering an innocent baby.

Judicial Involvement in the United States

In the United States, many Supreme Court decisions have shaped abortion politics and practices. The most important ones include the following: Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), recognized a married couple's privacy rights regarding their sexual and reproductive decisions. The decision permitted married couples to use birth control. Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972), extended birth control options to unmarried adults based on the right of privacy. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), asserted that the right of privacy includes decisions on abortions. However, a trimester and viability standard was set out in which the woman and her doctor can make the decision about whether to terminate a pregnancy. A compelling interest of the state in regulating abortions increases as the gestation lengthens and the fetus might be reaching a point of viability.

In Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980), the Supreme Court upheld congressional legislation called the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits government health care money for the poor from being used for abortions. Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983), struck down some local abortion regulations enacted by the City of Akron, Ohio. Later, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), upheld many provisions of a restrictive Missouri abortion law. This approach permits states to regulate legal abortions more intrusively.

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