A Legal Critique Of Roe Vs. Wade Decision
Introduction
In this research paper I will prove that the 1973 abortion upon demand decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was arbitrary in nature and had no basis in truth.
Throughout this paper, I will discuss the legal point of view on abortion based on the Supreme Court Case Roe vs. Wade. Through looking at the Supreme Court Case, I will explain what occurred during the case and what the final outcome of it was. Next, I will present the two opposing sides of the topic, and what the majority opinion was on the matter of abortion. I will finish the legal portion of this paper by explaining and presenting the dissenting opinion. This will conclude the legal portion of this research paper.
Moving forward, I will present the medical aspect of abortion. I will prove that the Court’s claim that life begins at birth is false, and that the infant in the womb is actually a living person. Secondly, I will prove that life begins at conception and no later than that. Furthermore, I will detail the development of an infant in the womb. Finally, I will discuss the disgusting and inhumane ways in which abortion surgeons murder infants in the womb. This will then conclude the medical section of this research paper.
Lastly, I will outline to moral viewpoint of abortion. I will explain how the Supreme Court absolutely neglected the Word of God. Through this I will present Scripture that demonstrates the Lord’s view on life, specifically human life in the womb. This will be the basis of the pages explaining the wrongness in the immorality of abortion.
In my conclusion I will demonstrate the ways I have seen abortion affect society today.
All in all, I will discuss legally, medically and morally why aboriton is wrong. Abortion is the deliberate killing of a human pregnancy. I will shed light on the sickening reality.
Legal
1st Point of View
To begin, the High Court’s decision to legalize abortion had no basis in law or in legal precedent.
Firstly, the concept of abortion began many years ago. Abortion was legal in some cases: “By the 1950s, almost every state banned all abortions except when necessary to save the woman’s life.” (Bill of Rights Institute). This fact was in regards to life or death situations, not simply because a woman did not want her child. The court case Roe vs. Wade all began with Norma McCorvey.“Norma L. McCorvey discovered that she was pregnant in June 1969. It was to be her third child, but McCorvey wished to have an abortion.” (NCC Staff). McCorvey wanted to find a way out of having her third child. McCorvey went by the name Jane Roe. After going to two lawyers seeking on advice for what to do,“(Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws …” (LII). Jane Roe brought this idea to that day at court:“She claimed that the Texas statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.” (Justia). Roe fought that those amendments, specifically the Fourteenth Amendment, were a violation of her privacy and that they were not clear on what was lawfully right. “Arguments in the case began on December 13, 1971” (NCC Staff). The conclusions came to this: on January 22, 1973, … the Court said that the Constitution protects an individual’s “zones of privacy.” Court found that the zone was “broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (NCC Staff).
In conclusion, the Roe vs. Wade court case resulted in abortion becoming legal for women in the first trimester of their pregnancy.
2nd Point of View
The majority opinion was in favor of Roe in the Supreme Court Case in 1973, winning the case 7-2.
First and foremost, Justice Harry Blackmun was a lawyer in the Roe v. Wade case, who supported the majority opinion. According to Landmark Cases of the Supreme Court, “The majority determined that a woman’s right to decide whether to have an abortion involved the question of whether the Constitution protected a right to privacy” (Landmark Cases). The majority opinion looked at certain amendments regarding the right to privacy. Justice Blackmun asserted that“the 14th Amendment, which prohibits states from “depriving any person of … liberty … without due process of law,” protected a fundamental right to privacy.” (Landmark Cases). Blackmun added to that by stating, “the word ‘person,’ as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn'. I chose this quote because it explains that the government is not allowed to take the liberty or rights of any person, but the majority opinion would say that the “person” is not applicable to the fetus in the mother's womb. Blackmun proceeds to say this:“The right of personal privacy includes the abortion decision, but this right is not unqualified and must be considered against important state interests in regulation.' I chose this quote to emphasize Blackmun’s position and his belief that this amendment is applicable to abortion.
Lastly, the Court decided that, “ in the first trimester (the first three months of the pregnancy), a woman’s right to privacy surrounding the choice to have an abortion outweighed a state’s interests in regulating this decision.” This was the final decision in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Case.
3rd Point of View
The dissenting opinion of Roe v. Wade was held by Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Byron White.
“In his dissenting opinion, Justice Rehnquist argued that the framers of the 14th Amendment did not intend for it to protect a right of privacy, a right which they did not recognize, and that they definitely did not intend for it to protect a woman’s decision to have an abortion.” (Landmark Cases). Rehnquist meant through this argument that the 14th Amendment was not applicable to a woman having an abortion.“Justice Rehnquist further argued that the only right to privacy is that which is protected by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures.” (Landmark Cases). Rehnquist is arguing here that the 14th Amendment simply means what it is written as; it only applies to unreasonable searches and seizures, and nothing more. I chose this quote to emphasize that the 14th Amendment is absolutely unrelated to abortion. Rehnquist says, “In the second place, we do not see why the State’s interest in protecting potential human life should come into existence only at the point of viability.” (USCCB). This quote explains that Rehnquist is saying it is illogical that the Court and State are only caring to protect human life outside the womb, not inside of it. Justice Byron White says this, “At the heart of the controversy in these cases are those recurring pregnancies that pose no danger whatsoever to the life or health of the mother but are, nevertheless, unwanted. …”. I chose this quote to present the argument that most women are getting abortions just because they do not feel like having the baby.
The dissenting opinion presented by Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Byron White explained that the 14th Amendment did not apply to abortion.
Medical
There is no evidence that supports the Court’s claim that life does not begin at conception.
To begin, human life begins at fertilization, or conception.“The predominance of human biological research confirms that human life begins at conception — fertilization. At fertilization, the human being emerges as a whole, genetically distinct, individuated zygotic living human organism, a member of the species Homo sapiens, needing only the proper environment in order to grow and develop”. This quote supports the fact that after conception, the living organism, with the right environment, will grow; therefore life begins at conception.“Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception.” Each and every human life has their own set of DNA at conception. Senate Bill 158, also known as the Human Life Bill, states that:“Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being — a being that is alive and is a member of the human species.” This bill affirms, stated by the government, that conception is the beginning of life. Moving forward, the combining of a sperm and egg cell is the moment that life begins. “Based on these criteria, the joining (or fusion) of sperm and egg clearly produces a new cell type, the zygote or one-cell embryo.” The zygote then goes on to divide and become an embryo. Condic says,“a conclusion that unequivocally indicates that human embryos from the one-cell stage forward are indeed living individuals of the human species.” As soon as the cell is formed when the sperm and egg meet, life begins.
It is clear that human life begins not when birth occurs, but at the moment of conception.
After life begins, the baby in the womb goes through several stages of development in order to grow.
The first month of development primarily consists of “ a water-tight sac forms around the baby, gradually filling with fluid ... The placenta also develops. The tiny 'heart' tube will beat 65 times a minute by the end of the fourth week.” The blood starts pumping throughout the body. In the second month of pregnancy, “The neural tube (brain, spinal cord and other neural tissue of the central nervous system) are well formed. The digestive tract and sensory organs begin to develop. Bone starts to replace cartilage.” During the second month, the baby develops rapidly. After eight weeks, the baby is now a fetus. “By the end of the third month, your baby is fully formed. All the organs and extremities are present and will continue to mature in order to become functional'. At this point, the first trimester is over. The first trimester contains the most development and necessary growth for a child. During the second trimester, “The nervous system is starting to function at this point in pregnancy. The reproductive organs and genitalia are now fully developed, and your health care provider can see on ultrasound if you are having a boy or a girl.” The baby’s heartbeat can be detected as well. By the third trimester, the baby can “open and close its eyes and sense light…” and “is considered full term and its organs are ready to function on its own.” A baby at the end of the third trimester is ready to be born and can function outside of the womb.
These are the crucial steps and stages of the development of a fetus in the mother’s womb.
The three major methods of inhumane abortions are surgical, medical and chemical abortion.
Firstly, surgical abortion can be classified into suction aspiration, dilation and cutterage, dilation and evacuation, hysterotomy and many others. Suction aspiration consists of “The abortionist inserts a suction tube (similar to a vacuum hose with an extremely sharp end) into the mother’s womb. The suction and cutting edge dismember the baby while the hose sucks the body parts into a collection bottle.” Another type is dilation and evacuation. Throughout this procedure, the baby is killed by “using forceps to grab parts of the baby (arms and legs) and then tears the baby apart. The baby’s head must be crushed in order to remove it because the skull bone has hardened by this stage in the baby’s growth.” Another vigorously inhumane means of killing a baby is dilation and extraction, where “The abortionist then jams a pair of scissors into the back of the baby’s head and spreads the scissors apart to make a hole in the baby’s skull. The abortionist removes the scissors and sticks a suction tube into the skull to suck the baby’s brain out. The forceps are then used to crush the baby’s head and the abortionist pulls the baby’s body out the rest of the way.” Medical abortions include the following: Mifepristone, Methotrexate, salt poisoning, and Prostaglandins. The premise of each of these methods either attacks the baby and pushes it into premature labor, or starves it of proper nutrients. Lastly, chemical abortions include Ortho-Evra, NuvaRing, Depo-Provera, and Plan B. Each of these pills (or injections) either prevents the sperm from reaching the egg or thins the endometrium.
Abortion methods are exceedingly repulsive and sadistic. It is extremely heart-rendering.
Moral
The Supreme Court deliberately ignored the Word of God in the decision to legalize abortion.
For starters, Scripture says in Genesis that the killing of human blood is very wrong. Genesis 9:5-6 says, “From each human being, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed.” (Bible Study Tools). Abortion is murder. It is the killing of an innocent human life; therefore, it is a sin. This leads me to the next verse from Exodus. Exodus 20:13 says, “You shall not murder.” It is a sin to have an abortion and to perform an abortion on another person. By aborting a child, one is killing a living person and committing a sin against the Lord who created the infant. Proverbs 24: 11 says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” In this verse, “those being led away to death” is referring to the babies that cannot speak up for themselves when someone is aborting them. “Hold back” is referring to holding back the ones who are aiming to take the lives of the unborn. Moving forward, Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Not only has Christ known us before we were born, but he has known us before He even formed us in our mother's wombs. This means that the Lord has had a plan for every one before our birth and to this very day. Abortion eradicates God’s carefully crafted plan. Psalms 139:13 gives a direct explanation that Christ created us with care. It says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” It is morally wrong to take away the life of God’s precious creation, something made in HIS image for HIM. Christ knit every person together in their mother’s womb, each differently and uniquely. Psalms 127:3 is a reminder of the gift children are. The verse says, “Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” The “fruit” that the Lord is referring to in this verse is the gift of fertility and having children. There are many couples that desire to have children and cannot due to infertility or sterilization. Killing children simply because one does not feel like having one, especially knowing the possible outcomes when having sex, is extremely immoral. Psalms 82:3-4 says, “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” The “weak” refers to the children who do not get the chance to live as someone comes to abort them and throw them out. As Christians, it is vital to “deliver them” from the even hand of those who support abortion and perform abortions. Psalms 100:3 says, “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Christ made us with a purpose, we are His, we are made FOR HIM. He tells us that we are His sheep in His pasture. God grants the gift of life, so who are we to take it away from others? Lastly, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, ““Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” Women who classify as “pro-choice” and say that since it is their body, the killing of the child should be “their choice” are the audience that this verse applies to in regards to abortion, but also people in general. Due to our bodies being a temple of the Holy Spirit, it is imperative to keep our bodies pure and innocent, which certainly does not validate the idea of abortion in our bodies.
Abortion is morally wrong. Christ cherishes human life and blesses His people with it.
Conclusion
Bruce Ashford writes, “No longer does our nation really believer that we are all created equal; no longer do we seek justice for all.” Our society has seen the detrimental effects of abortion, especially in recent years. This quote explains, with immense power, that “equality” has become taken out of context. And as people are pushing selfishly for their own equality, they couldn't care less about the fetus who has the right to life just like they did. The attitude of our society has become one of self-focused thinking and almost completely anti-Christian. The genocide of abortion has killed over 56.5 million children, only counting medical and surgical abortions. A study from 2013 shows that 25% of abortions are due to women unready to have a child. This could also translate to a woman who simply does not want a child. Abortion has stripped society of respect for human life. Human life is a gift, it is a precious and delicate gift that has become thrown away because of selfishness. Another disgusting way that abortion has affected society is through people celebrating their abortions. According to ShoutYourAbortion.com, they believe that “Abortion Is Normal”. It is a sickening reality that what was once a secret a woman kept years ago has become a celebratory, murderous action that people want to share. Society, to women especially, says “my body, my choice”. The reality is that the person inside of the woman is a separate human being, one that wants a choice to life.
Throughout this paper, I discussed the Supreme Court Case that legalized abortion. I discussed the medical aspects of conception, development in the womb, and the repulsive ways innocent children are killed. Lastly, I discussed the ways in which abortion is biblically and morally wrong.
