FREE ESSAY ON ABORTION AND POLITICS

ABORTION AND POLITICS

a?bor?tion: n. 1. Induced termination of a pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or fetus
that is incapable of survival. 2. A miscarriage. 3. Cessation of normal growth, esp. of a
body part, prior to full development or maturation. 4. An aborted organism. 5. Something
malformed or incompletely developed; a monstrosity. 
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 
So wrote the founders of our country: the authors of the Declaration of Independence in
1776. They stated that one of our most undeniable rights, as a citizen in this country,
is the right to life. But when does life begin? It is the question that has fueled the
debate over abortion since the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.
Although the controversy regarding the issue has traditionally fallen to a more religious
and moral debate, it still has powerful political implications and can easily stir great
amounts of emotion in the political arena. Women had been obtaining abortions illegally
for countless years before Roe, and the public was calling for change. The political
fervor led to a climax when "Jane Roe" entered the courts challenging the abortion law in
her state of Texas. 
The Texas State law regarding abortion had remained virtually unchanged since its
establishment in 1857. The law stated that it was a crime to "procure an abortion" except
in the event that it was "procured or attempted by medical advice for the purpose of
saving the life of the mother." Jane Roe (a pseudonym since she wanted to remain
anonymous) brought her case that challenged the law to the Supreme Court. Roe's lawyers
realized that by the time the lawsuit would be heard, the plaintiff would no longer be
pregnant; therefore, they brought the suit on behalf of all women with unwanted
pregnancies. The Supreme Court Justices heard the case and the outcome is one of the most
memorable rulings in the history of the Court's rulings. The judgement, which the
Justices by a 7-2 vote declared the law unconstitutional, voided any state law that
restricted a woman's right to obtain an abortion. Under the new decision, a woman is
permitted to terminate her pregnancy for any reason provided that the fetus in not
viable. After viability, states can prevent abortion except if it is necessary to
preserve the health or life of the mother. 
The decision to declare the law unconstitutional was made by a mostly liberal, Democratic
panel of Justices. Some analysts have suggested that the decision should have been made
by a demographically elected legislature instead of "appointed for life" Supreme Court
Justices. As public opinion polls showed, the court's determination of the value of
embryonic life differed completely with that of the masses. 
Antiabortion groups were outraged by the decision. These same groups often equated the
legalization of abortion to the Nazi holocaust and the case was compared to that of Dred
Scott v. Samford, the infamous 1857 case that declared that blacks had no rights. In both
instances, the court ruled that a group of "people" (slaves in Dred and human embryos in
Roe) to be "nonpersons." It was also argued that both rulings were made to invalidate
certain instances: in Dred, the Missouri Compromise was voided and in Roe, it
"invalidated the efforts of state legislatures to reform their abortion laws without
surrendering state jurisdiction over abortion." 
In the years following Roe, several new laws were introduced and rejected. For instance,
a law requiring parental consent for minors to obtain an abortion in all cases was argued
and struck down. In another trial, the court ruled that the father could not override a
woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy. However, pro-life groups won some victories,
as federal funding of abortions was greatly restricted. 
Those opposed to abortion were given a glimmer of hope when Congress attempted to
overturn the now eight-year-old decision with a new piece of legislature. In April of
1981, Senator Jesse Helms (R, N.C.) and Representative Henry J. Hyde (R, Ill.) proposed a
controversial statute that would define human life as beginning at conception. In effect,
this new bill would make abortion equivalent to murder under United States law. After
debating the issue for a long time, still no conclusions had been reached. "The issues
that provoked the strongest disagreement were those of the constitutionality of the bill,
its potential to create complicated legal tangles in the cases where the mother would
conflict with those of the unborn child, and its possible application to matters beyond
abortion, including some birth control methods." Debate ceased for a while, but Helms
reentered the legislation to the floor. In response, liberal senators began a filibuster
that successfully tabled the bill in September of 1982, despite President Ronald Reagan's
support for the Helms proposal. Antiabortion groups once again tasted defeat and looked
elsewhere for some triumphs in their crusade to end abortion.
During Reagan's presidency, the tide began to turn in favor of the antiabortion groups.
Several of the Justices in support of the Roe decision were getting close to retirement
age and it was up to Reagan to appoint their replacements. Sandra Day O'Connor, the first
woman justice and a Conservative, took Justice Potter Stewart's seat in the Supreme Court
in 1981. Chief Justice Warren Burger retired in 1986 and his position was given to
Justice William Rehnquist, one of the two justices in opposition to the Roe ruling.
Another Conservative, Antonin Scalia was appointed to fill the vacancy and when Justice
Lewis Powell retired in 1987, Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy. With these appointments,
the pro-Roe majority of 7-2 was now reversed to be a 5-4 majority opposed to the former
ruling. 
In 1989, the framework to the Roe ruling began to crumble. The Missouri State Attorney
General, William Webster brought charges against Reproductive Health Services for failing
to implement a Missouri state law requiring that fetuses be tested for viability. The
clinic used Roe as a defense, stating that unless abortions are performed during the
third trimester of pregnancy, viability testing is a unnecessary waste of time and money
and claimed that they were protected under Roe. The case was brought to the Supreme
Court, who ruled that fetuses can be tested after twenty weeks gestation. This decision
was a major blow to the pro-abortion movement, and it was followed by another defeat. Two
separate cases involving parental notice were decided in 1990: Hodgson v. Minnesota and
Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health. The Supreme Court ruled that if a minor
does not receive written parental consent or the parents are not given notice by the
doctor performing the procedure 48 hours prior to the abortion, the minor must secure
approval from a judge. Since these decisions, the political tide has been turning and it
is very possible that the Roe ruling may be overturned within a decade.
Abortion has been a very controversial topic politically in our time. Beginning long
before 1973, there were generally two views regarding abortion: pro-life and pro-choice.
Pro-life groups regard life as sacred, whether in the womb or living and breathing on
this earth, and that there is be no excuse for the purposeful theft of life. Pro-choice
groups believe that women are in control of their own body and have the right to do
whatever they want to with it. However, in the early 1980's, the pro-life group split
into two separate groups regarding abortion: the original pro-lifers and a new wing
called situationalists. Situationalists believe that the right to obtain an abortion
depends on the circumstance of pregnancy. For instance, if a woman is raped and becomes
pregnant as a result of that incident, situationalists may be in favor of terminating the
pregnancy.. I personally am a situationalist. I do not believe in abortion except when
performed because of rape, incest, or the threat of losing the mother's life as a result
of the pregnancy. There are many different views in this group as to when abortion is
permissible. 
When the two pro-life groups split, there was a general fear that the movement would die
out and the abortion laws would remain indefinitely. At the heart of this anxiety was a
proposal by Senator Orrin Hatch that was defeated in the Judiciary Review. The
legislature stated that states could create their own abortion laws and when the laws
came into conflict with those of the Federal Government, the most restrictive law would
prevail. The bill failed to pass with a 50-49 vote opposed. Senator Jesse Helms refused
to vote, declaring that the bill did not outlaw abortion, it merely restricted it and his
beliefs did not support that view. Many pro-lifers and situationalists felt that this
feeling would destroy any efforts towards anti-abortion laws being passed.
The controversy regarding abortion plays a critical role in politics, all in different
aspects of the government. As the eventual reversal of Roe v. Wade becomes more and more
likely, elections will see a much more focused interest in politician's views on the
issue. "Already several U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and gubernatorial elections have focused
in part on abortion, at least one lieutenant governor's election has hinged almost
entirely on the issue, and the abortion controversy has been central in numerous state
legislative elections." Unfortunately for these politicians, they face two opposing
groups who see the abortion issue as one in which compromise is entirely impossible. 
Despite the belief that Roe will eventually be reversed, fewer than 10 percent of
Americans take a strict pro-life position. These voters however, are very likely to vote
in elections on the single issue of whether a candidate is pro-life or pro-choice.
Candidates who take a strong pro-life or pro-choice stance are able to win a small
percentage of the vote and are probably able to generate more money to their campaigns as
contributions by different activist organizations. However, taking such a strong stance
can be damaging as far as votes needed. If a candidate is strongly pro-life, pro-choice
voters (the majority of Americans) may automatically not consider that person. On the
other hand, strict pro-choicers (those who believe a woman can choose to terminate her
pregnancy at any point in the term for any reason) can seriously cast doubt in the minds
of situationalists, who, when unified with the pro-lifers, can easily turn an election. 
I believe that it may be possible for the pro-life and situational groups to pull
together to reverse Roe v. Wade decision. History has shown that it can be done. In the
1994 election, the Christian Coalition united together and turned the Congress
Republican. Before that, the labor unions, unsatisfied with the Republican Party, worked
hard to regain majority in Congress. The challenge that the group needs to overcome is
their inability to compromise. Both sides need to give a little bit of slack to unite and
become powerful.
The United States is a country where politics is involved in everything, and everything
involves politics. This philosophy applies directly to the issue of abortion. Whether it
is the Supreme Court, the Presidency, Congress, or a governor's office, this issue has
been involved in, in one or more situations. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
"Abortion," The American Heritage College Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1997.
Collins, Carol C, ed. Abortion: The Continuing Controversy. New York: Facts on 
Files Publications, 1984.
Cook, Elizabeth Adell. Between Two Absolutes: Public Opinion and the Politics of 
Abortion. San Francisco: Westview Press, 1992.
Goldstein, Leslie Friedman. Contemporary Cases in Women's Rights. Madison: 
The University of Wisconsin Press, 1994.
Mount, Steve. "The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of 
America." The US Constitution Online, 1999; 
http://www.usconstitution.net/declar.html (6 Dec. 1999).
"Roe verses Wade," Roe verses Wade, 
http://users.telerama.com/~jdehulla/abortion/abroe.htm (4 Dec 1999).
Tribe, Laurence H. Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes. New York: W.W. Norton & 
Company, 1992.