To the surprise of no one, the conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court nullified Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States up to the 23rd week of pregnancy. The new ruling handed down on Friday makes abortion a matter for each state to decide.
Many Republican controlled states had “trigger laws” already in place that automatically banned abortion if (or when) the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Is abortion murder or medical care?
I’ve never been totally comfortable with the subject of abortion. When is a fetus a sentient human person?
I don’t think life begins at the exact moment of conception. I also don’t think life begins at the exact moment of a live birth. I believe it happens somewhere in between the two points in time. When exactly, I don’t know.
Roe v. Wade suggested legal personhood began after the 23rd week of gestation. The original Roe v. Wade decision decided abortions were a constitutionally protected right in the first 23 weeks of a pregnancy.
It turns out, before the Supremes overturned Roe v. Wade, the United States was one of the few countries in the world that allowed abortions up until the 24th week of pregnancy.
From the New York Times:
“The United States is one of only seven nations in the world that permits nontherapeutic or elective abortion-on-demand after the 20th week of gestation,” the finding said. “In fact, fully 75 percent of all nations do not permit abortion after 12 weeks’ gestation, except (in most instances) to save the life and to preserve the physical health of the mother.”
Twelve weeks is a common nominal limit in other nations, legal experts said, though the social context is usually quite different. There are generally few obstacles to obtaining abortions abroad, and public insurance is commonplace.
If 75 percent of the world bans abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy, we may have gotten abortion wrong. Maybe, just maybe, those seven Supreme Court justices back in 1973 got it wrong when they legalized abortion until the 23rd week of pregnancy.
Why did Democrat lawmakers never codify Roe v. Wade into law?
Canidate Barack Obama promised to codify Roe v. Wade in to law when he was running for President. Even though he had the votes in both the House and the U.S. Senate to pass a law that mirrored Roe v. Wade, he chose not to do it after taking office.
I don’t know why Obama didn’t keep his promise. If I had to guess, I’d say Obama wasn’t really an abortion supporter. I know the common opinion is that all Democrats support a woman’s right to choose.
I don’t think that’s true.