Okla-homey
1/22/2007, 07:26 AM
not a lot of pictures today folks, for obvious reasons...
Jan 22, 1973 : Roe v. Wade
Thirty-four years ago today, the Supreme Court essentially decriminalized most abortions when they published their decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). The Court cited a "right to privacy," which does not explicitly appear in the Constitution, but the majority of the Court found it nevertheless in their interpretation of the XIVth Amendment's "personal liberty" clause.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/8459/2002046089595858420_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002046089595858420)
Marked-up manuscript of the draft of the opinion
The case stands for the proposition that prior to a fetus attaining "viability," a woman may choose an abortion for any reason whatsoever and the state can't obsruct her choice. It is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/10563/2002078093457851198_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002078093457851198)
Norma McCorvey, Plaintiff “Jane Roe” in the 1973 United States Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. McCorvey has since transitioned from pro-choice to her current pro-life beliefs, despite the pivotal role she played in legalizing abortion in the United States. In 1969, McCorvey unsuccessfully sought an illegal abortion in Texas, and ultimately ended up as the plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the state’s abortion law. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and its Jan 22, 1973 decision generally legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Despite opponents' characterization of the decision, it was not the first time that abortion became a legal procedure in the United States. In fact, for most of the country's first century, abortion as we know it today was not only not a criminal offense, it was also not considered immoral.
In the 1700s and early 1800s, the word "abortion" referred only to the termination of a pregnancy after "quickening," the time when the fetus first began to make noticeable movements. The induced ending of a pregnancy before this point did not even have a name--but not because it was uncommon. Women in the 1700s often took drugs to end their unwanted pregnancies.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/7708/2002069340441185233_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002069340441185233)
Controversial? That's an understatement.
In 1827, though, Illinois passed a law that made the use of abortion drugs punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. Although other states followed the Illinois example, advertising for "Female Monthly Pills," as they were known, was still common through the middle of the 19th century.
Abortion itself only became a serious criminal offense in the period between 1860 and 1880. And the criminalization of abortion did not result from moral outrage. The roots of the new law came from the newly established physicians' trade organization, the American Medical Association. Doctors decided that abortion practitioners were unwanted competition and went about eliminating that competition.
By the turn of the twentieth century, all states had laws against abortion, but for the most part they were rarely enforced and women with money had no problem terminating pregnancies if they wished.
It wasn't until the late 1930s that abortion laws were enforced. Subsequent crackdowns led to a reform movement that succeeded in lifting abortion restrictions in California and New York even before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
The fight over whether to criminalize abortion has grown increasingly fierce in recent years, but opinion polls suggest that a slim majority of Americans prefer that women be able to have abortions in the early stages of pregnancy, free of any government interference.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/10316/2002032047240620428_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002032047240620428)
The pro-abortion side feels pretty strongly too.
FWIW, while people generally herald the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade as THE abortion case, since that time, the Court decided Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), which further defines and delineates the current law on the subject. In that case, the Court discarded Roe's complicated procedure for determining when abortion may be made illegal by state law and replaced it with a relatively simple-to-apply balancing test.
In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in a 5-4 decision, the Court held that before "viability" a state may not enforce laws which place too high a burden on a womans right to an abortion, but after the fetus becomes "viable," or, put another way, able to survive outside the womb, (generally accepted as appox. 24 weeks gestational age) a state my limit, otherwise regulate or even ban outright such abortions.
IOW, no "pre-viability" substantial government obstructions are allowed because before that time, the Court held the woman's right outweighs the states interest in restricting it. After viability, the scales tip in favor of the state if it chooses to restrict those abortions.
As an aside, given the current Court's composition, and the fact Planned Parenthood was decided by a slim margin, it may well overturn both cases the next time it chooses to hear an abortion case. We shall have to watch and see.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/10605/2002089186372938750_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002089186372938750)
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/11287/2002043057946936159_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002043057946936159)
Jan 22, 1973 : Roe v. Wade
Thirty-four years ago today, the Supreme Court essentially decriminalized most abortions when they published their decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). The Court cited a "right to privacy," which does not explicitly appear in the Constitution, but the majority of the Court found it nevertheless in their interpretation of the XIVth Amendment's "personal liberty" clause.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/8459/2002046089595858420_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002046089595858420)
Marked-up manuscript of the draft of the opinion
The case stands for the proposition that prior to a fetus attaining "viability," a woman may choose an abortion for any reason whatsoever and the state can't obsruct her choice. It is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/10563/2002078093457851198_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002078093457851198)
Norma McCorvey, Plaintiff “Jane Roe” in the 1973 United States Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. McCorvey has since transitioned from pro-choice to her current pro-life beliefs, despite the pivotal role she played in legalizing abortion in the United States. In 1969, McCorvey unsuccessfully sought an illegal abortion in Texas, and ultimately ended up as the plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the state’s abortion law. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and its Jan 22, 1973 decision generally legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Despite opponents' characterization of the decision, it was not the first time that abortion became a legal procedure in the United States. In fact, for most of the country's first century, abortion as we know it today was not only not a criminal offense, it was also not considered immoral.
In the 1700s and early 1800s, the word "abortion" referred only to the termination of a pregnancy after "quickening," the time when the fetus first began to make noticeable movements. The induced ending of a pregnancy before this point did not even have a name--but not because it was uncommon. Women in the 1700s often took drugs to end their unwanted pregnancies.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/7708/2002069340441185233_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002069340441185233)
Controversial? That's an understatement.
In 1827, though, Illinois passed a law that made the use of abortion drugs punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. Although other states followed the Illinois example, advertising for "Female Monthly Pills," as they were known, was still common through the middle of the 19th century.
Abortion itself only became a serious criminal offense in the period between 1860 and 1880. And the criminalization of abortion did not result from moral outrage. The roots of the new law came from the newly established physicians' trade organization, the American Medical Association. Doctors decided that abortion practitioners were unwanted competition and went about eliminating that competition.
By the turn of the twentieth century, all states had laws against abortion, but for the most part they were rarely enforced and women with money had no problem terminating pregnancies if they wished.
It wasn't until the late 1930s that abortion laws were enforced. Subsequent crackdowns led to a reform movement that succeeded in lifting abortion restrictions in California and New York even before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
The fight over whether to criminalize abortion has grown increasingly fierce in recent years, but opinion polls suggest that a slim majority of Americans prefer that women be able to have abortions in the early stages of pregnancy, free of any government interference.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/10316/2002032047240620428_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002032047240620428)
The pro-abortion side feels pretty strongly too.
FWIW, while people generally herald the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade as THE abortion case, since that time, the Court decided Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), which further defines and delineates the current law on the subject. In that case, the Court discarded Roe's complicated procedure for determining when abortion may be made illegal by state law and replaced it with a relatively simple-to-apply balancing test.
In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in a 5-4 decision, the Court held that before "viability" a state may not enforce laws which place too high a burden on a womans right to an abortion, but after the fetus becomes "viable," or, put another way, able to survive outside the womb, (generally accepted as appox. 24 weeks gestational age) a state my limit, otherwise regulate or even ban outright such abortions.
IOW, no "pre-viability" substantial government obstructions are allowed because before that time, the Court held the woman's right outweighs the states interest in restricting it. After viability, the scales tip in favor of the state if it chooses to restrict those abortions.
As an aside, given the current Court's composition, and the fact Planned Parenthood was decided by a slim margin, it may well overturn both cases the next time it chooses to hear an abortion case. We shall have to watch and see.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/10605/2002089186372938750_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002089186372938750)
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/11287/2002043057946936159_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002043057946936159)