  The controversial case that legalized abortion. (20 min) |
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| Teacher's GuideSUPREME COURT DECISIONS THAT CHANGED THE NATION: ROE V. WADE Introduction The founding fathers created the Bill of Rights, but left succeeding generations of Americans the task of interpreting what these liberties meant. Our rights have most often been determined by court decisions; and the final word rests with the Supreme Court. Privacy, often defined as the right to be left alone, is an abstract concept until a live legal issue is presented. In Roe v. Wade the issue was this: should a woman have the right to terminate her pregnancy, or can the interests of the state government prevent such freedom of choice? The opinions of the justices can serve as the basis for student discussion views on the ethical and legal issues involved. A civics class may wish to use the roe case to discuss the far-reaching role of government. American history classes may find the Roe case useful in analyzing civil rights as they are interpreted now, and as they are interpreted now, and as they might be interpreted in the future. • Summary of Content The twentieth century, particularly the most recent decades, has seen a rising in the concern for women’s rights. The success of advocacy for women’s rights can be measured not only by such advances as the right to vote and the right to be admitted to all professions, but also to the increased presence of women in elected and appointive government offices. Thus, it was hardly a surprise when, in the early 1970’s, a case dealing with the right of a woman to end her pregnancy reached the Supreme Court. A pregnant, single woman brought the challenge to the state law of Texas, which limited the right of abortion to those women whose life was threatened by childbearing. The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Roe v. Wade was an attempt to balance the individual’s right to privacy against declared interests of the state in preserving maternal health and potentiality of life, as represented by the fetus. The Court avoided the problem of determining when life actually begins by dividing a pregnancy into three trimesters. The first trimester left the abortion decision to the woman and her physician. The second trimester gave the state the power to regulate abortions “in ways that are essentially related to maternal health.” During the third trimester, the Court held that a state government might forbid abortion, in the interest of maternal health, or in preserving “the potentiality of human life.” Anti-abortion groups saw the Court’s decision as undue interference with existing state laws. Those in favor of women’s free choice welcomed the decision as a step in the continuing struggle for women’s’ total emancipation. • Topics for Essays and Debate 1. The United States Constitution does not expressly speak of a right to privacy. Therefore, it does not exist, and the Supreme Court cannot create it. 2. No individual should be totally free from state government regulation if the state can show a legitimate compelling interest for its actions. 3. Human life begins at the moment of conception, the union of egg and sperm. Abortion of the fetus is equivalent to murder. Do you agree or disagree? 4. To divide a woman’ pregnancy into three distinct trimesters was not the intent of the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. 5. The right to privacy is implicit in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, regardless of whether or not it is directly stated. The right of privacy includes the right of a woman to decide whether or not to bear a child. • Questions for Discussion, Review and Research: 1. The Supreme Court has totally disregarded the rights of the unborn fetus. Do you agree? Why? 2. Why did the Supreme Court refuse to state when life begins? 3. A pregnant woman’s privacy must be balanced against the fact that she hold potential life within her. Do you agree? Why? 4. Under what circumstances, if any, should a woman be legally forced to have a child that she does not wish to bear? 5. The Court’s decision saves the lives of women from medical quacks and back-alley abortion. It is therefore justified. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 6. How does one determine which privacy rights are implied, if the constitution does not state this in expressed words? 7. May a husband obtain a court injunction against his pregnant wife, to prevent her from destroying the child he has fathered? 8. Should a pregnant girl under the age of 18 need parental consent to have an abortion? (See Bellotti v. Baird (Belotti I)), 428 U.S. 132 (1976). 9. The decision in Roe v. Wade was reached in part as a result of a 1965 Supreme Court Decision on reproductive rights (Griswold v. Connecticut) concerning a Connecticut law that made it a crime for couples to practice contraception equivalent to that on matters of abortion? Why, or why not? |
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