Roe v. Wade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Roe v. Wade - Essay fashion modelJustice Blackmun, writing for the majority, acknowledged that the state had an interest in regulating abortion as a way to reduce medical risk for women and to protect the lives of unborn children but argued that a womans right to terminate her pregnancy must be weighed against the rights of the state. As long as the fetus is non viable the Court used an established definition of viability, which considered a fetus viable at the specify it is able to live outside its mother, even if some artificial assistance is needed for it to do so the state can only regulate abortions in ways that are reasonably related to agnate health. For abortions prior to the end of the first trimester, the Court held that the state should not interfere and should leave the decision-making to a big(predicate) woman and her doctor. Only for abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy, when the fetus is viable according to the Courts definition, could the state fo reclose abortion and only then if doing so did not significantly threaten the health of the pregnant woman.Blackmun went on to state that in questions of abortion, there is no consideration of a fetuss right to manners under the tax shelter of the Fourteenth Amendment because the Fourteenth Amendment protects only Americans who have been born. There is no Fourteenth Amendment protection for the unborn. Blackmon adds, in note perhaps to the spirit of the times, that the Courts ruling is not intended to sue as an answer to the question of when life begins but only as a statement of the endeavour of the Fourteenth Amendment.Roe v. Wade remains a milestone case, setting the stage for countless arguments surrounded by those who support abortion and those who would do away with it. Though I agree with the gist of the Courts decision that a woman should be able to obtain a legal abortion, especially archaean in pregnancy I find the legal basis for the Roe v. Wade decision a little shaky. Protecting the right to