Abortion

2 Pages 615 Words

A Firefight Over Abortion

The constitution offers basic protection to a women’s right to choose whether to have an abortion. These rights from the first amendment grant life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, ergo to some extent women naturally have the right to choose between having or not having an abortion. One of the fiercest political battles since Roe v. Wade has fought its way into the courtroom recently that Congress should ban partial abortion unless the procedure is necessary to save the mother’s life. Congress passed the bill 64-34 banning partial birth abortion. This is a victory for pro-life protester seeing that 18 senators who usually are for abortion voted for the ban.

Senate majority reader Bill Frist enjoyed the momentary victory by saying “ we have just outlawed the procedure that is barbaric, that is brutal, that is against our morals and is unethical”. The bill resembles the ban on “ partial birth abortion in 1997 in which Dr. LeRoy Carhart a physician who performs abortion in clinics challenged it in Nebraska Court saying it was too board, and it violates Federal Constitution and could restrict nearly all abortions after the first trimester. The bill was declared unconstitutional in Supreme Court in 2000 as the partial birth procedure defines that the doctor partially delivers virginally a living unborn child before killing the child. Though it seems in momentary defeat many pro-choice supporters see is as a wake up call to other pro-choice Americans that they need a “ call to arms” or else Congress is going to take away women’s right to choose.

Two partial birth abortion bans were passed by Congress but vetoed by Clinton because it didn’t have any exceptions allowing it to be used when women’s health comes into questions, but the law makers did their homework this time and included 6 pages on why the method is never necessary for the preservation of the health of women. But co...