Abortion in the United States.

“In the end, abortion is an issue of fundamental human rights. To force women to undergo pregnancy and childbirth against their will is to deprive them of the right to make basic decisions about their lives and well-being, and to give that power to the state.”

- Katha Pollitt

The world of today, polarised and divided on almost every decisive issue out there. Today’s issue is no different. While many nations have legalised abortion, it has always been a matter of fierce debate and contention in the United States despite its federal legalisation in 1972.

Some States have effectively banned the practise six weeks after pregnancy, the State of Alabama has banned it outright, while the State of Texas wants to enact a bill that would permit the death penalty for women who receive abortions. That’s one way to get your pro-life agenda across.

With nearly one in four women in the United States having an abortion by the age of 45, these draconian laws jeopardise the very basic freedoms and rights these women deserve, and the very same rights entrenched into the United States’ Constitution.

Historically, in the United States there was no federal constitutional right to an abortion, this all changed after the landmark case, Roe v Wade. This case establishes that a women’s right to abortion falls under the ‘due process clause’ of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution under a “right to privacy.”

Essentially the State shall not deprive any person of their life or liberty without due process of law, so when necessary. The issue created here is balancing both the right of a women’s’ liberty to have an abortion, and the interest of the State in preventing the loss of human life.

This eventually led to the implementation of the ‘trimester,’ which attempted to balance the two interests by providing guidelines on when abortions may be carried out. However, as US States are somewhat self-governing, they could interpret the ambiguous guidelines to how they see fit. This led to an avalanche of subsequent case law which further refined the policy.

The leading authority is found in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v Casey. The Supreme Court ruled that; “matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.” In other words, the law cannot place legal restrictions that impose ‘undue burden’ on women seeking abortions of a nonviable fetus.

This raised another issue, at what stage does, or should the fetus have rights and liberties of its own. Society has never agreed at what stage a human… becomes human. This brings an ethical question into a legal framework and much like Game of Thrones you can tell it won’t end well. Ultimately, the greatest philosophers of our time have failed to come to an agreement, and as such, it should not be decided by those merely rule on the matter. But then, who gets to choose?

While the world is tearing itself apart with this phenomenon of polarised politics, abortion is an issue that drives straight down the middle. We’re not talking about the individual States that enacted these laws, but those who are most affected by it. Women. In America, Republican women don’t have fewer abortions compared to their Democrat counterparts, according to US Today, it’s about the same.

There is no specific type of women who gets an abortion, there’s a number of reasons out there, which they shouldn’t need to specify anyway. It’s their body that’s going to have to carry this burden, both physically and emotionally. It becomes a part of them, and thus that decision should be for them to make, and it should be their decision alone.

Even if principally you are against abortions, you can only dictate those terms for your own body, because that is your right. But, as a result you have no right as to what others should be doing with their body, as that remains their right. Truth is we don’t know the circumstances of that person, their life, and their situation, and it shouldn’t matter, it’s not our decision to make.

Ultimately, if you do not agree with abortions, making it illegal does not address the root of the issue. Making abortion illegal doesn’t stop abortions from happening, it stops them from happening safely.

The best way to reduce the amount of abortions is to tackle its causes. It stems from a lack of sexual education, a lack of readily available and affordable contraception. In the US most abortions are committed by those under 25. These are young girls. Some of them just children.

Most are terrified of what their family might think, or how their future will be affected. They’re alone without any guidance or support when it’s needed most. Furthermore, taking away programmes such as Planned Parenthood leaves these girls with no options but dodgy back alley abortions which leads them to literally ripping themselves apart. So many are left infertile, damaged and traumatised from something that shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place.

While the new laws have been put in place, there has been considerable protest against these measures both in and out of the Courts. It is very likely that these new laws will be overturned in the coming months and years leaving more jurisprudence in its wake. If the issue of abortion remains an issue, however, is something that remains to be seen.