...Howard Zinn was a well known author, historian and a civil rights activist back in 60s. One of Zinn's famous books were “A People's History in The United States”, which talked about history. In chapter 19 of his book, he talks about the radical movements that were started by oppressed groups in the 1960s and 1970s. One of these groups was the women’s movement. Women were suppressed by men in terms of being treated unfairly and being incompetent in the work space. Women had to go out and take actions themselves to get rights such as legalized abortion and fight against sex discrimination. One of the actions taken by women was the right to abort. Before the 1970s, there was about a million abortions performed, where only ten thousand of these...
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...Should Abortion be Legal? Giorvanna Larathe PHI 103: Informal Logic Instructor: Jill Murray January 20, 2014 Should abortion be legal? If the question posed to me, my answer will always remain the same. Yes, I believe abortion should be legal. I have my reasons and that is what I will be discussing in my paper. First I will explain what an abortion is. My thesis will include different reasons from cause and effect to religion, beliefs and most of all women’s rights. I will touch on the basis of situations that we women endure in our lifetime. I say we, because I am a woman and understand what it is to have a choice and say in my body, what every woman should have the right to do. While I will counter my argument I will not sway you from my reasons to why abortion should be legal. We certainly live in a world of judgment along with morals and values but again a woman should have the right to decide when she chooses to abort an unwanted child. It may sound harsh and selfish but it is still her/a woman’s choice. Some of us may not agree but as the saying goes “it is what it is.” If it is not you, then why put that person down and blast them for it. One never knows what others endurances are, and sometimes they are left in circumstances where that maybe the only option. Some who are against abortion may not want to hear of it, but is still there choice and the government should not take that right away. We fought for our rights for years, and have...
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...Abortion is a highly controversial issue in the United States today. There are those who argue that life beings at conception and that terminating a pregnancy is equivalent to murder. These pro-life supporters have relatively immovable opinions on abortion. In the past, they have done all they could to prevent abortions, using tactics ranging from protesting and lobbying to methods as deadly as bombing abortion clinics. On the other hand, there are pro-choice supporters as well who argue that women have the right to choose what happens to their own bodies and that a fetus is not a living person, but a part of the mother herself. They propose that though abortions should always be limited, psychological, maturity, and economic issues are all acceptable reasons for women to be able to choose whether or not they want to carry a child for nine months. In April 2009, 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave a speech at Evansville, Indiana, where she argues against abortion. She fights for her beliefs, claiming that “life is ordained, life is precious” and no selfish decisions should stand in the way of a life from living. Her ethos and utilization of pathos are both tactical techniques used to argue against the practice of abortion to try and convince her audience to fight against it as well. Palin’s entire argument against abortion would not matter unless she had any credibility that would allow the audience to deem her respectable and her opinion worth listening...
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...v. Wade”, there is an issue with a lady named Norma Leah McCorvey but is mostly known as “Jane Roe”, who wants an abortion but is illegal in the state of Texas. Now the county called Wade County finds out that she is attempting to have an abortion and they are pressing charges against her and is thrown in jail. Roe decided to fight for her freedom and decides to take this situation to court. The court was taken to the district court. While in the court Roe was making a big statement and stated that the government interfering with her abortion violates her 14th amendment which deals with the right to privacy. Roe gets her way and ends up winning the court case in the district but Wade County is not happy at all and decides...
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...| Abortion & Ethics | Late-term Abortion | | Vanessa Rodriguez | 7/13/2014 | Debate always arises on the moral values and ethical aspects of abortion. Is it the rights of women to decide what they want? Can the government decide for women? Regardless of the outcome someone gets hurt. | Everyone knows that life begins at conception. It is true for animals as well as humans. When considered alongside the law of biogenesis – that every species reproduces after its own kind – we can draw only one conclusion in regard to abortion: every single abortion ends the life of an innocent human being. Abortion is the act of terminating a pregnancy. There is never a happy medium in the discussion with abortion. Who has the right women or the innocent fetus developing who can’t speak for themselves? Abortion can happen in two forms: medical or surgical forms of abortion. The procedure elected depends on how far in the pregnancy a woman is. During the first trimester combination of medications can be used or a form of vacuum aspiration up to 12 weeks of gestation. In the second trimester surgical procedures are performed up to 16 weeks into the pregnancy. In the third or late-term trimester abortions are not legal in most states unless of a medical situation. In later-term the two procedures are: induction abortion and dilation and extraction. In induction abortion, a surgical procedure where salt water, urea, or potassium chloride is injected into the amniotic...
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...Throughout Donald Trump’s run for president, he frequently disparaged women who had received abortions, going so far as to suggest they should face some kind of punishment for their actions. If made president, he vowed to overturn Roe v. Wade, commonly recognized as the Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to an abortion, regardless of circumstance. (Vitali, 2016) Additionally, Trump threatened to end the funding of Planned Parenthood, due to their association with abortion and disregarding all other important services the organization provides. (“Planned Parenthood funding,” 2015) With his triumph and the triumph of many Republicans in the recent election, it’s important for all Americans, but especially American women, to consider...
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...Abortion policy has long been a subject of dispute between the Democratic and Republican parties. Both parties address this issue in their 2016 platforms, albeit in polar opposite fashions. Even though both parties agree that the government should assist in aiding women with unexpected pregnancies, Democrats and Republicans adhere to their clashing sets of morals when determining their perceived legality or illegality of abortion. Their different viewpoints on abortion reveal the conflicting ways in which the two parties interpret how the government should operate, with Democrats believing that the government should expand to operate for the needs of the current era and the Republicans believing that the government is best operated under the...
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...Abortion Betty Griffith Com-172 July 12, 2011 Pharis In 1973 there was a historical case out of Texas that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and that case is Roe versus Wade. Norma McCorvey who was also known as Jane Roe had never had an abortion in her life but was coerced, by her two lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee. Both were members of a feminist movement out of Austin, Texas, into filing a class action lawsuit against the state of Texas by stating that it was against her rights to prevent her from acquiring an abortion. Abortion is not under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government but is each states responsibility to set its own laws on the issue. The defendant in the Roe versus Wade case was Henry Wade, Dallas County District Attorney. Even though the District Court ruled in Jane Roes favor, which states the law was vague and unconstitutional, that if Jane Roe did obtain an abortion that the law would still be enforced. The case was appealed and went before the United States Supreme Court, and because of “right to privacy” discoveries in the fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendments that gave Jane Roe the ruling in her favor that it was sufficient evidence to give a woman the “right” to abort a pregnancy. (The Sunday Telegraph; 1/11/1998; Norma McCorvey interview by Ivo Dawnay), (Spingola Articles; Deanna@spingola.com; 7-5-2005) There were nine Supreme Court Justices on this case and seven of them ruled in Jane Roes...
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...for her. The street law website states, “The fourteenth amendment says not state shall deny to any person with in justification the equal protection of the laws.” Women in America are concerned states having different laws concerning abortion. Women have different reasons for wanting or needing an abortion. Some women may be restrictive to the laws and her life could be in danger. The law in Texas states women cannot receive an abortion unless her life could be in danger. This restriction on abortion infringes on the civil liberties of women in the United States. Personally, I believe women should have the right to receive an abortion under certain circumstances. I agree with the law in Texas to a point. I feel if the woman’s life is in jeopardy, if the pregnancy is a result of a rape, or if the fetus is not developing normally are the only reasons I think a woman should receive an abortion. This may be hypocritical of me, but I believe an abortion should not be a justification for birth control. I feel strongly about the right of a woman to choose life or to choose an abortion. Public policy protects the rights of women to choose to receive an abortion or not. Planned Parenthood organizations give women the option of birth control, an abortion, and adoption to women wanting to avoid a pregnancy or adoption as a choice. Having choices is what women should have no matter what state she lives in. I personally believe in the public policy and Planned Parenthood. I think women should...
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...Abortion is Murder Abortions, we all know what they are and we all have our own opinions on the matter. The laws regarding abortion have been debated, fought over, petitioned, and discussed, whether calmly or very heated, for years. It is a never ending war. You are either for or against this issue. For some it is a personal rights issue. For others it is a moral issue. Some see this as the woman’s right to take charge of her own body and make the decision as to what happens inside it, while others look upon abortion as an abomination and murder. Which side do you take? There is no middle ground on this. One cannot be against it for themselves, but ok with it for everyone else. What is an abortion? Abortion is defined as the deliberate induction of delivery during pregnancy before the infant has reached full term. Normally this is done within the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, but can be done throughout the entire pregnancy. When did abortions truly begin? Well, a definite time frame has not been found, however there are abortions dating back as far as 1550 BC and records in China dating back to 500 BC when royal concubines were made to get them. The fight for and against abortion has been raging since about the 18th century. Christian churches allowed a woman to get an abortion as long as it was before she could feel movement. Once the 18th and 19th centuries hit the war began. In the 1800s abortions were done mainly in “back alley” practices which caused deaths and infections...
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...I. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court decided one of the most controversial cases in United States history, but the debate was just beginning. The landmark case of Jane Roe v. Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade was not only symbolic of the progress of women’s rights, but an indication of judicial activism and its potentially damaging affects. It began as a fight for an unmarried young woman and her desire to terminate her pregnancy, even though it did not pose serious physical danger to her health. But, in the process of this struggle, an unprecedented judicial involvement emerged. II. This paper will first provide the necessary expository information, highlighting the central characters in this historical case, the political climate of the Supreme Court Justices during the trial, as well as a earlier case, Griswold v Connecticut which preceded Roe v. Wade. The paper will discuss the proceedings of the case at both the District and Supreme Court levels. Following, this paper will debate the surface issues of the abortion controversy, Roe as a precedent for future cases (Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Stenberg v. Carhart, and the breaking news decision of Gonzales v. Carhart), and the implied right(s) of the Constitution. III. In the 1970s, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, two hot shot young lawyers from Texas, recruited Norma McCorvey as lead plaintiff under the alias “Jane Roe” in a class action suit lawsuit on behalf of US women everywhere...
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...Multimedia page of the University Library: * Issues & Controversies * Issues & Controversies in American History * Global Issues in Context What is the first topic that comes to mind when you think of world-wide controversial issues? For me, the biggest and most wide-spread issue is that of abortion. What is right and what is wrong? Are there exceptions to when abortion is okay? Do sexual offenses against a victim make abortion a “fair” decision? What about genetic testing that shows serious medical problems for a fetus? “Abortion is the most often topic written about in School. Abortion is the most often topic debated in School. Abortion is the final outcome of one out of every three pregnancies in the U.S. Abortion divides our country, our religions, our family, our society and our politics.” – This quote comes from the home page of abortioninfo.org and sums up most of the reason why I have chosen this topic to write about. This topic can keep a feminist talking and is the baseline for many political campaigns which are dependent on whether or not the elected official is pro-abortion or not. Feminism ties best into the subject of abortions because women have rights to their own bodies and the freedom to reproduce and keep the child or to abort the fetus.” Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to education...
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...Nyesha Clark Professor Cooper Texas Government December 1, 2014 The Determination of Wendy Davis Some people say education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world, and I agree. Wendy Davis is a well-educated woman who has broken barriers in her carrier and fought for the education systems in Texas because she knows the importance of it. It was not an easy road to success for Davis; she has been through many trails on her journey. Born the daughter of Jerry and Virginia Russell Wendy was born May 16, 1963 in West Warwick Rhode Island. Her Family moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1973. At 14 years old Wendy worked two jobs to help her mother support her three siblings. She worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and at an Orange Juice stand. By 17 years old she was an independent woman taking care of herself and at 18 she became a mother to her daughter Amber and a wife to her Husband Frank Underwood. But the marriage didn’t last past the honey moon stage because by the age of 21 Davis and he were divorced. But luckily true love was only around the corner because Wendy was soon remarried to her Husband today Jeff Davis. Wendy knew that she had to change her life around. She had to do something better then working two jobs to barely make ends meet, so when she saw her opportunity for education at Tarrant County College she took it. Wendy Davis started out at Tarrant County College where she stayed for two years and then transferred to Texas Christian University...
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...the 1960’s 1405B December 2014 Term Professor: Adam Rafalovich January 26, 2015 The idea of Women’s rights to an abortion has been an ongoing power struggle between politicians and women for a long amount of time. This struggle hit its first milestone in 1916 and is still present in today’s society. The timeline above shows many of the milestones that allow women the choice to have an abortion if they chose to receive one in terms of pro-choice or pro-life. In 1916 Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic. Her clinic only lasted 10 days as she was arrested for such an act at this time. She gained so much support that a few years later in 1923 she opened another clinic. Before Sanger opened her next clinic she founded the American Birth Control League which became Planned Parenthood Federation of American in 1942. Margaret Sanger started the fight for women’s right to birth control. Due to the battles that Sanger won, in 1936, birth control information, by law, was not considered obscene and was able to be shared through the mail. This would be impossible if the public was supporting birth control. It took 24 years after the start of the movement for the government to act. In 1960 the Federal Drug Administration finally approved birth control as safe and can be used by any woman, victory! (Imbornoni, 2007). The Next step in this fight for women involves three Supreme Court cases over 27 years starting in 1965 with Griswold v. Connecticut. In this case...
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...Roe v. Wade In the controversial case, Roe v. Wade, a pregnant woman who was given the name Jane Roe to hide her identity attempted to get an abortion but they were illegal in Texas so she sued the state for invasion of privacy. Roe's real name is Norma McCorvey; she raped and became pregnant. In 1969, when she moved back to her home state, she was denied an abortion on grounds that her health was not threatened. She had given up searching for a safe clinical abortion when two lawyers contacted her about her story. These lawyers were Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington. John and Mary Doe, a couple that had offered their services in a previous abortion case, approached Coffee and Weddington who quickly included them in the case. Coffee and Wellington made a perfect couple of lawyers to head up the fight against the District Attorney of Texas, Henry Wade. Henry Wade chose one of his most capable lawyers, John Tolle, to defend him in this suit. Coffee and Weddington went off the argument that, "A woman is guaranteed the right to an abortion by her constitutional right to privacy. No state could interfere with a woman's decision to have an abortion which was a private matter." They based this on the first, fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth and fourteenth amendments. The first amendment protects a person's right to freedom of speech, which had been violated when a doctor was not aloud to talk to their patient about all forms of treatment. Coffee and Weddington stated that the fourth...
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