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Re: Roe v. Wade is the law
I noticed that a recent decision by a court ruled that a woman does have the right to an abortion but not the right to demand a doctor can perform one.
Originally Posted by Vadinho
At the core of this issue is the difficulty in defining what is a human being. I can think of no definition that encompasses all the possible ethical, biological, moral and legal quandaries the definition should cover. In fact, this lack of clarity is why the third trimester limit was placed into the law. For lack of any better option, viability became the dividing line. If any of us think defining a human being is easy, you have not thought about it enough.
The Pro-lifers tend to argue from religious dogma - which is interesting, but completely misses the point. In the US, we live in a deliberately secular state - the Founding Fathers had seen quite enough bloodshed over whether one opens a hardboiled egg @ the big or little end, & so on. So they did away with established religion altogether, & allowed no religious test for elected nor appointed officials. People are free to argue from their relgious POV if they wish to do so, of course. & if they manage to convince a majority, then perhaps they can pass legislation to accommodate their view.
To date, the various anti-abortion groups don't have the numbers. The Constitution can be amended, but it was deliberately made a difficult process. Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, most US voters seem to accept Roe as useful law, just in case the need arises - either in their personal family life, or in the lives of other citizens out in the world.
As I recall, the Supreme Court in 1972 looked into traditional & current Christian & Jewish views on when the fetus can be aborted, & when ensoulment takes place. They may have also looked @ other religious traditions - I know that SC Justice Blackmun was general counsel for the Mayo Clinic for most of a decade, & he spent the summer of 1972 @ the Mayo Clinic library, reviewing the books & articles on the history & practice of abortion (in order to write the Court's opinion). The SC passed on deciding when life began - the issue was too contentious. That is interesting history in & of itself, & well worth looking into.
I noticed that a recent decision by a court ruled that a woman does have the right to an abortion but not the right to demand a doctor can perform one.