Debates On Abortion Social Sciences Essay Research (Essay Sample)

DEBATES ON ABORTION
Whether the foetus is a person, has been so universally popular that in many of the writings it is assumed that this question is the key to the whole problem. (R. M. Hare, 'Abortion and the Golden Rule', Philosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 4, 1975, p. 2o4)
During the 1800s, all surgical procedures, including abortion, were extremely risky. Hospitals were not common, antiseptics were unknown, and even the most respected doctors had only primitive medical educations. Without today’s current technology, maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth were extraordinarily high. The dangers from abortion were similar to the dangers from other surgeries that were not outlawed.
In the recent history, there is no case that has ignited the topic of abortion as that of Jane Roe, a 21-year-old pregnant woman, who represented all women who wanted abortions but could not get them legally and safely against Henry Wade who was the Texas Attorney General who defended the law that made abortions illegal.
After hearing the case, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans’ right to privacy included the right of a woman to decide whether to have children, and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state interference.