In the Supreme Court’s decision of Roe vs. Wade the court set forth many guidelines or rules for abortion law. The Roe decision said that neither abortion is always illegal nor always legal. It took a very middle of the road stance on the issue. It was considered a landmark decision because although it did not legalize abortion at any time and for any reason it did overturn existing laws in many states.

The Roe vs. Wade decision divided the pregnancy up into three separate periods. The decision stated that during the first trimester no law can interfere with the woman’s right to an abortion for any reason. It further stated that after the first trimester until the fetus has reached viability a state may pass a law against abortion only if it is in the interest of protecting the health of the mother. The final period is after viability, the decision said that after viability a state may pass a law banning all abortions except those where carrying the fetus could be dangerous to the mother’s health.

The court based its’ decision on several things. It concluded that the 14th amendment which protects the life, liberty, and property of every person without due process of law, protects a womans’ right to privacy and therefore an abortion. The decision did allow for the states’ interest in protecting the mothers’ life so they said that after the first trimester a state may base an abortion law on protecting the life of the mother. The reason given for this was that studies show an abortion is as safe as childbirth up until the end of the first trimester. The court also stated that the fetus is not protected under the 14th amendment because they said that the fetus is not a person. The decision did allow for the protection of fetal life after viability because it felt that when the fetus was able to live outside of the mother then it was a person.

The Supreme Court’s judgement in the case of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey opened up more rights to the states in terms of what type of legislation they may impose. The decision canceled some parts of Roe but left the basic idea of Roe intact. In the wake of Roe, no legislation of any kind was allowed prior to the end of the first trimester. The Casey decision did away with the trimester system together. The point in time recognized in the Casey decision is that of viability (which due to modern science is growing earlier every year). The Supreme Court said that after viability the interest of the state in protecting the unborn can override the rights of the woman to an abortion if the state so desires to enact laws to that effect.

Unlike in Roe, though, Casey allowed the states to invest in protecting the unborn as long as it did not place an undue burden on the woman who wanted to exercise the right to an abortion guaranteed through Roe. The court said that in the Casey decision and future decisions the basis for testing the constitutionality of a law would be whether or not it placed such undue burden on the woman. Casey upheld the Pennsylvania laws regarding: 1)informed consent, 2)24-hour waiting period, 3)parental notification, 4) clinic record keeping, and 5) the law’s definition of medical emergency. The court did overturn the spousal notification clause, saying it placed an undue burden on some women.

Although this decision did allow for much more freedom for the states’ legislatures, it did not overrule Roe in any way. The majority opinion expressly stated that this decision was meant in no way to overturn Roe, only to better define some issues within Roe and also to abolish the trimester system set up in Roe. The Casey decision allowed for a greater consideration on the states behalf in terms of the protection of the fetus; but nothing that would place an undue burden or major hindrance in the attempt to stop abortions prior to viability. After viability was still left entirely up to the states’ discretion in terms of the rating of the rights of the unborn compared to the rights of the woman.

Personally I believe very strongly that abortion is immoral on the basis that it is wrong to kill the fetus because I feel the fetus is a person. For this reason the decision of the Supreme Court in Roe vs Wade is very upsetting to me. According to the Supreme Court the unborn fetus is not a person as defined by the Constitution and therefore it has no rights at all. I thought that the Supreme Court is supposed to be only passing judgement on laws based on the truest interpretation of the Constitution not based on any personal bias; but by ruling that the fetus (though it has all human DNA) is not a person the Justices are making the same mistake made earlier in our history by saying blacks and women are not persons according to the Constitution. It is an absurd notion to us all that blacks and women are not “persons” and perhaps one day it will seem absurd that a fetus is not a person. The court further stated that no state may pass ANY law restricting abortions at all during the first trimester, and only to protect the mother until viability; after viability is the first time the state is allowed to step in at all on behalf of the fetus. This is very troubling to anyone who is pro-life.

The Casey decision, although it did allow states to become slightly more restrictive in terms of legislating abortion, was not enough. The Supreme Court apparently still contends that the fetus is not a person and therefore the woman’s rights ALWAYS overrule the rights of the fetus, otherwise it would allow for state legislatures to ban abortions. Under Casey, states may put some restrictions on getting an abortion but if it causes the woman an undue burden than the law is unconstitutional. Since I believe that abortion is fundamentally wrong I feel that in almost all cases no burden is undue when it comes to stopping abortions.

It is hard to say which legal era come closest to my views. I would say Casey is closest because Roe is so far from any pro-life sentiment; but even Casey does not allow states the freedom to pass the laws I want to see. Neither legal era is close to my views.

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