Background:
Roe v. Wade:
This was a major Supreme Court ruling on the controversial topic of Abortion. Based on the fourteenth amendment which states:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The outcome of this case was that the court decided a right to privacy by due process under the 14th amendment, making abortions legal in the early months of pregnancy.
After this case, abortions will become illegal after the fourth month of pregnancy.
The new Ohio Bill, “the Heartbeat Bill”, with the nation’s most strict abortion limit, with make it illegal for a women to have an abortion if and when the fetus has a heartbeat, which is seen and heard over an ultrasound. This heartbeat is often heard after only 6 weeks of being pregnant. Ohio Prolife Action, which is a group that’s goal is to support the pro life movement in the state of Ohio, has been airing anti abortion ads and also advertise the state senators’ phone numbers, in effort to build more support to the heartbeat bill. In Early June the much republican Ohio House passed the bill with a 55-44 vote. At the House hearing, Ultrasounds were done, so that legislators could see and hear the fetal heart beats. A group called Ohio Right to Life has no current thoughts on the Bill. They only think that if legislation takes too long, and the bill is fought in court, the justices will shoot it down. Some people of Ohio have a strong feeling that the state should not be so concerned with abortion, and should not “waste” money on the matter. Instead, the state should be working on the 9% unemployment. Talks in the Senate began today, and are still ongoing.
Question to classmates: What are your feelings towards this state bill? Do you agree or disagree with the Bill? Why? What do you think will happen to this Bill in the Senate? If the Senate passes it, do you think it will be challenged in court and why do you think the outcome with be? Why?
sources:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/12/07/ohio_senators_hear_heartbeat_abortion_bill/
I feel like this bill may be a violation to privacy of the citizens. I think that a person should have restrictions on how far a long they want an abortion, but six weeks along seems too short to determine whether or not you want to keep a baby. Furthermore, again I am unsure if this law takes rape or financial problems into consideration, though it definitely should since there are several reasons a mother may not be able to support a baby. In addition, I think based on different religions, cultures etc you cannot determine what a life is, there are too many definitions and the Government should not have the authority to shape that belief (for example, according to the science laws of life, a living organism is one that can live on its own, which a fetus cannot). I believe that this Bill probably will ratify in the Senate because I think that 6 weeks/a heartbeat is too soon to determine whether or not to keep it and most women may not even realize they’re pregnant in 6 weeks. Furthermore, I believe that court will probably challenge this bill but I am unsure of the outcome since the original senate bill was so close.
ReplyDeletei absolutely agree with randa because as she said 6 weeks is still too short to determine whether or not they should keep the the baby. its is the familys choice to whether they want to keep the baby or not. i mean yes the baby will have a heartbeat in around 6 weeks but it is still not considered alive, i mean if you took the baby out the baby would not be alive because it is not fully developed. so i disagree with this law.
ReplyDeleteI find that this law is in violation of a person’s private life. I don’t think that the government should have a say in when a person can or can’t have an abortion. The 6-weeks law gives not enough time for someone to decide whether or not they’re going to keep the baby. Plus, they may not even know that they’re pregnant until the symptoms come along. I believe that the Senate won’t pass the law, seeing that the law violates privacy and such. Six weeks is not enough time to determine whether or not they’re getting an abortion. And the Heartbeat Bill, is not reasonable, seeing that even if a baby has its first heartbeat, it is not considered a part of life until it’s able to live on its own. A fetus is not able to live on its own at six weeks; it isn’t even in human shape yet until a few months down the road. This law, if passed by the Senate, will most likely be challenged by the court, seeing that, many people will most likely disagree with this law. There should at least be exceptions for those who are victims of rape or those who can’t afford a baby either health-wise or financially. So, to answer the first question, I disagree with this bill; the heartbeat bill is unreasonable and I believe that if there were to be a restriction on how long until an abortion is too late, I would say, much longer than six weeks, at least a few months or so, or until noticeable and then some.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this bill could be a major problem when it comes to the women who have been raped and became pregnant that way. I also agree with Randa, this is a huge violation of privacy. People should be able to determine when they want to get an abortion. It is something that is offered to people because they can't afford it, or simply do not want the baby. It is the mother's choice, and should not be anyone else's decision when determining how long they have to get an abortion. Although I truly believe that there are some people who are strongly against abortion, I do not think that it will be passed in the Senate. This law does not stop abortion it just stops the rates of it happening. I think that the Senate will also consider what will happen to the economy with more and more babies being born. If it does pass in the Senate, there are going to be many court cases challenging the issue.
ReplyDeleteThis law is violating women’s privacy rights. Also six weeks is not enough time for women to decide on having an abortion. Women may not know they are pregnant by then, and what if they found out they were pregnant a couple days or a week before the abortion restriction ran out? That leaves minimal time to make a decision regarding abortion. I also agree with Katie because this bill will be a major problem when it comes to down to women who have been raped and have gotten pregnant. Also women may not be able to afford to be pregnant. Abortion should be a women’s decision, if people force women to continue with a pregnancy they do not want, there could defiantly be major consequences. I do not think this law will be passed by the Senate, if it ends up being passed by them, it will be challenged in court many times until the bill is revoked.
ReplyDeleteI think this bill is completely unfair and violates women’s privacy rights. I think since a baby in the womb isn’t even viable until the 6th month, not allowing abortions after 6 weeks, or until there is a heartbeat is unfair to women. I think if this bill passes the senate many women will go to other states to get an abortion. If it is passed I do this it will be challenged in court because many women will think it violates their privacy rights.
ReplyDeleteI personally like this bill, if there is a heartbeat then there should not be an abortion. This is strictly on the heartbeat being after six weeks. I trust that fact and if it is true I believe that six weeks which is that same a month and a half, a decision should be made whether or not you want the baby. I believe that this bill will be shot down in the senate based on knowing that democrats hold the power, because in the Ohio House which is mostly republican it was passed. If this bill does pass it will most likely go to court because of how heavily sided this subject is. Many people will disagree and take it to court where the bill will most likely stand.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Randa on this one. I think that this bill is a violation of privacy. Also, I agree that six weeks is too short to decide if you want to keep the baby or not, but I do think that there should be restrictions on how far along the mom wants an abortion. So based on that, I disagree with this bill. I think that this bill, when it reaches the senate, will ratify, because six weeks is too soon to determine if you want to keep a baby or not. And like Randa mentioned, most women may not know that they are even pregnant at six weeks. If Senate passes the bill, I think that the bill will be challenged.
ReplyDeleteI think this bill is not right and gets rid of certain rights for women. It is a radical change from the 6 months all the way down to six weeks. Or maybe even less depending on if you can hear a heart beat. The mother should have a choice on whether or not she has an adoption. I think that if the bill passes in the senate that many women might go seek black market abortions or go to another state to get them. Also I believe if will be brought to court as soon as it is passed if it passes. Then I believe it will be struck down.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not agree with this bill. I feel as though the mother of the child should have the complete decision of whether or not to have the child and that decision may take longer then the short six weeks. Also, a mother may not even know she is pregnant by the sixth week and it would already be too late to receive an abortion. I agree with Tyler that it is an extremely drastic change going from being able to have an abortion up to six moths and being limited to six weeks (when the baby receives a heart beat). Additionally, I disagree with the fact that the Senate thinks that they have the right to decide when a mother can receive an abortion. Randa made a very valid point when she stated, “ …based on different religions, cultures etc you cannot determine what a life is, there are too many definitions and the Government should not have the authority to shape that belief .” I believe that this is giving the Government too much control because based on whether or not this bill is passed can ultimately be determined by the Government and that may not be taking into consider the different beliefs of other religions. I hope that this bill will not be passed because it is a complete limiting factor on whether or not a mother can receive an abortion based off of when the fetus receives a heartbeat. I believe that determining the length of time in which a woman can receive an abortion is merely based on ones own opinion. I feel as though this bill will pass in the Senate because in the Ohio house it passed with a 55-44 vote. If the senate passes it, I think it will be challenged in the court because it abridges the privileges of the United States of America. I am currently unsure of the out come based off of the idea that there was only a difference of 11 in the first vote.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with this bill. I don't agree with it because if a woman and a man are mature enough to have sex and get themselves in this predicament then they need to be mature enough to make the decision of how to deal with the outcome. That decision I feel like would be very difficult, especially cause it is technically taking a life away. But 6 weeks may not be enough time to make the decision. However i agree with this bill because if the baby has a heartbeat then it's already living and breathing and taking the life away from it would be a crime. In conclusion, I believe that this bill should be modified because it doesn't really take into account of rape and such. If a girl was raped and kidnapped and couldn't get the abortion within 6 weeks, what happens then? Therefore, all in all, this bill is affective to some point but it needs to be modified majorly.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with this bill because it is a huge change from the now six months that is current policy to only six weeks, which is not enough time. Six weeks could be too short of a time to decide or to know if a mother wants or even needs an abortion. Like one of the previous current events brought up, in some cases if a mother does not have an abortion, she could die. It is likely that this risk would not be known at six weeks. As others have said, it also violates women's privacy and rights. If this bill passes, there will be opposition and it will be challenged.
ReplyDeleteThis bill not only would not stand up to the Roe v Wade test, but it is a major violation of a women's privacy. Since the bill does not seem to take into consideration the fact that the woman may have been raped or could be an unwilling mother it is not likely to gain favor with many or really any pro choice people. I completely agree with Cassandra when she said " determining the length of time in which a woman can receive an abortion is merely based on ones own opinion." Women should always be the one to chose seeing as it is going to be their life they are devoting to the child and their body. I don't even believe this bill can even be modified and make it past the test of Roe v Wade. Six weeks is entirely too short a period of time to decide whether or not to keep the fetus or not. Moving from a six month decision period to six weeks is drastic. I feel for the women this will affect while it is a law. Overall this bill has no chance of surviving if it goes to the Supreme Court, and might not even get by the senate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this bill, but there should be exceptions for special cases where the mother has been raped or her life depends on the abortion. If that was added to the bill, I would support it completely. Before Derick's current event, he quoted the constitution. Does the baby not get equal protection of the law? Are they not entitled to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? You can argue that you are taking away the mother's rights as well, but in what way does anyone think it's morally ok to give her the right to kill her child. We have laws forbidding murder on kids and adults, and this bill will forbid it on the earliest forms of life as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if the senate would pass this bill, but if they do, it would definitely be challenged in court because there are many who are against the bill and I agree with Paige that the bill probably won't survive.
In my opinion this bill has no point and the state should focus on unemployment, as the article said. If somebody wants to have an abortion then let them. I understand that if a fetus is living then it should be considered as a human being, but if it has no consciousness towards what is happening then it shouldn't be a problem.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with pieces of the bill, like the majority of my classmates. I agree that six months is way too long of a term to allow women to have an abortion but I also believe that six weeks is too short. Previous posts stated that women may not even know that they are pregnant at this time. It is an extremely difficult decision to set a limit on the number of weeks women are allowed to abort the baby because of the wide varieties of political ideology. This is taking away the rights of women. It is hard to say that there are exceptions to the law because rape happens and if a woman is raped, she should have the option to abort because of the terrible crime of a man. Trying to make a ruling on when life begins, is a personal opinion and is therefore up to the women, and not the government. I can see how important this is, but at the same time I understand Christian’s point in which this shouldn’t be the government’s top priority at this time.