For over two centuries abortion has been an issue of debate within the United States; what’s more, at the heart of this debate lies the standoff between defenders of pro-life and of pro-choice. People who identify as pro-life strongly oppose abortion, believing it to be unjust and illegal. The argument pro-life defenders often put forward is that the unborn baby in question qualifies as a human being; therefore, to end its life prematurely is the same as murder. Pro-choice defenders, on the other hand, are strong supporters of allowing the mother to decide what is best for both her and her unborn child. Normally, the debate over abortion can be connected to differing opinions about ethics. Pro-life defenders believe ending a possible life is socially wrong, whereas pro-choice defenders believe hampering the rights and freedoms of a mother is the greater evil. …show more content…
Wade, was brought in front of the Supreme Court. In the case, Sarah Weddington, a 26-year-old lawyer, represented Norma McCorvey, a pregnant single woman then known only as Jane Roe. Hoping to get an abortion, Ms. Roe challenged the Texas law, which prohibited abortions except when necessary to save a mother's life. In the end, the court ruled 7-2 in favor of Ms. Roe, deciding that state criminal abortion laws were unconstitutional as they were unclear and violated upon the rights assured to citizens by the ninth and fourteenth amendments (Rose 91). The result of Roe v. Wade was complete and thorough - the court's decision immediately abolished nearly every state abortion law in the country. Although the court decided that states did in fact have valid and appropriate interest in the pregnancy after a "compelling" point (usually after the end of the first trimester), Roe v. Wade presented a huge victory for pro-choice defenders. After the case, the decision to get an abortion was left solely to the pregnant woman and her doctor (Cornell University Law