Running Heading: WORLDVIEW ANALYSIS ESSAY
Abortion
Jasmine Vega
PADM 550
Abortion 1
Legislation
January 22,1973 the Roe vs Wade decision made abortion legal. The United States
Supreme Court made abortion legal in all fifty states based on the 14th Amendment to the United
States constitution. The 14th amendment protects the basic rights of the citizens (Amar, 1992).
Roe vs Wade set a standard in law that says that it is a woman’s right to have an abortion if they
so choose. The decision was made more than forty years ago, but it is and will continue to be a
cause for debate. The debate is to what level and or limitations should apply to those wanting to
have an abortion.
There is evidence and argument in favor for the decision. People have a right to privacy
under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which is protected. The right to
privacy is broad enough to cover a woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy. The right to an
abortion is important and only convincing state interest can regulate it. The state has two
significant and reasonable interests when considering abortion. The first is protecting the
mother’s health. The second is the protecting the fetus’s life (Ely, 1973).
Key Tenets
A woman’s right to choose is the main principle behind the abortion law. The United
States has a history of abortion that is more involved than most people know. The debate about
abortion has been going on for centuries. According to the law, the Fourteenth and Ninth
Amendments protects a woman’s right to privacy and is the basis for the right to have an
abortion. Woman have the freedom to make the decision to have an abortion, and it would be
unconstitutional to deny a woman the right to an abortion.
Abortion 2
Major Worldview
A worldview is defined as “the intellectual, emotional and spiritual framework by which
we apprehend reality and assign meaning to life” according to Fisher in week one activity
presentation. The three major worldviews discussed were biblical, modernism, and post
modernism. All three worldviews have helped to mold the politics within the United States
government. When studying the characteristics of each worldview, abortion law best fits in the
postmodern worldview.
Postmodernism is hard to define. There are no definite terms boundaries, and absolute
truths present. Postmodernism is an extension of Marxism. There are many factors that play a
role in postmodernism. Theories such as queer theory, critical theory, feminism, and
multicultural help to assess the inequalities of power and how it is distributed. The power is
given to the woman due to pro-abortion reform. Is the claim of freedom and prosperity by the
United States an empty promise? Postmodernism believes that the United States does not meet
the needs of humanity. With a postmodern worldview, “the Western world society is an
outdated lifestyle disguised under impersonal and faceless bureaucracies” (Niles, 2002).
Goals/Objectives
There are positives and negatives to every legislation. Studies have been conducted on
the societal impact on abortion and the negative impacts on legalized abortion. However, there
are health concerns for all involved if the legislation was to be reversed. The intended goal of
abortion laws was to protect a woman’s right to privacy. In order to prevent abortions, programs
to educate woman on contraception and the dangers of abortion could reduce the amount of
abortions each year. It is important that “abortion laws have evolved through courts and human
Abortion 3
rights tribunals around the world interpreting human rights to recognize women’s rights of
access to abortion services and information” (Cook, 2003).
Man is created in the image of God and he calls us to, Proverbs 24: 11-12, ESV “rescue
those being taken away to death” (Bible Gateway, 2016). Majority of individuals who are in
favor of pro-choice do not realize that they are in support of breaking of one God’s Ten
Commandments, “Thou Shall Not Murder”. They choose to believe that no one truly knows
when life begins and that a human life starting at conception is a religious belief. Personally, I
believe human life starts at fertilization. The Bible specifically states that the life in the womb is
precious to God as it is written in scripture, Jeremiah 1:5 NIV states, “he knew us before we
were knitted in the womb” (Bible Gateway, 2016).
Abortion 4
References
Amar, A. R., (1992). The Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment.
http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2005&context=fss_papers
Bible Gateway. (2016). Jeremiah 1:5. New International Version
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Bible Gateway. (2016). Proverbs 24: 11-12 English Standard Version.
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Cook, R. J., & Dickens, B. M. (2003). Human rights dynamics of abortion law reform. Human
Rights Quarterly, Retrieved from
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abstract_id=407400&rec=1&srcabs=1873485&alg=1&pos=6
Ely, J. H. (1973). The wages of crying wolf: A comment on Roe v. Wade. Retrieved from
http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/4112/
Fisher, K. Presentation: Worldview Implications for Policy
Analysis Niles, R. (2002). Postmodernism. Retrieved from
https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm
