Public Agenda Issue Guide: Abortion

Citizens

are confronted with serious issues every minute of the day. Grasping the underlying issues from the headlines is a difficult task. Give us ten minutes a day and we will help bring clarity to the chaos of the news, policy and issues.

ON THE AGENDA

Will Too Much Debt Fuel A Double-Dip Recession?

Francie Grace
Nov 20, 2009

That was the question raised by President Obama during an interview in China (one of our biggest creditors), as cartoonists seized the opportunity to comment on America's looming national debt. "It is important," said Mr.

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Listening To Young Americans On The Deficit

Francie Grace
Nov 13, 2009

You wouldn't think the bottom line on the $1.6 trillion federal budget deficit and $11.9 trillion national debt crisis could be summed up in a single sentence, but when the right words whizzed by, the Wall Street Journal's David Wessel was quick to point them out.

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Nation's Finances

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ISSUE GUIDE: Abortion

OVERVIEW

Abortion

More than a generation after the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the U.S., public debate on the subject continues to follow the well-worn path between condemnation and choice. Public attitudes do not.

Where advocates on both sides tend to lay out their arguments in terms of absolute moral rights and wrongs, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions. Solid majorities support a woman's right to choose abortion - if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy.

On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. In some respects, changing technology - such as the "abortion pill" and ultrasound-guided abortions available as early as eight days after conception – have made abortion both easier and more accepted. In other respects, new technology – such as ultrasound photos from the womb and developments making a fetus viable at earlier stages of pregnancy – has sparked new questions.

GET THE FACTS

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CONSIDER THE CHOICES

Opposing Abortion

Supporting Abortion Rights

Respecting Differences

By ushering in an era of abortion on demand, the Supreme Court's Roe decision cheapened human life. The unborn child, which is no less human than its mother, has an inalienable right to life. The sanctity of human life is a moral claim that cannot be violated or superceded by other claims. For this reason, abortion cannot be condoned as an individual decision or as a matter of public policy. Abortion must be prohibited or at least sharply restricted.
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The principles on which the Roe v. Wade decision was based -- an individual's freedom of choice, as well as freedom from government intrusion into personal matters -- need to be reaffirmed. The fetus is not yet a person and its rights do not outweigh the mother's right to choose. Decisions about such a personal matter as whether to continue a pregnancy must be left to the individual who is most directly involved, the pregnant woman.
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Laws regarding abortion must reflect a concern for two different values. Because we value the human potential of the unborn, we must try to minimize the number of abortions performed. At the same time, public measures must be taken to prevent the tragic dilemma posed by unwanted pregnancy. As members of a pluralistic society, we are obliged to acknowledge that individuals differ about the status of the fetus. For this reason, and because outlawing abortion would be impracticable, thus undermining respect for the law, abortion should be permitted early in pregnancy. After that, it should be sharply restricted.
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