Roe V Wade

I really enjoyed Mr. Doggett’s presentation because although I knew about Roe V Wade, I didn’t know much of the background. The presentation gave me a lot of insight into how the legal system deals with issues that are so controversial. One part that I thought was interesting was the lack of religious reason. Throughout the cases that we discussed, it seemed like religion barely played a part. I thought this was particularly interesting because religion seems like a very important factor in the current debate over the morality of abortion. The separation of church and state seems to not play as much of a part in current protests in support of abortion. I was particularly interested in the restrictions on abortion that are currently in place. Although the rules of in which trimester a woman can get an abortion originated in Roe V Wade, there are many other new restrictions on abortion. Some of these restrictions involve waiting periods, mandatory counseling, and even specific requirements for abortion clinics. In many states, these restrictions do not keep all women from having access to an abortion, but it does prevent many low income women from getting the care that they need. Not only do these restrictions seem unjust to me, but they also seem to contradict the decision of Roe V Wade. I also noticed that the debate over abortion seemed very similar to the debate about the legality of gay marriage. Both started with states making and enforcing laws, and continued until the supreme court made a final decision. They also both involve religion, despite the separation of church and state. Many people use religion as a tool to attempt to prove that both gay marriage and abortion are wrong. These decisions are still debated and attempted to be restricted unconstitutionally. With the eventual introduction of a new justice to the supreme court, I wonder if both the gay marriage decision and Roe V Wade could be overturned or somehow further restricted.