Roe V. Wade

Roe V. Wade
States should be at liberty to place any rational waiting periods or restrictions on abortions in order to protect their residents. In Roe V. Wade, women have a right to privacy, which is invaded when abortion is prohibited. Consequently, individual states cannot proscribe abortion, but can impose practical limits on it to protect the mother’s health or the potential life of the fetus. Reasonableness when setting these limits should be within the provisions of the constitution, as well informed advice from qualified people in respective fields such as medicine.
The decision in Roe V. Wade specifies that the freedom of choice on whether or not to perform an abortion is exclusive to women. Impliedly, husbands have no legal authority in this matter. However, this scenario may create issues such as divorce since, technically, husbands have an equal say in issues related to their wives’ pregnancies as women do. A husband’s consent before performing an abortion should be sought for all married women.
Life and death decisions for critically disabled children should be made by medical professionals following a series of tests. The current medical technology has the ability to reveal any severe deformities or disabilities in fetuses early in the pregnancy. A highly qualified person in this field can decide whether the pregnancy should be terminated or not, depending on the fetus’ chances of survival. However, such medical opinion should only be used if the child cannot survive long after birth.

For some extremely disabled children, abortion may be the only way to prevent their pain and suffering after birth, or the agony of the parents of having to bury a child.
News from a co-worker that she recently had an abortion may create mixed feelings in me. I would try to enquire if the abortion was matter of necessity. If so, I would offer support and recommend counseling. If it was a matter of choice, I would comfort the co-worker, try to discourage her from having future abortions and instead use birth control.