1973+Roe+v+Wade

Home TIMELINE TOPICS ASSIGNMENT: Who Is A Person In America?

ROE v. WADE CASE SETTLED Catherine P. Place photos or graphics in the table below. Save to desktop, then upload by clicking on "file" on the menu bar (above).
 * || [[image:https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=4cb90b105e&view=att&th=132a8eb88ed23be1&attid=0.1&disp=thd&realattid=f_gt2bqg8t0&zw width="270" height="184"]] ||

Write a journal/newspaper style article in which you take a neutral stance (as a reporter) and give the facts about the actual event. What led up to the event? What happened during the actual event? Did it have an “end” or is it unresolved? You are to write about this event __when it happened__, you are assuming the role of a reporter in 1850, 1920, etc., __not someone looking back from 2011__. You need to cite your sources, and they must include information only available during that time period. At least one source must be primary and/or an eyewitness account. **Important - This work will be submitted to TurnItIn.com. We will provide you information about using this helpful resource**!
 * TASK I:**

Citations: Abortion Doctor: Killing For Cash. 1976. //AP Images//. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. < [] >. Abortion: A Woman's Right To Choose! 1971. //AP Images//. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. < [] >. De Hart, Jane Sherron. “Roe v. Wade.” //Dictionary of American History.// Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 7. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 192-193. //Gale Virtual Reference Library.// Web. 26 Sept. 2011. Finkelman, Paul, and Melvin I. Urofsky. "Roe V. Wade." //CQ Supreme Court// //Collection//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. < [] >. McCorvey, Norma, with Andy Meisler. //I am Roe: My Life, “Roe v. Wade,” and Freedom of Choice.// New York: HarperCollins. 1994, 117-123.
 * __ ROE v. WADE CASE SETTLED __ – January 23, 1973 **
 * The Roe v Wade case, which determined the constitutional right of a woman to have an abortion, came to a close yesterday. The case dealt with a pregnant 21-year-old mother of two named "Jane Roe." The unmarried woman brought suit in 1970, and since then she has gone by a pseudonym in order to protect her privacy. With the full support of her doctors, Jane Roe had requested an abortion, yet was denied. She was told she could not terminate her pregnancy due to a Texas law prohibiting abortions. **
 * The **** case was initiated by Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, plaintiff Jane Roe’s attorneys. According to Roe, "Sarah [Weddington] was the one who [spoke] for them both" (McCorvey). Defendant Henry Wade’s lawyers were John **** Tolle, Jay Floyd and Robert Flowers. Wade is the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. **** The Supreme Court was made up of Judges Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, William Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis Powell, Potter Stewart, William Rehnquist, Byron White and Chief Justice Warren Burger **** . **
 * When Roe asked about an illegal abortion, Weddington told her how "dangerous illegal abortions are" (McCorvey). Weddington "told [Roe] about pregnant, unmarried women, ... women [who] were murdered" (McCorvey). With the number of female casualties due to illegal abortions at an annual three to five thousand, it was urgent that the matter be resolved (DeHart). However it was over a year after Roe filed suit that the case was argued, and by that time, Roe had been forced to have the baby, which she preceded to give up for adoption. Supreme Court Judges Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun, and Powell all voted to render these laws unconstitutional, while Judges White and Rehnquist voted against a woman’s right to choose. Blackmun wrote the majority opinion. Concurring opinions were written by Stewart, Burger, and Douglas, **** while Rehnquist and White wrote the dissenting opinions. **
 * Blackmun stated that many US states’ laws violated the Constitution’s right to privacy, "whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, … or, as the district court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people." That "right of privacy … is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy" (Finkelman & Urofsky). Blackmun also mentioned that a psychological, physical, and financial burden was imposed "upon the pregnant woman by denying [the choice of abortion]" (Finkelman & Urofsky). **
 * Rehnquist argued that the Court should never have even heard the case since the baby had been born before the appeal reached the court, but the case had gone on and the Court countered that other women may find themselves in such a situation in the future (Finkelman & Urofsky) . He also rejected the entire concept of a right of privacy upheld in the US Constit ution (Finkelman & Urofsky). **
 * The Court concluded that during the first trimester, it was up to the woman and her doctor whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, while in the second trimester the state had the right to prohibit an abortion to protect the health or life of a pregnant woman. After the first six months, however, the state had the right to prevent an abortion. The reasoning for this declaration was that "the fetus then presumably has the capability of meaningful life outside the mother’s womb" (Finkelman & Urofsky) and that the state then has biological justifications for protecting the baby’s life. The seven to two ruling decided that all laws that either prohibited abortions or made abortions legal but virtually unattainable are unconstitu tional (DeHart). **

Task 1: Mastery Rubric A quality news article will: •open with an attention-grabbing headline •identify the author's name and the date of the publication (in the past) •develop the 5 W's in three power paragraphs •paragraph 1: contain an interesting lead •paragraph 2: LISTING secondary source (an indirect quote) •paragraph 3: correctly cite a primary source (eyewitness account) •maintain appropriate journalistic voice •read like an article written in the same time period as the event occurred •be free of mechanics and Works Cited errors

TASK II What is the Argument?

Roe v. Wade was the most influential case opening the discussion and arguments about abortion to the public. This case established whether a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion. Whether or not she //should// have constitutional right to an abortion, however, is still a topic of conversation widely debated about.

PROMPT 1: Why did the majority of Americans not recognize the rights of members of this group? Explanation: The majority of the American population was more or less divided by this case. The Advocates of Women’s Rights do not recognize what the “Right to Life” Advocates call the right of the child to live, whereas the pro-life supporters do not recognize what the pro-choice supporters call women’s rights. Either way, someone is being accused of not recognizing someone or something else’s rights. The defenders of women’s rights felt that women with unwanted pregnancies with children who would bear severe defects should have the right to terminate their pregnancy. They believed it unjust to force society, the mother, along with so many others to bear the burden of these defected humans. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion, stating that viability of life cannot take place at the moment of conception, nor can Constitutional personhood be considered prior to six months into a pregnancy (DeHart). However, in addition to these pro-choice citizens’ opinions, many others have contributed and continue to add their support to the opposing population. Many pro-life supporters also believed that the case was moot, as Roe’s pregnancy had already ended by the time the case reached the Supreme Court. There are also those that believe that there is no right to privacy supported in the United States’ Constitution, meaning that “a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her [own] pregnancy” is not up to her (**Finkelman** **&** **Urofsky)**. As an anti-abortionist’s protest poster stated, pro-life supporters argue that “It’s not the woman’s right to choose, it’s the child’s right to live!” (Child’s Right). De Hart, Jane Sherron. “Roe v. Wade.” //Dictionary of American History.// Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 7. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 192-193. //Gale Virtual Reference Library.// Web. 26 Sept. 2011. Finkelman, Paul, and Melvin I. Urofsky. "Roe V. Wade." //CQ Supreme Court// //Collection//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <[]>. Child’s Right To Live. 1972. //AP Images//. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. <[]>.

PROMPT 2: How did advocates for the minority group shed light on this injustice? Neither group was in the minority in this instance; both sides were well represented in the Supreme Court. It just happened to be that the Court’s ruling sided with the pro-choice supporters. “The decision was not particularly controversial at the time it was announced. … There was no large scale public outcry against the decision” (Finkelman & Urofsky). Finkelman, Paul, and Melvin I. Urofsky. "Roe V. Wade." //CQ Supreme Court// //Collection//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <[]>.

__Paragraph 1:__ Analyze the impact of the literary or artistic work for the minority group and/or American society as a whole.
 * TASK III:**

What She Does to That Child By Annemarie C.

I feel so sorry for that kid suffering but not yet born mother is a crack addicted and her heart is torn. Because she didn't know at first "only once" was never a factor Everything around her disappeared and no drug ever slipped past her. She's constantly on the streets Poor baby will be born alone Mother will be too busy trying to score money on the phone. Please save that child unborn for it'll end up dead that mother will just end its life with a quick blow to the head. It’s just another baby left alone by a door Couldn't save itself in winter mommy didn't care anymore. Mommy has some STDS and that child will be born dying god forbid that child's born I would die with that crying.

Being sent through this poem is the message that it is unfair to bring certain people into this world, though it may not be their fault. Sometimes, making sure they are not brought into this world is simply taking mercy upon them. It is merciless to bring a person into this world when “that child will be born dying” (C., Annemarie), especially when that child will continue to be a burden on society for the rest of its life. No matter how long that perpetual child is alive – and its life will assuredly be of poor quality – it will require excess attention and extra support, starting, possibly, before it is even born.

C., Annemarie. "What She Does to That Child." //All Poetry//. N.p., 7 Nov. 2007. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. .

__Paragraph 2:__ CLOSING-- How did the event impact the debate on the argument? The decision regarding the Roe v. Wade case changed history. Prior to this, women were forced, if they wanted an abortion, to seek out an illegal abortion. Some women were so desperate to get rid of their burden, their future child, that they went to shady doctors, gangsters, many times ending up with their insides torn out, or even trying to give themselves abortions with coat hangers and killing themselves (McCorvey), which is where the Pro-Choice Advocates’ symbol, a red coat hanger, came from. Since Roe v. Wade passed, women are now able to get safe, legal abortions up to 6 months into their pregnancy. The case of Roe v. Wade gave the debate on abortion more fuel, and the debate is still in existence. No matter which side the Court took on this case, the abortion argument would have, and will, continue.

McCorvey, Norma, with Andy Meisler. //I am Roe: My Life, “Roe v. Wade,” and Freedom of Choice.// New York: HarperCollins. 1994, 117-123. An outstanding product will. •showcase a work that expresses a profound idea about your event and the argument surrounding it There is certainly a strong message in this poem. It is truly sad that this situation can happen. •be the **best** example available, not simply the first one you find •demonstrate your ability to interpret the meaning of the literary or artistic piece I am glad that you pointed out the merciful message here, it is important to understand that while it may seem harsh to suggest that a baby is better off not being born, some situations may warrant such a difficult decision. •use the extended power paragraph format as a means to express your understanding of the event, argument, and how art literature and art can reveal emotions and ideas •reference sources accurately •mechanics are clean and effective Be sure to edit and polish your work. You can use the WIW even for writing that will be posted!
 * TASK III: Artistic Expression Element Rubric **

An outstanding time line entry includes the following: • Opens by identifying you, the author, and your event with a banner headline (see an example of a banner on the top of this page). • Under the banner, in the table place two graphics or photos that illustrates an important aspect of the event. • Thoughtful responses to each prompt are supported by credible sources representing diverse perspectives on the event. • Each response should be posted in order (follow template instructions), contain few mechanic errors and follow the power paragraph format. • The credibility of each cited source is established and internal citations accurately match the Works Cited. • TASK I and TASK II each introduce and cite two new sources; TASK III cites one new source. • The Works Cited lists 5 credible sources from the LC databases.
 * Rubric for the Time Line Page**