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Roe v. Wade

The Roe v. Wade case established a constitutional right to abortion, significantly impacting women's health, privacy rights, and gender equality. It invalidated many state laws that restricted abortion access, leading to safer and more accessible services for women. The decision also set legal precedents that influenced subsequent Supreme Court cases and improved women's participation in economic and social life.

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2 views

Roe v. Wade

The Roe v. Wade case established a constitutional right to abortion, significantly impacting women's health, privacy rights, and gender equality. It invalidated many state laws that restricted abortion access, leading to safer and more accessible services for women. The decision also set legal precedents that influenced subsequent Supreme Court cases and improved women's participation in economic and social life.

Uploaded by

ninhngocmai3
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ROE V.

WADE CASE

* NEW PHRASES
- Constitution of the United States: Hiến Pháp Hoa Kì
- a landmark decision: Quyết định mang tính bước ngoặt
- U.S. Supreme Court: Tòa án tối cao Hoa Kì
- protected a right to have an abortion: bảo vệ quyền đc phá thai
- federal law: luật liên bang
-> In detail: a law or body of laws passed by the central government of the United
States (Chính Phủ trung ương hoa kì) or of any other country comprising states,
provinces, or other quasi-autonomous units (đơn vị bán tự trị): Compare state
law (def), provincial law (def).
Eg: This act to protect migratory birds is a federal law enforcing an
international agreement to which the United States is a party.
- to enforce: thực thi, bắt tuân theo
- to invalidate: làm vô hiệu hóa, phán quyết vô hiệu lực (luật nào đó)
- be unconstitutional: vi hiến (chỉ hành vi lm trái quy định của Hiến pháp)

* HOW A CASE GETS TO THE US SUPREME COURT


- The federal court system consists of three layers and the lowest is the district level.
[1]

- To get to Supreme Court, most cases are required submitting a “Petition for a
writ of certiorari” - a written request asking the Supreme Court to hear a case. [1]
-> The overarching goal (mục tiêu bao trùm) of the Court is to make sure that
Federal law is the same across the country. [1]
-> The Federal Law means the US Constitution (Hiến Pháp HK) & law passed by
Congress (Quốc Hội) [1]
- Granting Certiorari:
“Rule of four” [2]
+ The Judiciary Act of 1869, Congress set the number of justices at nine, a number
which has remained constant to this day.
+ The Justices use the "Rule of Four” to decide if they will take the case. If four of
the nine Justices feel the case has value, they will issue a writ of certiorari.
- Categories for case selection (categories for case be selected by the US Supreme
Court) [1]
+ Case of National Importance
+ Lower court invalidates federal law
+ Resolve split decision
-> However, these categories are NOT rules, which case is gotten to the court
depends on the decisions of individuals - the sittings justices (thẩm phán đương
nhiệm) of The US Supreme Court.

(US Supreme Court | 2010)

* ROE V. WADE CASE BRIEF SUMMARY

* What was its impact on other laws or on related social outcomes (such as
health and well-being, gender equality, and income equality)
* Do you think this Supreme Court’s decision impacts on the right of women in the
US. Why?
1. Impacts on other rights
1.1 Right to privacy
Roe v. Wade did far more than establish the right to abortion; it solidified and
expanded the constitutional “right to privacy”. In the decision on Roe v. Wade the
court recognized for the first time that the constitutional right to privacy “is broad
enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy”
(Roe v. Wade, 1973).

At the time the decision was handed down, nearly all states outlawed abortion except
to save a woman’s life or for limited reasons such as preserving the woman’s health,
or instances of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly. Roe rendered these laws
unconstitutional, making abortion services vastly safer and more accessible to women
throughout the country. The decision also set a legal precedent that affected more than
30 subsequent Supreme Court cases involving restrictions on access to abortion.

However, the court recognized that the right to privacy is not absolute and a state has
valid interests in safeguarding maternal health and protecting potential life. A state
may — but is not required to — prohibit abortion after viability, except when it is
necessary to protect a woman’s life or health.

1.2 Right to Intimacy


Another right profoundly influenced by Roe is the right to form intimate relationships
and the related right for adults to engage in consensual sexual relations in private.
This right was first recognized in a 2003 Supreme Court decision striking down laws
that criminalized same-sex intimate activity. The case proclaimed that
“Roe recognized the right of a woman to make certain fundamental decisions
affecting her destiny and confirmed once more that the protection of liberty under the
Due Process Clause has a substantive dimension of fundamental significance in
defining the rights of the person,” such as autonomy in decision-making about
intimate relationships.

1.3 Right to mary


Loving v. Virginia acknowledged the constitutional right to marry, and Roe affirmed
that it is among the fundamental liberties protected by the right to privacy. Subsequent
cases protecting the right to marry have relied on Roe. For example, a 1978 Supreme
Court decision upheld the right of single parents obligated to pay child support to
marry without first obtaining the permission of a judge, and based this conclusion in
part on Roe. This same fundamental liberty right was reaffirmed as recently as 2015
by the Supreme Court in a case that guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry.

2. Impacts on related social outcomes


2.1 The health of women are improved
The case significantly reduced maternal mortality. A total of 39 women are known to
have died from unsafe abortions in 1972, and this was almost certainly a drastic
undercount. In 1975, there were only three such deaths. In 1965, eight years
before Roe was decided, illegal abortion caused 17 percent of pregnancy-related
deaths. In modern times, just 0.2 percent of people who undergo abortions even
require hospitalization for complications.
2.2 The lives of women are improved
- Economic Opportunities: The ability to make this personal health care decision has
also enabled women to pursue educational and employment opportunities that were
often unthinkable prior to Roe.
- Equal Participation: The Supreme Court noted in 1992 that “the ability of women to
participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated
by their ability to control their reproductive lives”
-> Women's ability to control their reproductive lives is essential for their full
participation in society
2.3 Land mark for gender equality
Justice Harry Blackmun, whose opinion established a woman's constitutional right to
abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, called the decision “a step that had to be
taken as we go down the road toward the full emancipation of women”. He saw Roe v.
Wade as a crucial step towards women's liberation and equality.
-> This perspective highlights the broader implications of Roe v. Wade beyond
reproductive rights. The decision was seen by many as a landmark moment in the
fight for gender equality.

Source:
[1] Youtube | How a case gets to the US Supreme Court.
https://youtu.be/KEjgAXxrkXY.
[2] The Supreme Court. https://judiciallearningcenter.org/the-us-supreme-court/.
[3] National Women’s Law Center, 2022. Nothing is safe: Threats to other
fundamental rights in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
https://nwlc.org/resource/even-more-than-abortion-the-constitutional-importance-of-
roe-v-wade/.
[4] Legal Information Institute, n.d. Substansive due process. Cornell Law School.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/substantive_due_process#:~:text=Specifically%2C
%20the%20Fifth%20and%20Fourteenth,Amendment%20applies%20to%20state
%20action.
[5] Planned Parenthood, 2014. Abortion Roe History.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/3013/9611/5870/Abortion_Roe_History.pdf.

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