The issue of abortion has polarized the nation for many years. The division stems from differing opinions on whether or when unborn children have a right to life and whether and when a pregnant mother has a right to make choices concerning her own body. The point at which an unborn child begins to have rights independent of the mother appears to be a matter of personal belief, rather than something that can be objectively defined. Until society as a whole reaches a clearer consensus on this question, a compromise position may be the bet way to balance the competing perspectives. This Constitution therefore grants pregnant women full rights regarding continuing or terminating their own pregnancy for the first 18 weeks of the pregnancy. It simultaneously grants unborn children the natural rights to a protected life after the first 18 weeks. All federal and state laws shall be consistent with this distinction.

Comments are welcome below. All comments must be respectfully written and not contain misinformation or fallacious reasoning. We welcome thoughtful dialogue of differences.

4 Comments

  1. Fred Dole

    I understand the pragmatic need for compromise on this issue. Still, I don’t understand why this issue should be addressed by government at all. This seems in conflict with a woman’s right to privacy and autonomy of thought. An abortion after 18 weeks is a true horror but the decisions regarding its need and importance remain between a doctor and patient.

    This is such A difficult issue. Perhaps this constitution’s compromise is the best solution we can hope for. It would be nice to see the endless arguments cease.

    Reply
  2. Beverly Jones

    Not a difficult issue. It is true for virtually ALL women in our nation that pregnancy is a CHOICE: various contraception options are WIDELY available. Let’s all be mature about this: with few exceptions, sex, independent of birth-control measures, should be EXPECTED to result in the generation of a new life. To capitulate to a culture of death-in-the-womb is NOT what America needs, and is NOT what made our nation great.
    If you dont want to be pregnant, dont have sex. You choice. Sex is not a necessity of existence.. CONTROL YOURSELVES, AMERICA. And dont force the preborn to pay the price for a self-centered generation which COULD practice responsible sex-practices, but wont. Abortion is not a form of birth control. It is a form of murder, depriving one human being of his life.

    Reply
  3. Beverly Jones

    Not a difficult issue. It is true for virtually ALL women in our nation that pregnancy is a CHOICE: various contraception options are WIDELY available. Let’s all be mature about this: with few exceptions, sex, independent of birth-control measures, should be EXPECTED to result in the generation of a new life. To capitulate to a culture of death-in-the-womb is NOT what America needs, and is NOT what made our nation great.
    If you dont want to be pregnant, dont have sex. You choice. Sex is not a necessity of existence.. CONTROL YOURSELVES, AMERICA. And dont force the preborn to pay the price for a self-centered generation which COULD practice responsible sex-practices, but wont. Abortion is not a form of birth control. It is a form of murder, depriving one human being of his life.

    Reply
  4. Brian Niegemann

    Dear Ms. Jones,

    Thank you for your opinion. Since this is a forum on political rights, my main point about pregnancy is that it’s exactly what you say it is; a choice. And I believe every person should be free to exercise that choice as they see fit.

    Your assertion that abortion is a form of murder now, raises a serious question of law. The law defines homicide (murder) as “the killing of a human BEING by another human being”. Now, the law also defines who and what a human being is; his/her independent existence is a given part of that.

    My position then, is that terminating a zygote or embryo before it has any possibility of life outside the womb cannot as a matter of law be murder, because the developing organism is not yet a “being”. It is human tissue, yes, but still a part of the mother’s body- and she has a legal right to make decisions about her body. Only once there is a possibility for the fetus to exist outside the womb, does it begin to have a right to life that must be balanced against the mother’s needs. This position is the essence of the Roe v. Wade decision.

    I recognize that this question is one that has strong emotional, even spiritual, meaning for many. But for the law to be fair, it should be based on reason and facts, not subjective values that vary widely across society.

    Thank you for listening, and my apologies if you already knew all this. I just felt that it should be said in defense of the right of choice included in this proposed constitution.

    Reply

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