All my late posts. oops.

So again, i have not posted in a long time. so here is my attempt to make up for that =]

I found this article on CNN.com that was written about the Roe vs. Wade case and how it effects us today (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/21/scotus.roevwade/index.html)
The article gives some brief background about the Supreme Courts decision to legalize abortion and several other cases that have transformed the abortion law to this day. It also talks about public and political opinion on legal abortion.
"Roe vs. Wade has become known as one of the most controversial court cases in American history. It has sparked fierce debate in the political world- anti-abortionists have been fighting to over turn the courts decision and have abortion be a criminal act.
If there is one last legacy of the Roe decision, it may be that it opened up and expanded the entire debate on the rights of women, sexuality, health care, and medical decisions. Issues like cloning, stem cells, and fetal research have become part of the national lexicon. As significant as it was, Roe v. Wade was only the beginning of the battle."
The article makes a good point at the end to how the Roe decision has sparked many other controversial subjects to arise.

Another article i found focused on how the Roe case affects Americans to this day. (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/14/the_fate_of_roe_v_wade_and_choice/)
Prolife activists have moved their views into public light, and this past presidential debate is an example of what they are trying to do. John McCain brought the subject of abortion of a prolife stand point in the 2008 election by wanting to end abortion at the state level and vowing to “return the abortion question to individual states.” If elected, McCain would have been able to appoint as many as three new justices to the Supreme Court. If given the chance to rearrange the court he would have been able to attain what the right-to-life movement wanted and end legal abortions in several states and give numerous changes in constitutional law.

This is a short video clip of McCains interview on THE VIEW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D8sFhe9WwU)
The Ladies asked him his view on the Roe case and what he would do if elected president about the courts decisions. In the clip he states that the Roe case made a bad decision. He says that he would like to over turn the courts decision and have the states choose if abortion should be legal in their state. If Roe was over turned, 23 states would ban abortion. This would cause women to have to "flee" to other states in order to seek a clean legal abortion. Over turning Roe vs. Wade would take away a women's right to have the choice of what she wants to do with her body.

I wanted to show both of the candidates sides on their views of abortion, so i found an interview with Obama on cspan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RQqZkPbseo&feature=related)
He first states that the topic of abortion is "above his pay grade"...strange. This is such a hot button issue that i can understand if it is hard for people to not want to state their opinion of abortion...but poor choice in words. He talks about the moral and ethical views of abortion, these two elements are used to decide whether or not you believe its right or wrong. He states he is prochoice but not proabortion. He makes a good point saying we need to help reduce the amount of abortions being performed. I agree with this if it includes better school sex education, adoption options or just better education for what a women can due in the case of an unwanted pregnancy all together.

USA Today posted an article about how Roe vs. Wade is affecting Americans today (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-04-16-abortion-states_x.htm)
The US is greatly divided on this controversial topic. In South Dakota Gov. Rounds signed a bill that over turned the Roe decision and banned abortion. What state will be next? i think it is terrible and wrong to ban abortion. It takes away the basic right of choice a woman should have. If abortion is banned women will still seek out abortion, but this time it will be by an unlicensed doctor in an unsafe facility. This can lead to the old back alley abortion clinics of the early 60's and in some cases death. Any doctor who performed an abortion would be prosecuted and jailed. Before Roe, many doctors risked arrest and incarceration to save women from injuring or killing themselves while in need of an abortion. The right to abortion is grounded in the right to privacy regarding reproductive decisions. The right to privacy in reproductive decisions is based on cases challenging laws that restricted access to birth control. If Roe is overruled, the "right to privacy", which was first articulated in the Griswold case (which legalized birth control) the legalization of birth control will be subject to question as well, and the results of the birth control access cases may change. It is clear that the agenda of those who would overrule Roe extends to depriving women of birth control.

Female Genital Mutilation is a large problem that affects millions of women and young girls across the world. Female genital mutilation (FGM), sometimes called female genital cutting (FGC) or female circumcision, is the cutting or removal of all or a portion of the female genitals for cultural (not medical) reasons. There are different ways it is practiced according to the place or culture in which it is being done. The procedure is usually done outside of a hospital, with no anesthetic. The person (usually another woman) performing the procedure uses razors, scissors or knives, sometimes other sharp instruments. There are incidences of FGM being performed in hospitals as well. It is done to girls and women, the most common being girls under the age of puberty. The number of girls and women who have been subjected to this practice range from 115 million to 130 million worldwide and an estimated two million girls are at risk each year
I found an article that absolutely shocked me. (http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/children/articles/2007/07/12/genital_mutilation_on_rise_in_britain/)
FGM is a rising problem now in Britain. Normally FGM is associated with parts of Africa and the Middle East, but i was shocked to read that it is now being performed greatly in Britain. Police say that the women practicing the surgery's are first-generation immigrants from Africa and the middle East. "Arranging or carrying out the procedure -- in Britain or abroad -- is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but no one has been prosecuted since it was banned under British law in 2003. Police estimate up to 66,000 girls in Britain face the risk of genital mutilation." this is an alarming number of girls, and it needs to be stopped.

In Feb. of this year the UN launched a program to help decrease the practice of FGM. (http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10832)
The program cost over 40 million dollars, but they hope to reduce FGM by 40%. they are creating educational programs in schools world wide and providing training health and social workers inorder to help stop FGM. They are also providing education to women who make their income by performing FGM in order for them to abandon their practice and find work elsewhere.

In Sierra Leone, Africa, FGM is highly practiced. In Aug. 2007 Sierra Leone presidential candidates began to shy away from the subject and some denied its existence. (http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10466)
They were reluctant to speak about the sensitive subject, including the underground rings of women practicing FGM called "Bondo Society's". "I cannot say a word now [against FGM] because I need [the Bondo societies'] support," Convention People's Party candidate Tinah Greene, told IPS."
These secret societies are used to practice FGM and instruct young women of their "domestic duties" they will have later in life. These schools are used to teach young women and initiate them into womanhood.

Egypt has put a ban on the practice of FGM in 2007. (http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10391)
They moved to close the legal practice of FGM after a 12 year old girl died from a procedure. this was a great step in the movement to end FGM. it is scary to know that about 97% of Egyptian women have gone through the procedure. It is culturally acceptable and practiced, but i believe it is wrong to do to a young girl. FGM is typically practiced on pre pubescent girls, they do it because it is what is socially right but it is mutilating their bodies for the wrong reasons.

Stop FGM/C is an organization fighting to end these practices. (http://www.stopfgmc.org/)
On their websight if information about why, how and where FGM is being practiced and what you can do to help stop it from happening in the future. The sight is cool cause it can be translated into several different languages, including ones where FGM is a large problem. There is tuns of information here about new laws being passed, different events and an archive of information about FGM.

Another organization working to stop FGM and the domestic abuse of women in the Middle East and Africa is FORWARD- Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development. (http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/)
There sight also offers information about FGM/C and ways to help stop the problem. They are aimed at helping advance sexual, reproductive health and right of women from these communities. FORWARD hosts events and debates geared to helping these women who are involved and have been affected by FGM. They are recognized as the leading campaign in this field and are the pioneers for promoting innovative strategies and community-oriented approaches in ending FGM. They have succeeded greatly in the UK with passing legislation against FGM. so check them out.

So what is being done to Stop FGM? these organizations and many more like them are fighting to pass legislation to ban the practice to FGM in many countries. The UN has declared that FGM/C is a violation of human rights of women and girls and is calling for a complete elimination of the practice. They are working by enforcing policies such as education, empowering women and enforcing laws against FGM. The performance of FGM on a person under the age of 18 was made a crime in the United States under section 116 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, and 16 states have laws outlawing FGM .

UNICEF is also largely involved in stopping FGM. (http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_genitalmutilation.html) you can go to this web sight to see what they are doing in the fight to end FGM.

research paper

Roe Vs. Wade, a Life Changing Decision
The case of Roe Vs. Wade legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. This was the first time women in the U.S had the right to choose between pregnancy and abortion. Roe. Vs. Wade has become one of the most controversial supreme court rulings in American History. Many rejoiced after the court case while others were severely against the court’s decision, saying abortion is murder. Passionate views on the subject are still very alive, Including protests on the anniversaries of the court’s decision. Access to a safe and clean abortion, then and now, is far more than a legal issue. Social, religious and family values, as well as finances and politics, still play a large role in the issue of abortion.
Public outrage for safe clean abortions performed by licensed doctors began in the 1960’s. The movement to decriminalize abortion was one of the fastest growing movements in American history. Women fought and protested for the right to choose. In 1967, Colorado became the first state to decriminalize abortion and was quickly followed by Hawaii, New York and California. This sent uproar through the legal system and statewide action needed to be taken.
In 1970, a pregnant women, Norma L. McCorvey aka” Jane Roe”, argued against Texas legislation regarding abortion. She brought forth a class action suit that challenged the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws. Her attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington helped Roe file suit against in a U.S District Court in Texas, claiming her pregnancy was a result of rape. The defendant in the case was Dallas County district attorney Henry Wade who was representing the state of Texas. “Roe alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant; that she wished to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion ‘performed by a competent, licensed physician, under safe, clinical conditions’; that she was unable to get a ‘legal’ abortion in Texas because her life did not appear to be threatened by the continuation of her pregnancy; and that she could not afford to travel to another jurisdiction in order to secure a legal abortion under safe conditions. She claimed that the Texas statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.” (Unknown).
The District court ruled in Roe’s favor based on merits, but denied to grant an injunction against the laws banning abortion. The District court claimed their decision was based upon the Ninth Amendment and also referred back to a Supreme Court case ruling in 1965, Griswold Vs. Connecticut which was regarding the use of contraceptives. Although few states provided contraceptives to women after the Griswold case in 1965, abortion was widely proscribed by state laws in the early 1970’s.
Roe Vs. Wade ultimately reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The court issued its final decision on January 22, 1973 with a 7 to 2 majority vote to strike down Texas abortion laws. The court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the United States Constitution. This subjected all laws attempting to restrict abortion under the standards of strict scrutiny, in other words, any law trying to prevent abortion were now illegal.
Women were now allowed to receive safe legal abortions. Harry Blackmun wrote the Roe court’s opinion, stating women had “the right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." (Unknown)
Although this was a life changing decision for many women, it has not been fully accepted and there are many who are trying to make it so abortion is illegal.
Works Cited
Unknown. "U.S Supreme Court Roe. Vs. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973)." Findlaw.com. 2008. Thomson Reuters business. 25 Nov. 2008 .