Justice Sonia Sotomayor Socio-Economic Status and Abortion

Justice On June 25, 1954, Sonia Sotomayor was born in New York, New York, in the United States. She grew up as a very educated lady because her mother instilled the value of education in her family from an early age. (Greene, 2012). She attended Yale University after high school to study law. Her three-decade work in almost all facets of justice has garnered praise. She has three children of her own and is the grandmother to an additional five children. She is committed to the complete community, including her family and coworkers, having grown up in a God-fearing family and a cozy environment. For example, she has developed a school for the youth programme. She was a law student who worked at almost all levels of the justice system. She is an associate of the United States justice that has served from October 1998 and made history in the legal issues. She is known for her discipline, integrity, commitment, and aspiration in her line of duty. Sotomayor is very experienced in almost all aspects of law, which makes her qualify as the next Supreme Court justice (Greene, 2012). Sonia first became fearless and a very useful prosecutor as soon as she left University. She then became a litigator, then a fearless trial judge, followed by joining the jury as a member. Her knowledge and experience have elevated her up to the rank she is now. Sonia hit the headlines on August 2009 when she got appointed to the United States. She is known for her expertise in giving decisions on cases that were seen as complex legal issues that are constitutional. She is also a lecturer at Columbia school of law and formerly a professor at New York Law School.

Summary of the Case

The case of Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court. The issue regarded the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution. The court made abortion legal in the first trimester. The state was concerned about the health of the mother in comparison to the life of the fetus. The case was about favoring the reproductive rights of women and stated that pregnant women had the right to decide whether to keep a pregnancy or not. In this regard, women have the freedom to exercise personal choice without any limitations. According to the case and the constitution, any burden on the reproductive access was to serve to improve women’s health and not act as a little deterrent. If a woman felt like carrying the pregnancy was a burden to her, she would be allowed to terminate it before viability. Previously, the law was strict on abortion, unless it was dangerous to the health of the mother. Thus, mothers cannot be forced to bear a child against their will.

The Problem

The current state of life regarding political and economic weather is among the reasons women are seeking an abortion. The economic recession is being felt in all countries, and the expenditure is slowly beating the income. Lifestyle is becoming expensive, prices of food, shelter, clothing and all other services are escalating, sending the entire population with sensitive signals about the number of children they should bear. Women are the most affected because the burden is usually on them as they have to carry the pregnancy and ensure the baby’s needs are fended for as soon as they are born. Notably, this is one of the reasons that have prompted the rise of pregnancy termination cases. Precisely, abortion has come in as an option for most of the women in situations where they know giving birth will be a challenge to both the mother and the baby. Thus, this research paper will focus on abortion and the things that push women to procure it as a solution. Also, it will look at the possible legal solutions that can be used to help women who wish to get rid of the pregnancies. These solutions are geared to help them keep the pregnancy by providing them with financial aid and other forms of assistance.

By definition, abortion is the intentional termination of a fetus (Ainsworth, 2011). The process occurs when the woman decides that carrying the pregnancy is not an option. Abortion has been a frequent issue over the years. Many instances have been heard of women terminating pregnancies for various reasons. As such, this analysis will dwell on these problems and the problem in general. The reasons women seek abortions are interrelated and complex at the same time. Concluding the actual justifications is a task on its own. The first issue brought up by women was financial constraints.

Most women are not able to cater for themselves adequately. They are not even ready to lead a comfortable lifestyle that they deserve. When they get pregnant knowingly or unknowingly, they have to choose whether to bring forth a new life to the world and suffer for the rest of their lives or terminate the pregnancy and live a better life. Most of them resort to undergoing an abortion (Rooyen, 2013). The choices left to them are close to none, and the only available option is to keep the baby, which by all means is impossible. The issues of finances also come in when the man responsible for the pregnancy is financially unstable, a clear indication that he may not be in a position to provide for the needs of both the mother and child. The option that also remains is for the man to allow the women terminate the pregnancy. Many individuals look at this as a very immoral act. No one wants to kill an innocent baby. However, circumstances force a person to do what he or she does not believe in to ensure they do not suffer in the long run. Finances also can be an issue where the income does not match the expenditure. In most cases, people struggle to accommodate all their needs within their earnings. Pregnancy requires a stable income- that which will ensure nothing lacks regarding the baby’s requirements and those of the mother. In this case, the sacrifice must come in. One must decide to undergo an abortion in a bid to avoid subjecting the kid to poverty.

Another problem regarded spouse disagreements. Families with constant cases of disputes have high cases of abortion. Women who are abused by their partners as soon as they get pregnant mostly do not choose to keep the baby. It is usually a case of abuse whereby the lady is not given a peace of mind during the period she needs it. Constant conflicts have been seen as a contributor to the cases of abortion. They look at the future baby as the one going to suffer the loss of the environment will be abusive. Hence, it prompts abortion as an alternative to save both the child and the mother.

Also, the analysis managed to deduce the issue of timing in the line of duration a woman wants to take before she gets pregnant. Most ladies want to have their kids later after accomplishing most of their life goals. When a mistake occurs, and they get pregnant, it becomes a hindrance to their future achievements (Warren, 2015). The goals to be achieved are put on hold because the attention is diverted to bringing up the baby. Most of the ladies want to complete their studies first, get into a healthy relationship that will end up in marriage and later get pregnant. In fact, this is a dream for many ladies. However, when it happens otherwise, a solution must come in, notably, abortion as a redeemer of most women in such dilemmas. Terminating the pregnancy is what will allow them to prepare for the correct time that they want.

There is also the issue of interference. Carrying the pregnancy to the end would interfere with the lives of some of the ladies (Rooyen, 2013). Some do not wish to get pregnant since that will be a significant obstacle to them. Most of the ladies in this category lack time to sit and care for the baby or even carry the pregnancy to maturity. They would instead terminate it to make their lives run smoothly as required by their standards.

Failure of birth control measures was another cause (Faundes, 2016). Women use birth control to prevent them from getting pregnant. In case it backfires, many will choose to terminate the pregnancy. The issue of unplanned pregnancy pushes them to get rid of their unborn babies. Typically, they look at the impact it causes in their lives and how it is going to mess their schedules.

Research has shown that women have almost the same access to sex regardless of their social class or race. However, black women and those of lower class have been seen to have many unintended childbirths and more abortions compared to the financially stable white women. The argument behind this is that women of color and the lower class have limited access to contraceptives compared to the whites and the higher class. Also, poor women who do not intend to get pregnant are more likely to conceive than their white counterparts. If the lower class women were given access to contraceptives, it would cut the rate of births for the single women living in poverty by half. The same case applies to abortion; it will dramatically reduce birth rates. Statistics have proven that poorer women compared to the middle class and the higher class ladies are likely to have many abortions in a year because they are likely to have unprotected sex than their counterparts (Butler, 2013). One way to lower these rates of pregnancy termination is to make contraceptives accessible to ladies and at an affordable price. Middle-class women have access to abortions, but the cases are fewer since they get pregnant less often.

Legal Solutions

Women who get unwanted pregnancies face grief, stress and are likely to feel the aspect of denial creeping in as soon as they realize they are expectant (Garfield, 2010). Usually, it is a hard time to make sound decisions on whether to keep the pregnancy or terminate. Legal practitioners in this field have come up with solutions that are much better than abortion. They argue that pregnancy termination is more destructive than people think. The effects it can have on the mother are more deadly than those that one gets when they decide to keep the baby. Unless carrying the child is a danger to your life, there are other better options other than abortion. The solutions could be:

Considering putting the child in foster care

A mother could be considering abortion because of their current circumstances that will not allow healthy growth of the baby. In a case where the mother feels there is a possibility her situation is going to change shortly, she can give up the baby for temporary guardianship. These temporary homes are meant to ensure that the child is safe and can access all the necessities for healthy growth. Also, it helps the mother to accomplish whatever she wanted to and get the requirements essential to enable her to take back the kid, for example, proper housing, and stable financial state (Senderowics, 2016). In this regard, foster care has been seen to be of great help to mothers who previously did not have to go through abortion for them to survive. Many government resources have been dedicated to foster homes to aid their attempts to help women who get pregnant by accident. Many individuals have also committed themselves to take care of these children. Notably, it is a move that is attempting to lower the cases of abortions and giving more hope to mothers. Thus, it shows them that life can continue even after they get pregnant.

Consider the child for adoption

Giving birth and allowing the kid to be adopted is a better option that terminating the pregnancy. There are always people out there willing to take a child as their own. Therefore, abortion will not give the child a chance to grow up to the person he or she could be and will also deny the person willing to look after the kids an opportunity to bring them up (Rasch, 2014). People who cannot bear their children because of various reasons depend on children given up for adoption as their only hope. They adopt and bring them up as their own. Thus, it is a move that is both helpful to the mother and child. Both will be given a chance to continue with their lives without any of them being put through dangers associated with abortions. Also, some agencies adopt children and are considered the safest.

Becoming a single parent

Most women choose abortion because of the nightmares surrounding single parent. Challenges are there, but not to the extent of taking abortion as an option. Mostly, the father of the kid may not be in a relationship with the mother. The alternative is challenging, but it is becoming common and accepted in the society. Accepting to raise the kid on your own gives the child a chance to a person of substance in future just like kids raised by both parents; hence, it is a better option instead of being involved in the dangers of abortion and its costs.

Co-parenting with the child’s father

Women can try to reach out to the persons responsible for their pregnancies. A case where the partners are married or are involved in a separate stable relationship, the two can try to raise the child corporately. As one of the solutions, this method will help both the child and the mother. There is no sufficient reason for aborting a child in a case like this where a child can access all the needs they have. They could be more than willing to give a hand in bringing up the baby. In most cases, women assume that men will always reject them as soon as they receive the news, forgetting that some are willing and able. Reaching out to them may be of help. However, in such cases, the two will be connected because of the responsibilities they would have taken up.

Family aid

There are families with members who can help bring up a child in cases of unwanted pregnancies. In fact, it is rare to find a child suffering at the presence of family members. In this regard, reaching out to them is an option other than aborting a child. In most cases, the kid will be warmly welcomed and given basic needs (Dehlendorf, 2013 ). As such, it is the task of the mother to put efforts and seek such help. A member of the family will take up the kid under the kinship adoption program. He or she will be safer with the mother’s family, and the mother will also be able to have access to the baby because she will be around the baby most of the time and will also be able to get on with her life without much worry. Experts on these cases usually advice the mothers who go for this option to consider their family as the priority to give their child for adoption.

Conclusion

The focus of this paper was to analyze the background of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, particularly at how her life impacted on her career, how she managed to apply her law skills on her life and career. Also, the discussion provided insights on how Sonia contributed to the community through her inputs on several cases such as coming up with youth based programs in the United States. Precisely, the justice managed to accommodate her career and her family altogether without much of issues. The case summary provided us with the knowledge about abortion rights that were given to women. Mothers who chose to terminate their pregnancy within the first trimester due to their reasons, which limited them from bearing the kid. The paper also analyzed abortion an issue and the various reasons that made women terminate their pregnancies such as lack finances. Lastly, there was an analysis of the solutions that can be applied so that women could opt for better solutions than aborting. Typically, women have a right to terminate a pregnancy so long as the reasons are justified. However, abortion has been causing problems for both kids and mothers. Thus, opting for some of the suggested solutions will allow the children to grow and achieve their goals in life as those brought up by both parents. Besides, mothers will be saved from the agony associated with abortion such infertility.

References

Ainsworth, S. H. (2011). Abortion politics in Congress. Atlanta: Kirk Mathews.

Butler, J. D. (2013). Abortion, Medicine and the Law. Illinois: Brian Walers.

Dehlendorf, C. (2013). Disparities in Abortion Rates. London: Oxford University Press.

Faundes, A. (2016). The Human Drama of Abortion. Greece: Carolyne Merchant.

Garfield, J. L. (2010). Abortion, Moral and Legal Perspectives. Atlanta: Georgia Publishers.

Greene, M. (2012). Sonia Sotomayor: A Biography: A Biography. London: ABC-CLIO.

Rasch, V. (2014). Induced Abortions in Denmark. Texas: Mark Garvey.

Rooyen, L. V. (2013). Sexuality Education in the Classroom. Chicago: Adventure Works Press.

Senderowics, L. (2016). Socioeconomic status and abortion tourism in Mexico City. Mexico: Alvarez Campto.

Warren, J. (2015). Abortion and Socioeconomic status. Chicago: Liz Garren.