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The State of Abortion Law and Policy in the United States Paper

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Running Head: Abortion Law and Policy in the United States 1
The State of Abortion Law and Policy in the United States
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Abortion Law and Policy in the United States 2
The State of Abortion Law and Policy in the United States
Numerous debates have occurred throughout the years in the United States on the legality
of abortion. Abortion is currently legal in the US with several exceptions and regulations being
put in place to avoid this federal policy from being misinterpreted and exploited (Guttmacher,
2020). These regulations tend to vary in different states of America with each state laying a set of
rules they feel are necessary when addressing abortion. The bottom line is that abortion in the
United States is permitted before the fetal viability phase (BBC, 2019). Fetal viability simply
means that the fetus is able to thrive outside the uterus hence making its termination an illegal
act. The debate on abortion mostly revolves around three major groups of people, the general
public (especially women), physicians and doctors, and the US law. These three entities have had
a major influence on the abortion policies that are currently in place in the country.
Almost all of the states in America require the abortion to be carried out by a licensed
physician (Guttmacher, 2020). 19 states require an abortion to be carried out in a hospital and 17
states require a second physician be involved for consultation purposes. A few of the states also
dictate that abortion be carried out only if the life of the mother is at risk. In such a case,
physicians are allowed to intervene and carry out an abortion (Guttmacher, 2020). Another major
exception made for this policy is when a woman gets a pregnancy as a result of rape. In order for
this consideration to be made, the woman is expected to show evidence that she was indeed
sexually violated. In the year 2003, Bush signed a law that prohibits ‘partial-Birth Abortion’ as a
way of curbing post-viable abortions (Adamczyk & Valdimarsdóttir, 2018). This law prohibits
doctors from carrying out an abortion after delivering a living fetus. This law was greatly
criticized by numerous activists in support of abortion with the argument that the term ‘partial-
Birth Abortion’ was more political rather than medical.

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Running Head: Abortion Law and Policy in the United States The State of Abortion Law and Policy in the United States Student’s Name School Affiliation 1 Abortion Law and Policy in the United States 2 The State of Abortion Law and Policy in the United States Numerous debates have occurred throughout the years in the United States on the legality of abortion. Abortion is currently legal in the US with several exceptions and regulations being put in place to avoid this federal policy from being misinterpreted and exploited (Guttmacher, 2020). These regulations tend to vary in different states of America with each state laying a set of rules they feel are necessary when addressing abortion. The bottom line is that abortion in the United States is permitted before the fetal viability phase (BBC, 2019). Fetal viability simply means that the fetus is able to thrive outside the uterus hence making its termination an illegal act. The debate on abortion mostly revolves around three major groups of people, the general public (especially women), physicians and doctors, and the US law. These three entities have had a major influence on the abortion policies that are currently in place in the country. Almost all of the states in America require the abortion to be carried out by a licensed physician (Guttmacher, 2020). 19 states require an abortion to be carried out in a hospital and 17 states require a second physician be involved for consultation purposes. A few of the states also ...
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