Roe v. Wade was a 1971 - 1973 landmark decision by the US Supreme Court. The court ruled that a state law that banned abortions (except to save the life of the mother) was unconstitutional. The ruling made abortion legal in many circumstances. The decision said that a woman's right to privacy extended to the fetus/unborn child she was carrying. In the view of the court, during the first trimester an abortion was no more dangerous than carrying the fetus/child full term. The decision was 7-2, with Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and six other Justices voting for "Jane Roe", and Justices William Rehnquist and Byron White voting against it.
The decision divided the nation and is still controversial today. People divided into pro-life and pro-choice groups. Pro-life supporters argue that the unborn baby has the same right to life as other people, and the government should intervene to protect it. Pro-choice supporters believe that the unborn baby is not the same as a person, and the woman has the right to choose what she wants to do with her body and that the government should not intervene. Roe was limited by a later decision called "Webster v. Reproductive Health" (1989), which allowed regulation of abortion in some cases. Several states have considered laws banning abortions altogether.
It began in Texas as a challenge against a law prohibiting any kind of abortion unless the mother's life was in danger. In 1970 a pregnant Texas woman, Norma McCorvey (alias Jane Roe), brought a lawsuit against Henry Wade, Dallas County District Attorney, in a Texas federal court. Alleging she was a single woman and pregnant, McCorvey wanted to terminate her pregnancy. She wanted it done safely by a doctor but said she could not afford to travel outside of Texas. She could not get a legal abortion in Texas because her life was not in danger. Her lawsuit claimed that the Texas law violated her right to privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Roe added she sued "on behalf of herself and all other women" in the same situation. The case slowly made its way to the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, McCorvey had her baby and placed it for adoption.
In a 7-2 decision, the court held that a woman's right to an abortion was protected by her right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision allowed a woman to decide whether to keep or abort the fetus/unborn child during the first trimester. This affected the laws of 46 states. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion. “We … acknowledge our awareness of the sensitive and emotional nature of the abortion controversy, of the vigorous opposing views, even among physicians, and of the deep and seemingly absolute convictions that the subject inspires.” — Justice Blackmun (1973).
The dissenting opinion was written by Justice William Rehnquist. He objected to the majority decision giving several reasons.
The basis for the "right to privacy" is a judicial interpretation that can be traced from an earlier case "Griswold v. Connecticut" (1965). In this landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled a Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives violated the right to privacy as found in the Constitution. However, the right to privacy is not directly mentioned in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has stated that the Right to Privacy is implied by several amendments. Beginning in 1923 the court interpreted the "liberty" guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment as a broad right to privacy. Justice William O. Douglas stated the guarantees of the right to privacy had penumbras (implied rights) "formed by emanations (a flowing) from those guarantees that help give them life and substance."
In its decision, the court used the three trimester framework of pregnancy. During the first trimester an abortion was safer for the mother than childbirth. The reasoning was that the decision whether to get an abortion at this stage should be left up to the mother to decide. Any law that interfered with abortions in the first trimester would be presumed to be unconstitutional. During the second trimester laws could regulate abortion only to protect the health of the mother. During the third trimester the unborn child was viable (able to live on its own outside the mother's womb). So laws could restrict or prohibit abortions except in cases where it was necessary to preserve the mother's health. This doctrine stood until 1992. In "Planned Parenthood v. Casey" (1992) the court changed from basing the legality of an abortion on trimesters to basing it on fetal viability.
Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was a political organization in the United States. It was made by Jerry Falwell. It tried to get conservative Christian views into laws by lobbying. It was one of the major organizations of the religious right. It was started in 1979, in response to "Roe v. Wade" and other events known as the "culture wars". It broke up in the late 1980s. It had four branches:
It broke up during Ronald Reagan's presidency because people did not think that the matter was so urgent. Other Christians also opposed it, as well as many liberal people.
Jake Shields
Jake Shields (born January 9, 1979 in Mountain Ranch, California) is an American mixed martial artist that currently fights for the UFC in the welterweight division. Shields has also won many different titles including the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship, Shooto Middleweight Championship, Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Tournament Winner and the Elite XC Welterweight Championship.
Shields holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a way symmetry breaks in a physical system. The underlying laws do not change, but the system as a whole changes. Symmetry breaking in physics occurs when a system is crossing a critical point. Small fluctuations decide the system's fate, by determining which branch is taken.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking can create a particle called a Higgs boson. This is a particle which is the force transferring particle (boson) of the Higgs field. The Higgs field gives mass to fundamental particles such as electrons. Also, many scientists believe in the Higgs effect (which is very similar to spontaneous symmetry breaking) to answer questions that are not answered in the standard model of physics. The standard model predicts that certain types of quarks should have a mass of zero, while in reality they have a non-zero mass value. Some scientists believe that spontaneous symmetry breaking is the answer.
For spontaneous symmetry breaking to happen, you need an environment which is completely symmetrical, and has at least two outcomes that are equally likely. Spontaneous symmetry breaking starts with two particles that are completely equal; their spin is equal, too. Mathematically, spontaneous symmetry breaking can be extremely puzzling, since you start out with two identical things and end up with two non-identical things. However, in practice, it is not so puzzling. If you have two particles moving at each other with equal speed, it would seem impossible for either of them to do anything but be symmetrical. However, if each particle has an equal 50-50 chance to be spinning one way or another, it is possible–in theory and in practice–to have this symmetry broken. It begins with symmetry to start with because the particles have an equal and symmetrical 50-50 chance of spinning one way or another.
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a country house that was built and inhabited during the Roman Republic or the Roman Empire. In general the house has a courtyard, and all rooms are accessible from the coutrtyard. The entrance also leads into the courtyard. An example of such a villa, called "villa rustica" is shown in the picture. Villas were owned by rich people. Some of them even had mosaics, glass windows, central heating system (called hypocaust), and their own baths.