The fresh politics reader ppt

[...]... attempted to terminate the life-support system However, state hospital officials refused to do so without court approval The Missouri Supreme Court 17 The Fresh Politics Reader ruled in favor of the state’s policy over Cruzan’s right to refuse treatment Cruzan’s parents took their case to the Supreme Court, questioning whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permitted them to refuse life-sustaining... in the decision whether their daughters have abortions For the same reason it’s cruel to execute a minor for his crimes, it’s cruel to allow minors to make the abortion decision without the guidance of their parents Frankly, some minors aren’t wise enough to act in their own self-interest and can create a lifetime of unhappiness for themselves with one or two stupid choices 21 The Fresh Politics Reader. .. across the country But the decision included an important caveat: The principles behind abortion only apply until the fetus is viable, or able to live outside of the womb The court accepted the conventional medical wisdom that a fetus becomes viable at the start of the last third of a pregnancy (the third trimester)—some time between the 24th and 28th week of a normal 38-week pregnancy Because the point... babies that another would heroically try to save But the fact of the matter is that the point of viability debate— the real abortion debate—only affects a small percentage of American women Most late abortions are done for health reasons; in these cases, the lives of the mothers are put as risk by the developing babies In most moral systems (and in America law), aborting the baby is permissible then 16 Chapter... not matter how unpleasant the results 9 The Fresh Politics Reader But you’d be wrong The creeping influence of statism in American society has eroded the strong sense of self-ownership about which the Founders were so clear And this creeping influence reaches into the definition of life that American courts use In American politics, there are many unresolved questions about the legal definition of life... At around the same time the U.S Supreme Court first decided that the government has the power to end your right to life, it also handed down its first decision regarding the right to abortion It seems only logical that now, when the courts are narrowing the scope of its first death penalty decision, that it also begin to narrow the language of the other 12 Chapter 1: The Meaning of Life The courts... the government protects your right to life Through the death penalty, abortion and right-to-die debates the courts have defined this right Your pursuit of happiness ends at the boundary of another human being’s right to life You do not have the right to end another person’s life, whether by murder, abortion or assisting with a suicide—no exceptions The fresh perspective is that the tide in all of these... ever—question the War on Drugs Why? Because nobody wants to end up cast to the fringes like Ralph Nader “You want to legalize drugs?” they say “There’s a party for that.” And it’s not the Republicans or the Democrats The effect is that anyone who brings up the topic of reforming drugs in the political forum is marginalized It’s a perverse dynamic: if neither establishment party brings up the issue, neither... treatment on their daughter’s behalf For the same reasons that women claim the right to privately decide on abortion, these parents wanted the right to terminate the life support of their daughter Although eight of nine justices concluded that the right to die was a liberty protected by the Due Process Clause (only Antonin Scalia disagreed), only a slim majority upheld the state’s decision on the basis... fully human, then so is the 28-week-old fetus that can be legally killed by abortion So, most hospitals today will only perform abortions through the 22nd week of pregnancy 15 The Fresh Politics Reader The problem with the point of viability argument is that scientists have not yet determined a precise time of viability No baby has ever been successfully delivered before the middle of the 22nd week, . One: Personal Liberty 88 88 8 The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics Reader 99 99 9 Chapter 1: The Meaning of Chapter 1: The Meaning. unpleasant the results. 1010 1010 10 The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics Reader But you’d be wrong. The creeping. Some- times, the simple truth can seem strange. 22 22 2 The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics ReaderThe Fresh Politics Reader The Fresh Politics Reader Imagine