The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of constitutional legal decisions. Specifically it will discuss the case Roe versus Wade, first decided in the 1973. Roe versus Wade is a controversial decision that has been challenged in the courts many times, and overturned by some states. It decided that a woman has the right to an abortion, up to a certain time limit in her pregnancy, and that the woman's right to terminate her pregnancy outweighs any rights the unborn fetus might possess. The ruling has been controversial from the beginning, and has split the country down the middle, with those who support the ruling on one side, and those who disagree with it on the other.
             Roe versus Wade, commonly referred to as Roe, began as a Texas case over a law that forbid any type of abortion unless the mother's life was at stake. The court's decision ruled against Texas and in favor of the rights of the woman, and in doing so, legalized abortion in the country for the first time. As one writer notes, "Roe ignited an ongoing debate about the proper regulation of abortion. What many regard as the nation's most divisive issue has taken on a language of its own, based on the Court's decision in Roe, subsequent eases, and prevailing social and legal thought" (Roy, 2003, p. 339). In effect, the court ruled for the individual liberty and the constitutional right of the mother and her right to control her own body and destiny.
             Two completely opposite groups sprang up almost immediately after the decision. One was a group that has come to be known as "right to life" advocates. Their argument with Roe is when life begins. Another author notes, "The primary argument against the right to choose has it that 'personhood' begins at 'conception,' that fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses are 'persons' or 'unborn persons.' This is a view with very little historical precedent, essentially a Vatican invention in th...