Solving Abortion Policy in the USA

Potential Solutions

Before we dive into potential solutions for this very controversial issue, let’s review societal, medical/technical and information access changes in the last 50 years impacting this public policy:

• Medical advances: Today, unlike the past, people can plan their families and know very quickly if they are pregnant. Multiple reliable and safe birth control options and over-the-counter pregnancy tests are readily available in stores and abortions can be done in the first trimester with non-invasive, safe medications.  In addition, women with infertility issues have options to increase their likelihood of parenting and premature births are more successful earlier than 20 weeks. 
• DNA advances: 50 years ago, fatherhood was not identifiable.  Unlike the past, fatherhood can now be specifically determined in the event a male partner wants to keep the child, but the woman does not. Today DNA testing can determine who the father is if he wants to claim his offspring.  
• Societal changes: In the past, an unmarried mother was considered shameful and often was ostracized from her family plus women often were forced to leave their job when pregnant. Unlike the past, today there is no stigma against unmarried women who have children and women often work up to the day of their delivery.
• Information access changes: Today information on sex, birth control, pregnancy, birthing and how to have safe sex to avoid sexually transmitted diseases is readily available online or through public health education.  Unlike the past, young people can be well informed about family planning options and parents of teens cannot restrict their children from finding these resources online forever.

Two extreme policy options have been total abortion bans or abortions on demand.  But, given the changes in our society, here are some viable new options we should consider:

• Legalize (de-criminalize) miscarriages and medically induced abortions prior to 16 weeks.  Women can know if they are pregnant by then and have time to have the safest type of abortion.  
• After 16 weeks, limit abortions to preserve the life of the mother, or end failed pregnancies safely. Require two doctors to approve these post 16-week abortions.
• Require public health (sex) education for 13–18-year-old students, without parental approval. Sex education is health education.
• In contested pregnancy cases, where the father wants the child, but the mother does not, require a DNA test, then a parental bond by the father and/or his family to fund the child’s living and healthcare expenses until the age of 18.  Require the mother in this case, to carry the baby to term if the pregnancy does not threaten her life and allow the father/family to legally adopt the baby. No bond or no adoption by the father/family, then the woman can decide what to do about her pregnancy.
• Once a revised USA abortion policy is determined, pass new federal laws to avoid the current patchwork of laws by different states.
• Improve and streamline adoption in the USA, so unwanted children aren’t forced into foster homes.

Join In.  Suggest solutions.

What do you think?  What other ideas could get us UNSTUCK on the issue of abortion?  Remember, comments must stay on topic and not be defamatory of anyone.  Solutions to problems is what this UNSTUCK Blog seeks.  

Additional information is provided below to guide this discussion – Current Situation, Historical and Constitution context.  Given the increased influence of religion in our country at the present time, there is also information on religious perspectives on abortion.

Current Situation in the USA

Conflict over abortion has gone on longer than the 50 years since the 1973 US Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion.  Prior to Roe, abortion was outlawed in all states since 1910.  

The 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe vs. Wade pushed this issue down to each of the 50 states to decide, which has made the situation chaotic.  In 2025, 28 states have either protected abortion or expanded it as a legal procedure while 22 states have either created more restrictions for abortion or outright banned the procedure (12 states).  Confusion has ensued with women and doctors trying to manage complicated pregnancy situations without being accused of a crime – forcing women with difficult pregnancies to travel to other states to get the healthcare they need and doctors to quit practicing in some states, leaving women without obstetric care. For more information on 2025 abortion rights by state go to https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/dashboard/abortion-in-the-u-s-dashboard/

Since miscarriage (“naturally occurring abortion”when the fetus is lost for various reasons) can occur in up to 10-20% of pregnancies in the first 20 weeks and is not easily differentiated from medically induced abortions, the current situation puts women and doctors at legal risk when they have not done anything to cause the loss of the fetus. 

Consequently, Americans need to face off on this difficult policy issue as the current situation is untenable.  It will lead to increased and unnecessary maternal deaths and tie up our courts with complex, hard-to-resolve legal cases such as did a woman miscarry (no fault) or get an illegal abortion?

History of Abortion in the USA

Throughout history women have taken actions to end pregnancies in various ways as this article in Find Law documents: https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/an-important-study-of-the-history-and-law-of-the-abortion-rights-controversy.html Abortion is not a new concept, but an ancient one.

In the United States, abortion became controversial in the mid-19^th century so that by the 1880s all states had restricted abortion to some degree.  By 1910 abortion was outlawed in every state of the union.  Since 1910 women could only obtain “back-alley” abortions by unlicensed people, which led to the death of thousands of women each year due to botched abortions.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s the drug Thalidomide, which was prescribed for morning sickness and caused severe birth defects, raised visibility of a woman’s need to terminate a pregnancy if a severely impacted fetus had been identified.  Given that medical crisis, four states (Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington) legalized abortion by 1970.  This situation led to the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision which was based on a women’s right to privacy and an argument that women should have a right to control their own bodies without government intervention.

The Roe vs. Wade decision caused a backlash “Right to Life” movement, which resulted in the 1976 Hyde Amendment, outlawing federal funds to pay for abortions.  Since that time conservative Americans have pushed for a total abortion ban. 

While current polls show that most Americans support abortions with some restrictions, political parties have pushed us to two extremes – either “abortion on demand” or “abortion bans”.  Americans are STUCK oscillating between these two extremes on this very emotional policy issue.

US Constitution on abortion

There is no reference to abortion rights in the US Constitution because in the 1770s, women in the United States had no legal rights and were considered either their father’s or husband’s protectorate.  

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution implies a “right to privacy” such that government interference between a woman and her doctor relative to essential healthcare may violate that right.  Many policy makers argue this is the basis of the Roe vs. Wade decision to legalize abortion.  

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” US Constitution, Amendment IV.

Religious dogma regarding abortion

Abortion specifically is not mentioned in the Bible either.  That said, the Bible is very clear about murder.  In Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill” and Matthew 19: 18-19 “Jesus said, ‘Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.  Honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’

While it is abundantly clear that killing a living, human being, is against the Bible’s teaching and against US law; what is less clear is if this prohibition applies to the unborn.  Debate over when life begins has settled into either a) life begins when the fetus can exist on its own outside the womb (viability) usually by the third trimester, or b) the “Right to Life” movement claim that life begins when the sperm fertilizes the egg (conception). 

In the Jewish faith, abortion is considered an option for women and is legal in Israel.  A recent Florida lawsuit claims that abortion bans violate Jewish religious freedom in the United States.  Brandeis University published an article describing the teachings of the Talmud relative to abortion and fetal rights: https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/social-justice/2022/june/abortion-judaism-joffe.html

In the Muslim faith, abortion is illegal after 20 weeks when their faith says the soul inhabits the fetus (except when the mother’s life is at risk, or the pregnancy is due to rape). Abortion is allowed prior to 20 weeks.