Abortion in American Culture

American Pop Culture Americas culture is evolving everyday although, society is not aware of this change due to the everyday hustle that we exert on ourselves trying to accomplish what the media and advertising has imprinted in regard to what our lives should contain. Media and advertising have a huge impact on how society thinks, acts, feels, and what is expected therefore, Americans subconsciously are trying to achieve what the media has painted as the American Dream. There are many ways that societies thoughts have been altered with the assistance of the media, one action that evolved the entire country would be the Roe vs.

Wade ruling. Prior to Roe vs. Wade women throughout the country were making decisions on abortion but abortion was not legal at the time. “Abortion was widely available in many places across the United States if you were a woman who had good medical contacts and sufficient money. If you lacked either those contacts or the money, then abortion was either not available or available under exceptionally unsafe circumstances” (Garrow, D. 1999). During the 1960’s women received better medical services because of the higher social status they contained.

Compared to women who did not have those types of social contacts or the money, they would put their lives at risk when making the decision to continue with an abortion under unsafe circumstances. Decisions like this were made because of the consequences that society or culture would place on the woman. When Roe vs. Wade went to trial in 1973 to determine if a woman’s constitutional rights were being violated the final ruling had an enormous impact on the country. It gave women the chance to decide for themselves without the complications of being exposed to unhealthy or possibly deadly situations.

This did not change the way Americans felt about the issue but it did change the way women all over the country dealt with the issue. Women now had a voice of their own in regard to making a decision that would affect them for the rest of their lives. This also changed how the rest of the country would react because now it is not a secret, the issue is out in the open and everyone sees the outcomes whether positive or negative. The legal struggle of Roe vs. Wade has impacted the country with the assistance of the media and advertising.

The impact has affected all Americans but for some the impact on their lives is larger than others depending on the daily tasks. For example, physicians must deal with patients who are requesting an abortion. The physician must choose to assist the patient or have them seen by another physician because he or she does not want to participate in an action that they do not believe in. Politics is another example where the abortion issue is always discussed, especially during the election season. Running representatives are always careful in choosing pro-life or pro-choice, this type of decision can make or break their career.

As noted in Abortion in America, “Abortion is too much part of the American Scene” (Shostak, A. 1991) therefore this is an issue the country must deal with or years to come. References Garrow, D. (1999, March). Abortion Before and After Roe v. Wade: An Historical Perspective. Albany Law Review, 62(3), 833. Retrieved August 5, 2009, from International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center database. AB, S. (1991, July). Abortion in America. The Futurist, 25(4), 20-24. Retrieved August 5, 2009, from MEDLINE with Full Text database.