Paradigm Shifts in US Reproductive Rights-Related Moral Standards

Abstract

This thesis examines the US pre- and post-Roe v. Wade situation and the causes and effects of its overturn in 2022. When the competing moral standards influencing reproductive right-related legislation are examined, it turns out that the advancement in medical sciences and especially knowledge in fetal development, along with sexual education and growing accessibility to affordable contraception methods played a crucial role in tipping the balance towards pro-life moral standards. When examining the causes of protective and restrictive measures of reproductive rights, results show that there is no correlation between the number of recognized abortions carried out per capita and the level of local restrictiveness and that the number of recognized abortions per capita decreases in states providing higher protection of reproductive rights and access to abortion medical care.