Comstock Law and Its Role in Birth Control History

Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles for Immoral Use The Comstock Law, passed in the United States in 1873, was part of a campaign for legislating public morality in the United States. As its full title (above) implies, the Comstock Law was meant to stop the trade in obscene literature and immoral articles. In reality, the Comstock Law was targeted not only at obscenity and dirty books but at birth control devices and information on such devices, at abortion, and at information on sexuality and on sexually transmitted diseases. The Comstock Law was widely used to prosecute those who distributed information or devices for birth control. In 1938, in a case involving Margaret Sanger, Judge August Hand lifted the federal ban on birth control, effectively ending the use of the Comstock Law to target birth control information and devices.

The A Defense Of Abortion - 1294 Words

In this paper, I will argue that Thomson is right to claim that, even if a fetus is a person, abortion is still permissible, regardless of the fetus’ right to life. I will focus on Thomson’s 3 main analogies – the violinist, the people seeds, and the chocolate – and the arguments against them. In Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† she uses several analogies to demonstrate that abortion, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the conception, is universally morally permissible. At the beginning of the essay, Thomson states clearly that she is arguing under the assumption that the fetus is considered a person. The first analogy that Thomson employs is the violinist. The basis of the thought experiment is that the Society of Music Lovers kidnaps you and hooks you up to a famous and deeply talented violinist who needs to use your kidneys for the next 9 months in order to live. She revisits this analogy several times throughout the essay to demonstrate various scenarios in which one can see the comparability to abortion clearly. In the first instance, she is arguing that a person’s right to life does not justify deciding what happens to your body without your consent. Later on, she reuses the thought experiment with a slight change in that if you continue to let the violinist use your kidneys, you will die within a month; however they cannot release you as it would definitely kill the violinist and that would be considered murder. With this change, Thomson is showing theShow MoreRelatedA Defense of Abortion Essay784 Words   |  4 PagesA Defense of Abortion In her argument on abortion, Judith Thomson discusses some major points about abortion. She deals with extreme cases and those extreme cases help us to realize a single perspective of abortion. For example, she talks about the violinist attached to you. In that example, you keep everything constant and focus on a single point, violinist being dead if you unattached him. This way of thinking would provide partial answers. That is, in real lifeRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion Summary1476 Words   |  6 PagesIn Thompson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† she tries to answer the question: â€Å"Is voluntary abortion ever permissible?† Throughout the paper, she uses a variety of thought experiments in order to parallel pregnancy due to rape, accidental pregnancy, and pregnancy that threatens a mother’s life, among many other situations. Using these examples, she illustrates her main point: that unless a fetus has a right to demand it, the mother is not morally required to make large sacrifices to keep the fetus aliveRead MoreThe Defense Of Abortion And Virtue Theory And Abortion Essay1409 Words   |  6 PagesAbortion is the main topic talked about in both The Defense of Abortion and Virtue Theory and Abortion. While the two may have similarities, they are also quite different. While one story talks about how abortion is bad and makes you look at it thr ough different examples of things, the other describes how a righteous person sees it. In A Defense of Abortion, Thomson states at the very beginning â€Å"it is concluded that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception† (Thomson 449). She then goesRead MoreEssay on Thomson Defense of Abortion878 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy 1001-001 A Defense of Abortion in Pregnancy Reduction In this paper I will discuss the relevance of J.J. Thomson’s argument in her article, A Defense of Abortion, to that of pregnancy reduction and if there is any relevance, if there are exceptions or situations where that might change. J.J. Thomson’s argument in A Defense of Abortion is that the one thing a person has rights to is his/her body and the right to control what happens with it. Thomson also states that there is an innateRead MoreOn Thomson s A Defense Of Abortion Essay1278 Words   |  6 PagesOn Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† Abortion is the intentional and deliberate termination of a human pregnancy that results in the death of a fetus. It is a practice that has sparked many debates centering around arguments over women’s right and fetal rights. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s essay, â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† argues that a fetus’s right to life does not always override a women’s right over her own body and thus abortion is not morally impermissible. By using thought experiments, ThomsonRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson1678 Words   |  7 PagesWhat takes precedence; an unborn fetus’ life or its mother’s right to her body? Anti-abortionist argue that the life of an unborn fetus has priority, and thus abortion is morally impermissible as it violates the fetus’ right to life. In her article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion†, Judith Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible under the certain conditions where the rights of the fe tus fail to surpass a mother’s right of choice. For the sake of her argument, Thomson allows the assumption thatRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson965 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosopher Judith Thomson, in her article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† presents a hypothetical case of a famous violinist who has a health condition that can only be healed by getting â€Å"connected† to someone compatible and use his kidneys for 9 months to clean his contaminated blood. A compatible person is then kidnapped, rendered unconscious, and connected without permission to the dying violinist. When the victim wakes up, he gets an explanation and is presented with two options: he stays connectedRead MoreEssay on In Defense Of Abortion1638 Words   |  7 PagesWithout legal prohibitions, women in Europe and the United States provided abortions and trained each other to perform the procedures. In the past century different states had begun to outlaw any procedure that would terminate or avoid pregnancy. In 1973(?) the United States Supreme Court asserted a womans constitutional right to abortion in determining Roe v. Wade. After several decades of quiet disagreement, abortion has once again become a political hotbed. Under the direction of religiousRead More`` A Defense Of Abortion `` By Judith Jarvis Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Is it immoral to have an abortion? Abortion is the process of stopping a pregnancy through the removal or killing of the fetus. Dan Marquis is adamant that abortion is wrong and that the fetus is a full human being that deserves to live while, Judith Jarvis Thomson would say that should the mother decide to terminate her pregnancy it is her body and her right. However, what if there was a third side to this already complicated issue? I argue that abortion itself is amoral and that circumstancesRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson1468 Words   |  6 PagesThank you! Ziyun Wang In A Defense of Abortion, Judith Thomson’s statement against abortion constructs on her agreement that fetus is a human being, for the sake of argument, therefore has the right to life. She shows that the basic argument against abortion is inadequate. The basic argument of abortion goes: the first premise is that every person has right to life; the second premise is that the fetus is a human being; the conclusion is that the abortion is impermissible. Thomson found this

Cause and Effect Essay Marijuana in Schools Free Essays

Cause and Effect Essay Marijuana can be found on every college campus in Canada and is the drug of choice coming in right behind alcohol. The Department of Justice Canada conducted a survey and found that, â€Å"almost one-third (29%) of college students had reported using marijuana during the previous 12 months of 1998. (http://www. We will write a custom essay sample on Cause and Effect Essay: Marijuana in Schools or any similar topic only for you Order Now justice. gc. ca/eng/pi/rs/rep-rap/2002/qa02_2-qr02_2/p2. html). According to a similar study, the majority of students on college campuses that use marijuana will also participate in other high risk activities. This destructive behavior includes things such as cigarette smoking, binge drinking and sex while intoxicated. Marijuana is so easy to obtain and can be very tempting to experiment with, especially if you have already had a few drinks and your thinking is impaired. Marijuana causes many internal and external problem for a college student, Marijuana can lead to academic problems, addiction, and physical/mental issues, marijuana can also lead to serious problems with the law. All these issues can potentially damage the outcome of a student’s future. Marijuana prices have a major effect on the amount of use by college students at any given point in time. Although it may be more socially available on college campuses, the price still determines the usage. The fact that marijuana is illegal in Canada helps to keep the price at a seemingly higher level. This artificial price illusion regulates the buying, selling and usage among college students. Compared to alcohol, marijuana is much more accessible, especially on college campuses. Getting alcohol requires an ID or someone with an ID. Getting marijuana only requires someone that supplies the drug. So even though it is illegal, marijuana is seemingly more common. Since possession of marijuana is illegal, it is not surprising that the consequences can be so debilitating. While attending college with federal financial aid, you run the risk of jeopardizing your federal aid by being charged with a misdemeanor. Possession of marijuana is considered a misdemeanor and if you are charged, the federal government has the right to take away any government aid that you were granted. So not only do you have a record for possession, but more than likely you are going through the judicial system of the college or university and may be suspended or expelled. Marijuana use can also lead to academic problems. Students that participate in these behaviors have a tendency to spend more time socializing than concentrating on what they should be, their academics. These students spend more time partying than studying which greatly affects their academic performance. Two of the physical effects of marijuana that directly affect academics are difficulty in problem solving and poor memory. Students may become less and less motivated to be involved in campus activities, and also may become decreasingly concerned with their long-term goals and career plans. Users may have a hard time limiting their use and may build a tolerance to the drug. This tolerance means that the user now requires a larger amount of the drug to get the same effect, and may develop problems with their jobs and personal relationships because the drug becomes such a major part of his or her life. Many students see marijuana as a â€Å"recreational† drug. With increased â€Å"recreational† use, the drug can become addictive. It is not so much an addiction, but a psychological dependence for smoking, and that feeling of intoxication. However, besides being illegal, marijuana may contain unknown contaminants that can severely harm your brain and lungs. With all of the risks of the drug, it is amazing that people still use it â€Å"recreationally†. It is common for students to first experiment with their peers, whether it be a friend, sibling or just an acquaintance. The peer pressure is the most likely cause of first time users. Physical effects of marijuana are different according to the way in which it is taken, where it is used, the expectations and or ideals of the user, and whether or not it is used in conjunction with other drugs. Users often have chronic bronchitis and increased chances of getting lung cancer. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. Marijuana also affects the brain, researchers say that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. The immediate effects of marijuana other than a feeling of intoxication are: bloodshot eyes, anxiety, confusion and paranoia, loss of coordination, and increased appetite. Mental effects show that the drug can impair or reduce short-term memory, alter sense of time, and reduce ability to do things which require concentration and coordination. Marijuana’s effect on a student can tally up to some very serious consequences that a student can suffer, the cause and effect of marijuana lead to problems of addiction, health problems, trouble with the law and poor academic performances. How to cite Cause and Effect Essay: Marijuana in Schools, Essay examples

Cloning Research Essay Example For Students

Cloning Research Essay Cloning ResearchTo be or not to be In the last fifty years new forms of technology have been the center of attention for every human being. It seems that every day scientists come up with some new, perhaps even controversial, and exciting ways to improve the quality of life. These new technologies affect every aspect of life, as we know it. One such technology is the research being done in the area of cloning. Cloning is the production of one or more cells, individual plants, or animals that are genetically identical to another cell, plant or animal. Although the first steps forward in cloning have brought a storm of protest, the experimental research should be studied to prolong the existence of human life. In February 1997, the Roslin Institute in Scotland, a farm animal research facility, announced that it had succeeded in cloning a sheep from an adult cell. The cloned sheep, Dolly, made headlines around that world and launched a fierce debate over the potential uses for this technology. The breakthrough showed for the first time that genetic information encoded in the DNA of an adult cell could be reset and made young again. Once reset, the cell with rejuvenated DNA could produce all of the cells needed to grow a complete organism. Since Dolly, much has happened. In the United States, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission issued a report calling for federal legislation to ban human cloning for three to five years because of the moral dangers of cloning. President Clinton imposed a ban on all federally funded cloning research. Other European countries also adopted a similar ban. The misconceptions of cloning have risen from the lack of knowledge about the discoveries. Most people do not understand the basic principles of cloning, and are likely to make rash generalizations about whether cloning is natural or not. Other misconceptions focus on the societal problems resulting from cloning. Many of these misconceptions are only valid in a society without regulations or laws of any kind. People tend to forget that along with new technological developments come rules and guidelines to prevent the nightmarish scenarios that many believe will come true. Each of these misconceptions results from a distortion of the truth. Yet Congress seems hell-bent on stopping the medical advances that cloning can make possible. Congress is responding to the polls that show most Americans are opposed to cloning. But carelessly crafted legislation would restrict not only research leading to the birth of a cloned human but the research leading to cures for cancer, genetic disease treatments, and more successful organ transplantations. The treatment for Leukemia, a cancer in which the bone marrow overproduces white blood cells, could be revolutionized. Today, one of the more successful treatments involves the destruction of a patients bone marrow through chemotherapy and the transplantation of healthy marrow cells taken from a closely matched donor. The problem is that many leukemia patients die because they cant find appropriate donors. With cloning, healthy marrow cells that are perfect genetic matches for patients could be created from the patients own cells. Doctors could take a skin cell nucleus and impla nt it in an enucleated human egg, resetting the cells DNA. Once reset, the cell could become an embryonic stem (ES) cell. After the ES cells begin to divide, they could be treated with hormones that would cause them to develop into marrow cells, which could then be returned to the patients. Dame Anne McLaren, head of the Wellcome Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology at Cambridge, says that if successful, the technique could be extended to other patients suffering from rare disorders where currently bone marrow transplants offer the only hope of a cure. .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .postImageUrl , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:hover , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:visited , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:active { border:0!important; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:active , .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u666db2be71d4869995ba072d9154386f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Lifetime Parental Support EssayAnother strong supportive argument for cloning research is in the area of genetic disease treatments. Doctors at the Roslin Institute have discovered that by introducing human genes into other organisms, such as pigs or sheep, these transgenic animals can produce human proteins. A transgenic animal is an animal whose hereditary traits have been permanently altered by genetic engineering techniques leading to an incorporation of new genes or inactivation of gene sequences. Cloned animals and transgenic animals as such have nothing to do with each other. However, by combining genetic engineering and cloning techniques it is possible to make the initial genetic engineering experiments in cell culture and then later use the cloning technology to make the transgenic animal. This way cloning may allow a safer production of transgenic animals with a greater certainty of a positive result, and with the use of fewer animals. The reason for this is that the initial genetic engineering (application of transgenic technology) may be applied to cell cultures not to living animals and that cloning then would be the tool to bring the results into living animals. These animals can be used as drug factories, producing human proteins in its milk. Sheep have been altered to produce alpha-1-antitrypsin, a drug that is used to treat cystic fibrosis. Insulin, which is used to treat diabetes, is another product that can be produced by such animals. Cloning research will not only be able to treat genetic diseases, it may one day prevent it. Through cloning, organ transplantion may become a more successful process. Although organ transplantation is a common occurrence, a global shortage of human organs for transplantations has led to escalating waiting lists for life saving transplants of hearts, kidneys, livers and other organs. In the US, for example, more than 62,000 patients are now waiting to receive donated organs. A new name is added to the list every 16 minutes and every day 11 people die waiting according to government statistics. This has led the worldwide transplant community to review the options for organ procurement. Xenotransplantation, transplanting organs from one species to another, provides a solution to organ shortages. PPL Therapeutics, in Scotland, announced on March 5th, 2000, that five piglets, all healthy, were born as a result of cloning. The successful cloning of these pigs is a major step in achieving PPLs objectives. It opens the door to making modified pigs whose organs and cells can be successfully transplanted into humans, the only near term solution to solving the worldwide organ shortage c risis. Human cloning is not the issue; it is merely a threat to the continuation of cloning research. Supporters of cloning feel that with the careful continuation of research, the technological benefits of cloning clearly outweigh the possible social consequences. The applications, which you have seen are not nightmarish or inhumane, but will only improve the overall quality of science and life. So it is up to us as a society to write our state senators in support of cloning research. Just think about the human consequences of banning such a technology the deaths and the possible cure for diseases that would result from imposing limits on cloning discoveries and advances. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission suggests that cloning should be banned on the grounds that it is not yet safe for our society. But their decision is based on the fact that Dolly, for example, was born after 277 attempts, which it argued is too high of a failure rate. But is it really? Lee Silver, a prof essor in molecular biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, says that hundreds of human eggs and embryos were used before the birth of the first test-tube baby in 1978. Dolly was actually the beneficiary of well-established human in vitro fertilization technology. In the 277 attempts, only 29 of the fused cells actually became embryos, which were implanted in 13 ewes, of which only one became pregnant and gave birth. In a sense, this was a perfect success rate, since the only pregnancy resulted in a healthy birth. It is certainly far superior to the success rates achieved in early human in vitro fertilization efforts. Silver claims that reproductive cloning is no more dangerous than current human IVF procedures, which result in fewer birth defects than do natural births. An estimated 150,000 test-tube babies have been born worldwide. Many of the same bioethicists who condemned test-tube babies are in the forefront of the attempts to ban cloning research. T wenty years ago, these same individuals warned that test-tube babies would break the natural bonds of families, with unimaginable consequences for society. Although their warnings have proven unjustified, the nay Sayers are dusting off the old arguments and applying them to this new advance. Cloning prohibitionists must be the ones held responsible for preventing the discovery of a cure for diseases and cancer. Their efforts to ban cloning will only stop the creation of new medicines and discoveries that will help million of people. So I say it again; write your senator in support of cloning research. .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .postImageUrl , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:hover , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:visited , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:active { border:0!important; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:active , .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032 .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6667d76b498c6a8e982bac0fc4575032:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Breast Cancer EssayCLONING RESEARCHA persuasive paperScott Miller8/8/00English Comp IIMrs. TepeT/R 11:30-12:50Words/ Pages : 1,528 / 24