The Constitution is a Living Document.

Essay by rmsrachalUniversity, Bachelor'sF, September 2005

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The Constitution of the United States is often called a "living document," meaning that it is open for interpretation. The Constitution of the United States can be interpreted differently as the times andcircumstances change. In creating the Constitution, our Founding Fathers wanted the Constitution to be able to be flexible and open to what changes might need to be placed. They believed that their job was to set down the basic principles. This would allow future generations to make what changes needed for the United States in that particular day and age. Since the Constitution was created it has gone through many changes through amendments allowing for the rights of the people to be further added and explained. However, there are a few areas that the Founding Fathers probably never envisioned being challenges to their Constitution. A couple of challenges to the Constitution in today 's world include the right of a woman to have an abortion and the institution of marriage.

One challenge to the Constitution today is whether a woman has a right to have an abortion. There is a question about whether or not the unborn fetus is a person and if it has rights. Since the decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973 by the Supreme Court that a woman's right to an abortion falls within the right to privacy and is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision gave women the right to an abortion during her entire pregnancy. It also defined the different levels for states to regulate abortion in the second and third trimesters. Today, abortion and the fetus' rights are still being argued. Abortion was not an issue when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and somehow they probably did not envision

there being a fight for women to kill their unborn...