The Most Discussed Disputes

Constitutional controversies are at the forefront of today’s news, social media discussions, and politics. The most discussed controversies are abortion, gun control, marijuana usage, and gay marriage. The nation is split on these issues and some believe they are not Constitutional issues at all. Arguments are fueled by personal rights, religion, and Constitutional law and have been extremely divisive. The nation has become so divided over these topics, it is uncertain if agreements can ever be achieved and there is no telling what this could lead to in the future.

Gay rights have been debated for decades and are still a hot topic of political campaigns. The gay rights movement is traced back to 1969, with the Stonewall Riots. The riots occurred after the New York police raided the Stonewall Inn because they knew most of its patrons were homosexuals. During that period, having homosexual sex was illegal in almost all states but many people thought it was a violation of their rights and were tired of being ridiculed and punished for being homosexual.

The homosexual community did not start fighting for gay marriage at this time, they were simply fighting for the right to be who they are, to love who they want to love, without persecution. Shockingly, it was not until 1973, that homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder (Background of the Issue – Gay Marriage). Even though gay marriage was legalized in 2015 by the Supreme Court in all 50 states, there is still controversy if gay marriage is constitutional. Opposing views site that marriage is defined between a man and a woman and not the same sex.

Get quality help now

RhizMan

Verified

Proficient in: Gay Rights

4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

However, the foundation of this view is based on religion but our country was built on the separation between church and state. For that reason, religious viewpoints on the definition of marriage between a man and women-only should not be considered in the argument.

People who oppose gay marriage, argue that marriage is traditionally between a man and a woman with the intent to procreate. Since two men or two women cannot procreate, it does not fit in their definition and thus it should be illegal. This logic is mainly backed by religion. In Leviticus 18:22 it reads “You shall not lie with a male as with a female; it is an abomination.” The Bible mentions how having same-sex relations is an abomination multiple times but this should not impact what is legal and illegal in the United States, since we have a separation between church and state. Simply, religious laws should not impact constitutional law.

Abortion is another huge issue discussed today is whether or not abortion should be legal or not. There are many reasons why abortion should be legal, both medical and personal. Sometimes having a baby can be very harmful to the mother and can even risk her life. In this situation, it should be recommended that the mother terminates the pregnancy, instead of being guilted or shamed into risking her life for the babies. Sometimes the mother can’t afford to have a baby and doesn’t want to rely on the government to pay for her having a child. There are countless situations that which the mother should be able to terminate her pregnancy. It is her body and it should be her choice, no matter what anyone else thinks. In 1973, the Supreme Court declared abortion a “fundamental right” in Roe vs. Wade, but it is still up for debate throughout the United States.

The biggest issue in this argument is the definition of life and when life starts. Some people believe that life begins at conception, some people believe life begins when the fetus has a heartbeat, and others think life begins at birth. So where does this leave us? Is abortion murder or the mother’s choice on what she wants to do with her body? Is it even her body anymore or does it belong to someone else as well? These questions are still heavily discussed and debated every single day. People that are anti-abortion or “pro-life” argue that life begins at conception and having an abortion is killing an innocent life, making the mother a murderer. People stand outside clinics, hammering this idea into young girls’ heads and pressuring them into making a decision that can impact their entire lives. No matter what you believe, there are certain situations when a mother should terminate the pregnancy and should be able to make that decision for herself.

As a young mother, I can say that when I found out I was having a baby when I went in to get my first ultrasound I was scared. My family is very religious and I thought they would disown me if they found out that I was having a baby out of marriage. I was always told that sex before marriage is wrong, your body is a temple, and having a baby before marriage is unacceptable. When I went in to meet my son for the first time, the woman that was helping me was very very pro-choice. The problem I had was that she was so pro-choice it seemed like she was telling me that I needed to get an abortion. She talked about how I was too young, and how I probably couldn’t afford to have a baby with my financial situation. The choice was entirely mine to make, and it’s something hundreds of girls have to decide on every single day. Nobody should have a say or try to persuade someone into doing something because of their own beliefs. Everyone should have the right to do what they want with their body. I decided to keep my son and I’ll never regret that decision, but other women should be able to make a different choice if they want.

Another huge controversial topic that is especially popular today is gun control. With the rise of shootings and automatic weapons, people are calling for more and more control over guns. I go back and forth on this topic pretty often. People who support more gun control argue that the Second Amendment was intended for militias and that gun violence would be reduced if there was more control on guns. Realistically, the people could never overthrow our government. Even if we wanted to and formed militias, we would never stand a chance. Our guns are no match for their bombs and we would be wiped out before we could make the first shot. The Second Amendment was made at a time that people probably could overthrow their government if they thought that that was in their best interest. In our time now, that idea is just completely unrealistic. But at the same time, I do believe that we should be able to have guns, just not these huge crazy automatic weapons that we see today. It’s important to have weapons to protect ourselves from local and foreign criminals. A video is going around the internet right now of a man walking up to a group of mothers with their children in front of a school and pulling out a gun on them. A woman in the crowd quickly reacts, pulling out her gun, taking down the man, and disarming him. She saved all those mothers and their children because she had a weapon that she was using to defend herself and others. This is a great example of why we have the right to our weapons and why we should be able to keep this right.

Saying that more gun control would lessen the number of shootings and gun violence is a bit of a ridiculous statement. People who smoke crack still smoke crack even though it’s illegal. People that buy and sell little girls are still going to continue to do so even though it’s illegal. What makes people think that more gun control will keep people from buying guns? People don’t walk into a movie theater or a school and open fire on innocent people and children because it’s legal. Increasing gun control isn’t going to make crazy people any less crazy, it might just disarm the people that could protect others from them. People buy weapons every day illegally and increasing control on people who are following the law and buying guns legally just doesn’t seem right.

There are so many issues today that are very controversial and divide the nation in half. Although some of these issues have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved, there are still so many with no resolution in sight. These issues divide the nation in half, divide households even, and there’s no telling what could happen in the future. All of these are very important, and I think it’s more important that we the people stick together and not let our differences lead to more violence and tension than there was already have. I think these issues go beyond the Constitution. Our founding fathers, no matter how wise they were, had no idea what problems we would be facing today. They had no way of knowing because there’s no way they could have fathomed the advancements and progression of society. Now we have to decide what’s right and what’s wrong for us in today’s time. Not what was right hundreds of years ago.