Abortion Essay, Research Paper

January 22, 1973 is a historical victory in women s rights and the beginning of

one of the largest controversies of the United States. The legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court overturned decades of a woman s right to protect her from unwanted pregnancy. Advocates of the pro-life movement feel as though this judgement allows the murder of innocent human beings for the mother s selfish immoral beliefs. The Pro-life movement also argues that there are many physical and psychological harms that come with abortion. Beliefs of the pro-choice movement are that a woman should have the right to abort a child that is unwanted or comes at a time that the child can’t be taken care of to the best of the parent s abilities. The pro-choice movement also believes that what a woman does with her body is personal and should not be decided by the government, religious leaders, or people who are not involved in the act. I believe that a woman should have the right to an abortion even if it is not an acceptable practice to many. A woman should have the right to decide when she wants to have a child and she should have options available to her when she becomes pregnant. Although abortion is considered immoral by many in the pro-life movement, I believe like the pro-choice movement that a woman should have the right to decide when she wants to have a child.

Pro-life supporters are against abortion because innocent babies are being killed. Their argument is that at conception there is a human being that has a soul. They also believe that it is unfair to the unborn child to be aborted because the mother feels inconvenienced by pregnancy (Steinnetz 1). Pro-lifers claim that 1.5 million babies are being murdered because of women who have decided to have sex and not want to be responsible for the consequences (Steinnetz 1). Many in the pro-life movement use the Ten Commandments Thou shalt not kill, to prove that abortion goes against the teachings of the Bible. They claim that a fetus is a life and that it should not be destroyed. Pro-lifers believe that women are killing innocent children and going against the teachings of the bible by having an abortion.

Pro-lifers also talk about the affect abortion has on the mother. Anti-abortion leaders argue that abortion has many physical and psychological risks that are not taken seriously by the pro-choice movement. Although legal abortions are safer, women must still deal with the aftermath of the experience. Abortion interrupts the natural process (pregnancy), abortion poses both short-term and long-term risk to the health of the aborted women (Reardon 89). Some of the risks of abortion are severe hemorrhage, infection, embolism (obstruction of a blood vessel by a foreign substance), ripping of the uterus, anesthesia complications, cervical injury, endotoxic shock. Minor risks of abortion are minor infections, bleeding, fevers and chills, chronic abdominal pain, vomiting, weight loss, and painful or disrupted menstrual cycles. Psychological risks of abortion are guilt, shame, fear, loss, anger, resentment, depression, remorse, sexual dysfunction, deterioration of self-image, and self-punishment. Abortion can also lead women to do drugs, drink excessively, commit suicide, and become more sexually active.

Roe v. Wade is the case that began in Texas and ended in the Supreme Court which gave all women the right to have an abortion. Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee were the lawyers of Jane Roe, a woman in Texas who wanted to abort her child. Weddington and Coffee argued that abortion laws were violating women s constitutional rights (Romaine 26). They suggested that what a women did with her body was an unenumerated right (which is a right that the constitution implies but does not specifically identify) (Romaine 13). Many of the pro-choice movement believe like the two attorneys that women should have the right to privacy and that the government or the pro-life movement should not interfere in a woman s right to choose.

As I have gained more knowledge about the abortion controversy, it is my position that a woman should have the right to decide for herself if she wants an abortion. I have seen many women and girls who have become pregnant and are unable to care for a child due to lack of funds, age, mental stability, alcohol, or drug abuse. Why would anyone want to bring children into this world if they cannot properly care for them and give them the financial support that is needed? Premarital sex has become a common occurrence within American society and teenage parents have rapidly increased. I have seen many girls in my high school and I have friends that have gotten pregnant and are now left to take care of children, when they are not that mature themselves. I believe women and young girls should have the right to abortion if they feel as though they are not ready to have a child. So many young girls are bringing children into this world that they can t support without the help of their families or the government. Abortion will not stop all young girls from having children but it gives those who do not want a child the choice to terminate a pregnancy. Some women are not mentally stable and having a child could be detrimental to their psychological state. Also there are many babies that come into this world with drug addictions which cause physical and mental problems. These children become unwanted by society because of all their problems.

Abortion has been a part of human life for thousands of years, although people do not want to admit that it has been practiced for centuries and will remain a part of society until women stop becoming pregnant. Even if abortion is not the moral choice it should be available to women because it is a private matter and does not involve your neighbors or the government. What a woman does with her body is her business and she should have the right to choose when she wants to have a child. Since Abortion has become legal women have moved up in society and have had more opportunities in their careers. Also women should have the right to protect themselves from taking care of children that are not wanted or came at the wrong time.