ABORTION, PRO-CHOICE

Abortion, Pro-Choice

Abortion, Pro-Choice

Introduction

Imagine this; you are a female walking down the street in a neighborhood that to say the least isn't that great. You don't feel that safe, but have no other way of getting home, it's only about eight at night, yet you are walking as fast as you can to get to your home; one of the only places you feel safe. While you are walking you begin to sense that someone is behind you, maybe even following you, so you decide to take a shortcut through an alley. Not a good idea, the person behind you turns out to be a male and attacks you right as you turn the corner into the alley. Can you imagine giving birth to a child from this horrific event? In most cases of rape, the only way to escape this is to have an abortion. Abortion is a very controversial issue in today's society.(Donald, 1996, 231-238).

Abortion is legal in all fifty states, yet many believe that it should not be and are pushing to make the process of abortion illegal. The main controversy of abortion stems from economic, social and moral reasoning. I believe that abortion should stay legalized and that it is women's and only a women's choice to decide what she wants to do, because only she knows the pain and suffering. Keeping abortion legal will stop all back-alley abortions that tend to occur a lot when those women wanting an abortion are scared to get one. Leaving the laws as they are would be the best solution, because our country is all about our rights, and that is one right that all women should have, whether or not to give birth to a baby.(Alexander, 1993, 14-23)

Abortion depending on whom you ask can have a different meaning everywhere. To some it means simply just taking the life of another. To others it means stopping an unwanted birth at an early stage of pregnancy. According to The Random House College Dictionary abortion is the expulsion of a human fetus within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, before it is viable. In layman terms, abortion can best be said as getting rid of or stopping pregnancy at an early stage.( Ninia, 1990, 27-36)

Discussion       

  In 1973, after the Supreme Court of the United States made a ruling in the cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton abortion became legal in the U.S. as long as it took place in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy; before the fetus became able to live on its own. The law set forth after these two cases gave each state in the country the rights to restrict abortions after that time period. In 1976, the Supreme Court gave minors; those girls under eighteen the right to have an abortion. At first it was just up to those girls, but three years later in 1979 the Supreme Court ruled that states could require consent from at least one ...