Abortion Essay Example (Pros and Cons)

In the United States, about 700 women die each year as a result of pregnancy or delivery difficulties ("Abortion" World).

Abortion, in its broadest sense, refers to the termination of a pregnancy before its due date. Abortions can take place in a natural or artificial setting. A miscarriage is a naturally occurring or spontaneous abortion in humans that occurs within the first twenty weeks of pregnancy ("Abortion" Gale).

Although Abortion may be murder to some people, Abortion should be an option for people because of unstable home life and women's rights, and their health.

Some people believe, that if you are willing to have sexual intercourse, you are willing to be responsible for the life of the baby you made. There are other options too instead of keeping it, you could put it up for adoption. People need to be responsible for their actions (ProCon.org).

A human being is born with a distinct genetic identity that remains constant throughout his or her life. This person has a fundamental right to life that must be safeguarded (ProCon.org).

"[A]ll men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among which are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," according to the Declaration of Independence. Abortion deprives the unborn of the inalienable right to life that the Founding Fathers intended for all people (ProCon.org).

The act of abortion is wrong and that unborn babies have the right to live. People should also be punished if they attempt to have an abortion or do, they should be punished (ProCon.org).

After the number of Abortions jumped the number of babies up for adoption went from 9% to 0.5%. There was a lack of US infant adoptions from 90,000 to 18,329 over 43 years (ProCon.org).

Pregnant girls and young moms are frequently expelled from school or pressured to marry at a young age. Women who married at a young age are more likely to have intimate partners than women who marry later in life, according to research. A girl suffering an undesired pregnancy for any reason would have the opportunity to evaluate her alternatives and determine whether she was ready to become a mother, as well as how her decision would affect her health and future if governments provided access to safe, legal abortion. If she so desired, she would be able to postpone motherhood and obtain a safe abortion (Wurth).

When women are made to carry through with their pregnancy, it makes the odds a lot higher for her and their child to live below the federal poverty line (Cohen).

Too many young women are forced to choose between having a covert – and frequently dangerous – abortion or continuing an undesired pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, about four million teenagers aged 15 to 19 have unsafe abortions each year, and 16 million give birth. A whopping 120 million adolescent girls and young women under the age of 20 have been sexually abused over the world. After being raped by a 65-year-old man, an 11-year-old girl was forced to give birth in Argentina this year. Her requests for an abortion were frequently refused by authorities (Wurth).

Women's physical and mental health is jeopardized throughout their lives due to a lack of safe, inexpensive, timely, and respectful abortion care, as well as the stigma associated with abortion. The right to life, the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right to benefit from scientific progress and its realization, the right to decide freely and responsibly on the number, spacing, and timing of children, and the right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment are all at risk if quality abortion care is unavailable ("Abortion" World).

Pregnancy problems and death are more common in young teenagers than in adults. Pregnancy and delivery problems are the main cause of death for girls and young women aged 15 to 19 (Wurth).

Women could report chronic diseases, persistent pain, and poor overall health five years later if denied an abortion (Ducharme).

 ”The choice over when and whether to have children is central to a woman’s independence and ability to determine her future. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, “The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in her dissenting opinion in Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) that undue restrictions on abortion infringe upon “a woman’s autonomy to determine her life’s course, and thus to enjoy equal citizenship stature.” (ProCon.org).

Although some people consider abortion to be murder, it should be an option for people who have an unstable home life, women's rights, or their health.

Many pro-choice activists disagree that a fetus is a person, at least during the early stages of development, and thus entitled to the same moral status as a person outside the womb. The superiority of a woman's right to regulate her own reproduction without government interference is at the heart of the pro-choice argument. They claim that a woman's right to choose the number and spacing of her children is unalienable. They further argue that having access to a safe and legal abortion is a human right and that forcing women to have illegal or unsafe abortions puts their health and lives in jeopardy (“Abortion” Gale).