Roe v. Wade Research Paper

In discussions of the Roe v Wade policy, some people believe that abortion is inhumane and women should not have the right to terminate their pregnancies. On the other hand, many other people disagree, believing that women should always have access to safe and legal abortions. The particular reason for this circumstance is, it allows women to decide when they want to have children, make sure they are financially stable and in a healthy relationship, amongst many other things. Without having access to safe and legal abortions women could endure dangerous pregnancies for both herself and her baby. Banning abortion certainly wouldn’t stop women from having them. Instead, they would have abortions in illegal and unsafe ways. 

While it is true that using forms of protection while having sex such as condoms, birth control, and emergency contraceptive pills can significantly decrease a women’s chance of becoming pregnant it doesn’t prevent pregnancy 100%. In simpler terms, even though women use protection and take precautions, pregnancy still might occur. This means that there are numerous amounts of unwanted pregnancies in the United States, in fact, the article Contraceptive Failure in the United States: Estimates from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth states that “In 2011, just under half (45%) of all pregnancies in the United States were unintended…” (Sundaram et al.) Women become pregnant when it is not something that they wanted or something that they are prepared for. For women in an abusive relationship, welcoming a child into the world might not be an option for her. This could create a situation in which the child lives in a household where he/she has to watch his/her mother be abused or might even endure the abuse themselves. Some women feel that it would be selfish to have a child and have them live in an environment like that. For financially unstable women, they might feel they are not able to give their child the best life and abortion is the best option. These are just a few of the many reasons, other than rape and incest, a woman might choose to have an abortion. 

Banning abortion would take away that option to terminate dangerous pregnancies that could put both the mother and child in danger. There are many cases where women seek out abortions for medical problems that they may be experiencing or the baby may be experiencing. Amniocentesis is the process in which a fetus is checked for birth defects while still in the woman's uterus. If it is known that the baby will have Huntington’s disease it might feel like the best option is aborting the child, not because the child is not wanted, but because mom doesn’t want to watch her child slowly die and lose control of his/her body. This is just one example of a terrible disease that might cause a mother to choose to have an abortion. Sometimes, the woman might be experiencing some kind of medical problem that could be harmful to her such as obesity. Obese women are more likely to develop gestational diabetes which might cause their blood pressure to rise which could be harmful to both mom and baby, leading her to decide to have an abortion. These are just a few of many dangerous pregnancies that cause women to consider abortion. 

Taking away the right to have an abortion might even cause more problems because women would try to perpetuate abortion on their own and using very dangerous methods. These methods are very disturbing and detrimental to women and the fetus. Some of the methods include inserting sharp objects such as hangers and sticks, through the vagina into the uterus in hopes to remove the fetus on their own. Others might try to terminate the pregnancy by consuming harmful substances like bleach and certain types of metals. Hitting or punching the abdomen repeatedly is another common way of a self-induced abortion. Other women might go to the internet searching for an “abortion pill” hoping all she has to do is take a pill and that will take care of the issue for her. The problem with these methods is they don’t always work, but almost always are harmful to the woman and fetus. Using sharp objects to remove the fetus might cause internal bleeding and damage to organs. Not only can it affect the woman physically, but also might cause her to experience mental suffering and depression because a self-induced abortion can be quite traumatizing. Banning abortion will never stop them from happening, but will only stop them from happening safely. 

Even though the Roe v Wade case gave support to women seeking out abortions, today these rights are slowly being chipped away and women are despised for doing them. Some people consider abortion as murder because it is taking a human life. According to Charles E.M. Kolb “The logic is relentless: if a person exists from the moment of conception, then abortion is murder.” (Kolb) Donald Trump and Mike Pence even go as far as saying that women who chose to end a pregnancy should face punishment. However, murder is defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another, and as discussed before, becoming pregnant is not always planned, therefore someone can’t premediate a killing if it was not planned. Things happen and women should not be deemed as murders for terminating a pregnancy that could potentially kill her and the child. Many people think banning abortion would be the best thing that could happen to help protect “innocent lives”. Be that as it may, but women would find dangerous ways to end the pregnancy like using sharp, consuming harmful substances, and self-infliction. They might also try to seek them out using illegal approaches such as purchasing “abortion medication” off of the internet. America should never force women to have these DIY types of abortions because they are incredibly risky. Abortion will always be a controversial topic in America and there will always be unwanted pregnancies. Instead of making women feel ashamed and embarrassed for having an abortion, people need to understand why abortion happens and why women make these decisions. They are not always choosing abortion just for the fact that they aren’t ready, and even if that is the case it really shouldn’t matter. There are several reasons why women have abortions, and they are good reasons. Hopefully one day, people will be more accepting of abortion and the pro-choice movement, and hopefully one day women will have the right to whatever they deem necessary without feeling criticized. Remember, pro-life is “I know what’s best for you.” pro-choice is “you know what’s best for you.”