Essay about Although Controversial, Abortion is a Reality

By the 1960’s, states began to reconsider the legalization of abortion in response to the high rate of hospital admissions resulting from illegal abortions and a change in public opinion (“Abortion in Law, History, and Religion”). By the early 1970’s, 17 states had altered their abortion laws towards liberalization (“Abortion in Law, History, and Religion”). In 1973, the Supreme Court declared in Roe vs. Wade that most existing state laws were unconstitutional. The case ruled out any legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on what restrictions could be passed on abortions in later stages of pregnancy (Sauer).

For starters let us look at this situation from a political standpoint in favor of pro-choice advocates. In the infamous case of Roe v. Wade, Jane Roe’s two lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, “sought to challenge the legality of Texas’s antiabortion law” (Roe v. Wade). In any level of government,

Abortion has been a complex social issue in the United States ever since restrictive abortion laws began to appear in the 1820s. By 1965, abortions had been outlawed in the U.S., although they continued illegally; about one million abortions per year were estimated to have occurred in the 1960s. (Krannich 366) Ultimately, in the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women had the right to privacy and could make an individual choice on whether or not to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Yishai 213)

Women may have an abortion for a variety of reasons, but in general they choose abortion because a pregnancy at that time is in some way wrong for them. “Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before it is mature enough to live on its own” (Kuechler 1996). When this happens spontaneously we call it a miscarriage. Induced abortion is brought about deliberately by a medical procedure that ends pregnancy. Legal abortion, carried out by trained medical practitioners, is one of the most common and safest surgical procedures. “About 1.5 million American women choose to have induced abortions each year. Less than 1% of all abortion patients experience a major complication associated with the procedure” (Kuechler 1996).

Abortion has taken the lives of more than 50 million babies since 1973 (“About Abortion”). The issue of abortion is one of the most common controversial issues in American politics and culture. In modern society, many women that have an unintended pregnancy and they result to abortion without researching other options. Abortion is not a substitute for birth control and this issue should be taken seriously. The individual woman needs to understand that by agreeing to have an abortion she is agreeing to kill an innocent fetus. Abortion rips the unborn child from his or hers right to life. Society needs to let women see through the eyes of the fetus and find alternative ways to raise the baby. Abortion should be

In 1973, Roe v. Wade ruled a state law that banned abortions, except in the cases of risking the life of the mother, unconstitutional (Garrow 833). The Court ruled that states were forbidden from regulating or outlawing abortion performed during the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy, could pass abortion regulations if they were related to the health of the mother in the second and third trimesters, and pass abortion laws protecting the life of the fetus in the third trimester (Paltrow 18). However, the primary concern would remain to be the mother’s health, regardless. Roe v. Wade, controversial since it was decided, divided America and continues to spark debates,

The issue of abortion is one of the most controversial topics of our time, but recently the amount of public interest has grown exponentially. A number of bills regarding this policy issue such as Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 and Child Interstate Notification Act have both greatly influenced the public’s opinion of abortion. Although, the issue of abortion hasn’t always been like this; according to Timeline of Abortion Laws and Events, an article from the Chicago Tribune, “The earliest anti-abortion laws were intended to protect women from untrained abortionists.” (Timeline) Since the 1973 passing of the Supreme Court Case, Roe V Wade, women have been able to obtain the abortion procedure in all 50 states, 46 of which were

Roe vs. Wade case was a ground-breaking landmark case because it gave a woman the right to choose. Since then landmark cases and legislation restricted a woman from having an abortion. The rights of the unborn are the reason why a woman's rights to have an abortion are being eroded. In addition, violent events have occurred because a woman has a right to have an abortion. Clearly, this topic has affected the political, health, social, and religious, aspects of our society. Currently, women are choosing not to have an abortion. The sentiment is so strong that a Harris poll showed that 72% of Americans say abortion should be illegal after the first 3 months of pregnancy. To make this point, abortion rates are down in the states where the abortion

With repeated threats from Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and multiple states passing restrictive laws, reproductive rights—and abortion in particular—continue to be increasingly under attack in the United States. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that “a woman’s choice whether to have an abortion is protected by her right to privacy” and that any restrictions on that right must be under “strict scrutiny.” This means that by law, women have the right to get abortions without facing unnecessary restrictions. According to Roe v. Wade, the only time the government could enforce restrictions on this right was when there is a “compelling state interest” to do so.

Although abortion has been a very controversial issue throughout history, I will inform you on the recent law and policy in which has developed over the past forty years. Beginning in the early seventies, the famous Roe v. Wade decision began the controversial segregation of the right to abortion. The decision stated that “women, in consultation with their physician, have the right to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.” (“Induced Abortion in the United States,” July 2014). Roughly twenty years later, and in the early nineties, the Planned Parenthood v. Casey readdressed the policy of abortion and gave the states more power to assist

The controversy within the biomedical ethics topic, abortion, has two main proponents. The first is the view against abortion, also known as pro-life. The other view is rooted upon the belief of being pro-choice, or basically for abortions. These two different views are like two mathematical principles, in that although these two views have many differences, they also have larger similarities in the background. For example, when pro-choice activists support abortions due to unwanted pregnancies, the activists are not rallying behind the idea of sexual incompetency (pregnancies due to lack of birth control). Rather, they are supporting the idea that women have the right to choose what to do with their own bodies. In order to understand

Of all the legal, ethical, and moral issues we Americans continuously fight for or against, abortion may very well be the issue that Americans are most passionate about. The abortion issue is in the forefront of political races. Most recently the “no taxpayer funding for abortion act”, has abortion advocates reeling. Even though abortion has been legal in every state in the United States since the monumental Supreme Court decision, “Roe v Wade”, on January 22, 1973; there are fewer physicians willing to perform abortions today than in 2008. (Kraft) At the heart of the ethical dilemma for many in the medical profession is the viability of the fetus. And just to make this whole dilemma more confusing, according to the United States

To deny a woman the right to terminate her pregnancy is akin to robbing her of any ability to make decisions about her body, her self, and her future. The woman is effectively forced, against her will, to assume an identity and a future that she normally would have avoided. This type of coersion can permanently damage a persons emotional and psychological health. The one thing that makes each of us an individual is our decision making freedom and powers regarding our own future and actions. But when we are robbed of our ability to make our own decisions about our future, our self, and our identity, then we are robbed of our most essential and valuable treasure…our self. If a woman wishes to obtain an early term abortion…to terminate a pregnancy…then she must be allowed to choose this option. If she id denied an abortion, then both her and the future child will suffer tremendously. Please stop viewing abortion as something that you should have sole control over. A person’s body is their own, not yours. It is threatening and invasive when others attempt to direct the lives of their peers. Rather supporting the tyrannical idea of forced childbirth, perhaps you ought to consider the more moderate concept that all people should be able to choose the future of their bodies and reproductive functions. I advocate neither abortion nor

Recently there have been laws passed putting new restrictions on when abortions are allowed to happen. For example, thirteen states have banned the procedure from being performed

The decision to have an abortion is entirely up to the mother and the father cannot decide for or on behalf of her. The Abortion Act of 1967 stated that abortion could be carried out up till 28 weeks of the pregnancy but was amended by the Abortion Act of 1990. Abortion can be allowed if two doctors agree on the following circumstances; · The woman may not be at a suitable age for having a child · Her baby is likely to be born with serious disabilities · She is pregnant as a result of rape or incest · If the pregnancy will bring a risk to the mental and physical health of the mother · The baby will bring great risks of permanent injury to the mother’s mental and physical health · To save the life of the mother Since the 1990’s, a pill called RU486 has been available for mothers on their first ten days of the pregnancy to induce an abortion.