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Societal Attitudes Toward Abortion : Public Opinion Varies Based On The Situation Surrounding The Pregnancy

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Societal Attitudes Toward Abortion
Public opinion varies based on the situation surrounding the pregnancy. Whether it may be an unplanned pregnancy or a rape, the topic of abortion always receives different extremities of reactions. In situations where a privileged couple gets pregnant and simply does not have time for a baby and gets an abortion, the public may react differently than from a situation where a 15 year old girl is raped by her stepfather and gets pregnant. There appears to be a spectrum of acceptable situations for abortion and depending on where a person may fall, society will have a varied opinion.
Studies and surveys have shown that every year in America approximately 2% of all women aged 15-44 have an abortion. Within this 2%, less than 1% are caused by pregnancy from rape/incest, and 8% of women have an abortion simply due to the fact that their, “children are grown [and]; she has all [the kids] she wants” (“America”). These statistics show that many of the situations that lead to abortion are not what society sees as acceptable. Society as a whole sees abortion as an understandable option/choice when “there is a real risk of serious damage to the mother [when] a pregnancy is the result of a crime [...or when] the child of the pregnancy would have an ' unacceptable quality of life ' such as cases where the child would have…physical or mental handicaps” (“Reasons”).
Following the virtual spectrum of acceptability for abortions in society from worst to

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