Third Voice In The Abortion Debate

Abortion has been a heated debate in the United States for decades. Since before the ruling on Roe v. Wade, it is clear that this is an issue that is far from ever being decided upon. Between those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice, scholars from both sides work on disproving the morality of the other side. With the evolution of abortion laws and regulation through the decades, it is difficult to imagine the United States without conflict pertaining to abortion. Despite pro-life and pro-choice agendas, the country is in ever-changing opinion when it comes to abortion.

Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.

Abortion is the process of intentionally ending a pregnancy. Abortion touches the hearts of many because its consequences result in the loss of a human life. Its controversy stems from the fact that people’s opinions on this matter are rooted in their value systems, religious beliefs, and political socialization. Its prominence in political discussions today is likely to continue given the relationship between unwanted pregnancies and overpopulation. There is often debate about the constitutionality of abortion, as it is not specifically addressed by any doctrine. As a result, there has never been an explicit national law enacted.

Abortion has been and still is one of the most controversial topics in American culture. The reason for the controversy is the different viewpoints of this very personal matter. Some believe that abortion is the same as murder. Others believe it’s a personal choice which only they have the right to make. Due to the nature of the procedure and the concerns associated with ending a pregnancy, abortion will continue to top the list of “touchy” subjects in American politics and culture. As a pro-choice advocate, it is important for the right to have an abortion to be established and protected.

One of the first moral issues addressed by both sides of the abortion debate concerns a pregnant woman’s so-called natural “right” to make “reproductive choices.” (“The Rights of Pregnant Women”) Anti-abortion advocacy groups claim that “the only way to actually protect the mother’s rights will be by enforcing laws that secure her child’s right to life,” (“Argument 2”) whereas pro-abortion groups contend that these laws “create a dangerous precedent for wide-ranging government intrusion into the lives of all women.” (“The Rights”) With two fundamentally contrasting viewpoints at odds with each other, it is apparent that one of the core issues concurrent with abortion is a woman’s rights versus the rights of her unborn fetus.

Pro-life versus pro-choice has always been a controversial issue due to religious reasons and our countries constitutional rights. The woman’s right to have a say on her pregnancy has slowly progressed throughout our countries history, while only allowing women the right to make their own choice on whether or not to keep their unborn child within the past 50 years. “The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed a woman 's right to an abortion,” states Judith S. Baughman, editor of American Decades. However, this was not always the case and still causes controversy among many people living in America due to religious reasons.

The restrictions and the debate that surrounds the issue of abortion has changed dramatically throughout the course of history and it continues to change until this very moment. All around the world and in every known society, women have used abortion to control their reproduction, regardless of it’s legality. Abortion used to be exercised freely in the United Sates, up Until all the states started to ban It and place a lot of restrictions on it. They stated that a woman can not abort except in extreme cases in which the mother’s life might be in danger. After the restrictions caused a lot of health issues and raised concerns on women’s health, The Government abolished all the restrictions. In this paper I will analyze and discuss three main positions on the issue of abortion. First, there are those who associate themselves with the title “pro-life”. These individuals are anti abortion, birth control, embryo research or anything that can control or cause any harm to the fetus. Second, there are those who at the other end of the spectrum who firmly believe that if a woman decides to abort, then it is her constitutional right to do so without any interference from the government. Third, are those who believe that if a woman is raped or her life is in danger, then abortion should be completely and solely up to the woman, but other than that, abortion should be illegal. This group of individuals are also for birth control and do not oppose educating

The United States has been divided now over the issue of abortion for thirty-three years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973. As of today, over 45 million legal abortions have been performed in the United States. Pro-choice advocates hold these 45 million abortions as being 45 million times women have exercised their right to choose to get pregnant and to choose to control their own bodies. To pro-life, or anti-abortion, advocates these 45 million abortions constitute 45 million murders, a genocide of human life in the United States propagated by the court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The debate over abortion in the United States is thus a debate of two extremes. One side argues from the personal liberty of the mother. The

Since technology has developed rapidly over the last several years, many endless controversies have broken out in America. One particular controversy that has become a continuous issue in America is abortion. Over the last decade the controversy over abortion has become a dividing conversation in America. The introduction to this paper is to discuss the controversy of abortion and its connection between individual rights and government control. Several people believe abortion is a version of murder while others view it as a right. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the pro-life and pro-choice sides of abortion and the blurred line between individual rights and government control. The paper consists of background information on abortion, both sides of the controversy, and how it politically affects America. Several Americans argue that abortion is a right and should not be a religious or government choice but a personal choice. Without this choice, women will find harmful, illegal ways to have an abortion that could cause more issues. People also argue that illegalizing abortions would violate women right to privacy. Others although believe abortion is murder and that life starts even before they come out of the womb and abortions are killing of an innocent child. They also believe it is unfair for couples who are waiting to adopt a child. Abortion as a whole has become a debate over individual rights and government control. In J.S Mills book On

When it comes to abortion one can not state that there is simply a conflict between a woman’s right to privacy/autonomy of her body (i.e. the right to choose) and the right to life (particularly the right of the fetus to be born). It is also not adequate to claim that the alternating theories of when life is created is at the core of the conflict over abortion, because the definition of the creation of life does not determine when and why the state will protect the right of the life of the fetus. The overlying issue is a combination of both claims. By carefully analyzing the moral and empirical claims surrounding the abortion issue, we believe that the best position for our candidate is one of pro-choice

With so many women choosing to have abortions, it would be expected that it would not be so greatly frowned up, yet society is still having problems with its acceptance. Every woman has the fundamental right to decide for herself, free from government interference, whether or not to have an abortion. Today, more than ever, American families do not want the government to trample on their right to privacy by mandating how they must decide on the most intimate, personal matters. That is why, even though Americans may differ on what circumstances for terminating a crisis pregnancy are consistent with their own personal moral views, on the fundamental question of who should make this personal decision, the

Abortion was declared a fundamental right in 1973, which divided American society into two groups (in simplest form), pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life groups, pertaining of mostly religious persons, believe that life is precious, beginning at the time of conception. Pro-life groups declared that abortion is to be considered murder and is unethical. However, those who oppose that belief, pro-choice, say that it is a decision for the woman to take. After various cases and argumentation, the Supreme Court declared that it is more beneficial for abortion to become a legal act, rather than having women unsafely abort their fetus, causing great health risks. The goal of this paper is to discuss, with all rationality and reason, the logistics of

In the United States, per year, twenty million unsafe abortions and sixty-eight thousand deaths from them occur, (Odyssey) while the average death risk for a safe abortion is less than .01 percent. An illegal and unsafe abortion should never result as the last resort, but it tends to because of a lack of access to safe ones. Morals, usually drawn from religious beliefs, tend to play a part in one’s opinion towards abortion. More than three fourths of Americans consider themselves as Christians. This means that more than three fourths of Americans believe that it is morally wrong to undergo an abortion and a person should not hold the right to take someone else’s life away. While a moral belief, based on religion, is something all people are free to have,

The morality of induced abortion is one of the most controversial moral issues of our time. Abortion has grown to be one, if no the most, debated argument of modern times. In the following web-page, we will be discussing abortion in three of its major aspects: Public Opinion, Congress and Courts, and Interest groups.

Abortion is dividing America. Without a common understanding of abortion, this issue will always be divisive in America. Throughout the history of America, abortion has been an issue that has generally separated people into two camps, those in favor of abortion and those against abortion. However, these two groups, more often than not, have not approached their understanding of this issue from the same perspective. Generally speaking, those in favor of abortion see the issue of the personal rights of women. However, those against abortion, view the issue of the rights of the child. As a result, these two perspectives will never gain unity or a common understanding of abortion. The purpose of this paper is to not only give a clear understanding of both sides of the issue, but to argue that this issue will never be a unifying issue in American culture.