Abortion in the United States

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Abortion in the United States

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)

Since Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion has sparked a symbolic war based on the religious, personal, and moral beliefs of two opposing groups: anti-abortionists, who see abortion as murder; and pro-abortionists, who view it “as a symbol of women’s rights to control their own lives.” (Calhoun 220) Public opinion on the issue is no less divided: according to a 2003 poll, 49% of respondents described themselves as “more pro-abortion” while 45% were “more anti-abortion.” (Shaw) However, when the question concerns the legality of abortion, the percentages become skewed. In a 2000 survey, 53% believed that abortion should be legal while 35% believed the contrary. (Shaw) When these questions, in turn, become more specific, important differences occur. A poll by The American National Election Studies offered the following results: 42% of the sample felt “a woman should be able to obtain an abortion as a matter of personal choice”; 15% felt it should be legal “only after establishing need”; 29% believe it should be permitted “only in case of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is in danger”; and a mere 12% felt is should “never be permitted.” (Shaw) An overwhe...

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Strahan, Thomas W., J.D. “Therapeutic Influence in Abortion Counseling and Procedures: Creating the Illusion of Well-Being.” Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change. March / April 2002. 1 March 2004. <http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/Vol%2017%20No%201%20Mar%202002.pdf>

Staggenborg, Suzanne. “Abortion as a Social Problem.” Sociology: Social Foundations

of Public Issues. McGraw Hill, 2003. pp. 216-220. {scholarly secondary source; print}

“The Rights of Pregnant Women.” NARAL Pro-Choice America. 24 March 2004. <http://www.naral.org/Issues/pregnantwomen/> {unrestricted; internet publication}

Yishai, Yael. “Public Ideas and Public Policy: Abortion Politics in Four Democracies.”

Comparative Politics, Jan 1993. Vol. 25, Iss. 2, pp. 207-228. {primary scholarly; print}

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