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Looking at abortion through the history lens
Pro-choice vs pro-life
History on abortions essay
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Abortion is a hot topic and a significant topic for many people Countless amount of people feel aborting or killing an unwanted child should be against the law. Many do not realize what abortion is, rates of abortion matter when legal or not, decisions to get abortions, history of abortion, the different between pro-life and pro-choice, facts and statistics of abortion and the laws in place of abortion. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice and responsibility of the woman. Here are several definitions of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice to help with improved understanding the difference. Starting with “Pro-life stand opposed to abortion also, advocating the legal protection of human embryos and fetuses, especially by favoring the outlawing …show more content…
“Worldwide women have used abortion at every point in history and every society regardless it being against the law” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “Abortion was practiced until 1880s, when most states banned abortion with the exception to rescue the woman” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “During this time anti-abortion legislation was to reaction opposed to the growing movement for suffrage and birth control, this was a way for legislation to control women’s health care, when midwives performed abortion it was threating the male medical business” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “Abortion being illegal at the time women’s ability to obtain abortion depended on her race and wealth, women with money left the country or found a physician to perform abortion for a high price while poor women were left with incompetent practitioners” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “When unable to find a provider women resulted to inserting knitting needles or coat hangers into the vagina and uterus” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “By 1960s a group of concerned pastors, rabbis and feminist set up referral services to help women find safer illegal abortions” (Our Bodies Ourselves). “A group of women in Chicago created …show more content…
“The abortion rate for women ages 15-44 was 20 per 1,000 in 2008 with roughly 1.2 million abortions performed, two percent of American women in this age range had abortions that year” (Guttmacher Institution). According to the Guttmacher Institution, “No racial group makes up a greater part in having abortions with 36% being non-Hispanic white, 30% non-Hispanic black, 25% Hispanic, and 9% other races”. “In the United States only one in ten abortions happen after the second trimester and more than nine in ten occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy” (Guttmacher Institution). “The criminalization of abortions does not remove the procedure instead it compels women seek unqualified provider in hazardous environment” (Guttmacher Institution). According to NBC News, “Women in other countries still are likely to get abortions where it is outlawed as in countries where it is legal; also found abortion rates are practically equal in rich and poor countries”. “About 70 thousand women die each year from unsafe abortions; with the addition of 5 million that suffer permanent or temporary injury” (NBC News). “Even though abortions worldwide dropped from 46 million in 1995 to 42 million in 2003 there have been no change in the rate of unsafe abortions, almost half the abortions are performed illegally in dangerous conditions” (NBC
...ions over her own body; whether it is parenthood, adoption, contraception, or yes, abortion. After all, it is entirely plausible for people to be personally pro-life but politically pro-choice – this suggests that they respect each individuals’ rights over his or her own body and recognize that each woman should be allowed to have options. Regardless of whether or not she chooses to have the child, it is the fact that she has a choice that is crucial, and it is imperative that each woman have the freedom of individual autonomy. In order for this to occur, abortion must continue to be legal. Ultimately, being pro-choice is not necessarily advocating the use of abortion – it is about ensuring that abortion is legal so that women may have the option to exercise their right to individual autonomy and make the decisions that best reflects their stance in life.
Abortion has been the topic of controversy for many decades. Many people believe that when a woman terminates a pregnancy, she is committing murder and others argue that a woman has the right to choose life or abortion. There are different procedures to choose when having an abortion, depending on the gestational age and the woman 's health a pill form abortion may be used up to 9 weeks gestation (mifepristone and misoprostol), but for women who are over 12-weeks gestation (late-term abortion), surgical abortion is used (Berer 25). In 1973, the supreme court ruled that abortion was to be legalized, Roe vs. Wade. Women were given the legal right to choose to terminate their pregnancies and make the correct arrangements for their decisions. Different states have different restrictions to accessing abortion procedures, making the woman 's choice to terminate pregnancy less accessible. Restricting a woman 's access to appropriate abortion clinics limits her right to choose.
In contrast, Pro-Choice means those who argue everybody has the right to decide if they wish to seek an abortion or not. Glenn I. Cohen, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, argues that Pro-Life advocates firmly stand on the concept of, “Fetuses are persons and have some of the rights of persons from early on in their development, particularly the right of inviolability” (88). Christians and other religious groups confidently believe an embryo transforms into a human being as soon as conception occurs. What this means is that once the male sperm connects with the female egg, that is when the embryo becomes a living person and any abortion that takes place is killing a human being. In contrast, scientifically the newly found embryo is not a human at all, but just a bunch of cells dividing.
In a 2006 study conducted by the CDC, it was reported that 53-56% of abortions were performed on white women between the ages of 20 and 29. Among the 46 states that provided data consistently during 1996--2006, a total of 835,134 abortions (98.7% of the total) were reported; the abortion rate was 16.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15--44 years, and the abortion ratio was 236 abortions per 1,000 live births. During the previous decade (1997--2006), reported abortion numbers, rates, and ratios decreased 5.7%, 8.8%, and 14.8%, respectively; most of these declines occurred before 2001. During the previous year (2005--2006), the total number of abortions increased 3.1%, and the abortion rate increased 3.2%; the abortion ratio was stable. (CDC, 2009)
... “Abortion in the United States: Statistics and Trends.” National Right to Life. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012. Web.
WRONG! Abortion is one of the most highly debated topics in America. Abortion is a huge issue in society today, over 1.4 million abortions take place each year meaning innocent unborn babies die, because of their parents selfish decision.
Abortion has become an issue Americans feel strongly about, and it has created enormous debates within the United States. It has been around for years, and is certainly not a new option for women who find themselves in an unwanted pregnancy. Even though terminations have become safer for women, there are still strong arguments against abortion. Whether one is for or against abortion depends on a combination of beliefs, as well as pressures from society. While some believe in the right to choose, others consider it as murder; in both cases the turmoil of abortion has an extreme affect on a woman.
Did you know that in the United States an abortion occurs every 25 seconds? This equates to 137 abortions per hour or 3,300 abortions every day, which is more that 1.3 million abortions every year! Abortion has always been a controversial topic and even more so since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling. Most people have very strong opinions about abortion and inadvertently form their opinions without knowing all of the facts. Abortion should be abolished because it is killing innocent human beings, causes health risks in women, and defies the religious and ethical standards of our country.
According to the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System issued by the CDC, “the number of reported pregnancy-related deaths in the United States steadily increased from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to a high of 17.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2009 and 2011.” The CDC Abortion Surveillance System, found that the mortality rate for women who had abortions was 0.7 deaths per 100,000 procedures. This shows how safe legal abortions can be when done professionally. When the procedure is done by someone who is not a trained professional then it becomes detrimental to women. If abortion was illegal more of these procedures would occur and can possibly risk more lives. It’s better for it to be legal and safely done than illegal and done
According to CNN (cable news network), since the legality of abortions by the supreme courts in 1973, the number of abortions has increased gradually. The CDC (centers for disease control and prevention) reported 1,292,606 abortions in 1980. The number count continued by millions until the year 2000. Rates began to decrease, but the numbers still remained high. 2009 is the year CDC has recently given reports on the statistics of abortion in the United States. The ratio in that year has been 227 out of 1000 live births. 64% of abortions legally induced were performed at eight or fewer weeks during the gestation period. Women ages 20-29 were the 57.1% who went for an abortion. 51.2 % of the women were white (including Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women) 41.2% of the women were black, and 7.6% of adult females from other races. The top three states with the most abortions were: New York, Florida, and Texas. The statistics shown is inco...
Many women describe it as a privilege and miracle, while others consider the act itself of conceiving and carrying another human being as an inexplicable feeling. Those women that enjoy the opportunity of being a mother cherish every moment and appreciate it as a wonderful gift. Although this stands as a beautiful thing, there exists women choosing to abort. Women of all ages may face the decision of whether or not to terminate the life that they carry in their womb through the abortion process. Nevertheless, late term abortion results in terrifying consequences. The procedure causes health complications for the mother, inflicts pain on a living fetus, and kills the unborn baby.
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)
Expecting to completely eliminate abortions from the face of the earth by making them illegal and getting rid of the facilities that provide them is an awfully absurd idea due to the fact that abortions will never cease to exist. Induced abortions have taken place all over the world, and “societies have [been struggling with] the issue of abortion for millennia” (Abortion). Within countries where abortions are essentially illegal, many turn to unsafe abortion methods, usually performed by unskilled practitioners (Chapter 5). These procedures are “often unsanitary… and [result] in the death or mutilation of many women” (Abortion). In areas where these services are not attainable, many women are prompted to seek out specialists to assist them in dangerous and surreptitious methods of abortion such as repeated blows to the stomach and the insertion of bizarre objects in the vagina and cervix. However, abortion-related deaths are usually quite rare in developed countries where the service is both legal and accessible. It is estimated...
Abortion has been one of the most talked about topics in society just about anywhere from television, magazines, whether or not it should be the right or wrong thing to do. Abortion is a very sensitive issue to discuss, because of its nature. Many people have said that abortion is a very bad thing to do and it should not even be choice whether or not to abort a living fetus. People think that abortion is committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. However, others feel that a woman should have a voice and have the right to choose to keep the child or not and that it is not murder until the baby is born. Majority of individuals who believe that abortion is bad say that the fetus is human who is partly being formed and to have an abortion is considered to be murder. For the people who think an abortion is ok, say that it’s not considered murder unless the child is born. I believe that abortion should be seen in which the stage the fetus is in. if the fetus is in an early stage of pregnancy it is not considered murder, but if the fetus has already began to develop into a larger fetus then it is indeed considered to be murder. There are times when abortion can be accepted, if the mother is having complications due to pregnancy. For example if the mother is enduring complications in her pregnancy that can harm her, because of the child in that case it is ok to perform an abortion to help save the mother’s life. It is also very important to understand this type of situation. The mother has the right to have an abortion and it is her decision because a mother knows best about her health conditions.
Abortion Taking out the trash, or taking a human life? That is what most the argument is with abortion, some believe that abortion is okay because the fetus is not yet a person, and that the fetus will be nothing but trouble. On the other side people believe that even all the way down to the zygote (when sperm meets the egg and earliest stage of pregnancy) there is a human growing in you. A growing boy or girl, with their own little fingers, and toes, their own cute as can be toothless smile, and their functioning organs. To them one day that zygote will turn into someone great, a person just like you and I that needs love just as you and I, a person that deserves to not get taken from our world before it even has a chance to take its first breath.