The Pros And Cons Of Abortion

Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy in the United States for all women. Unfortunately, today, class and race play an influential role pertaining to who can have access to an abortion. Working class women, young women, and women of color are perceived to be part of a lesser class regarding reproductive rights, therefore making it difficult for them to have access to an abortion. A landmark decision, such as Roe v. Wade needs to be definitive without flexibility. Jennifer Baumgardner’s Abortion and Life and the documentary The Last Abortion Clinic strive to bring awareness to this issue. Thus, I argue that working class women, young women, and women of color are disproportionately affected by abortion restrictions

By believing teenagers are not mature enough to make decisions regarding their own bodies, they put these young women in compromising positions. Many will never tell their parents, since this confession would lead to disgrace and admonishment. Most of them turn to the only solution they have in order to terminate their pregnancy without parent involvement: an illegal abortion. These procedures are extremely risky and a good majority leads to casualties. Even if they are able to have the child safely, they now have to deal with the consequences and hard work of caring for an infant. Legislatures, and those that pass these regulatory laws do not believe teenagers are mature enough to make a decision concerning their reproductive rights. However, they are perfectly content with these women being a mother, which takes an exceptional amount of responsibility and capability. This is not a sensible solution. The government must simply address the needs and supply funding for birth control and sex education because ultimately sex among teenagers will not be managed by legislation, and it most definitely will not be eliminated no matter how much focus goes into abstinence education (Connecticut State Legislator, CP