Should anyone be allowed to tell you what to do with your own body? Some people believe that the government should be able to tell women that they can’t have an abortion. Many people have a strong opinion about the topic of abortion, but the woman is the person who has to live with a fetus inside of them for nine months, just to give birth to a child they are expected to take care of for the next 18 years. A woman should be able to choose whether or not she wants to terminate a pregnancy.
Abortions have been happening for hundreds of years (National Abortion Federation). Abortions were “...openly advertised and commonly performed.” Abortion was criminalized because doctors wanted to eliminate competition from untrained practitioners. The doctors didn’t believe that abortion was wrong, but they wanted to criminalize it to make more money and gain more clients. Untrained practitioners were performing abortions, taking clients away from the trained doctors.To convince the state to make abortion illegal the AMA, or American Medical Association, claimed that abortion was “...both immoral and dangerous.” The state
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Before Roe v. Wade abortion was illegal and “Many women died or suffered serious medical problems after attempting to self induce abortion ....” “Highly restrictive abortion laws are not associated with lower abortion rates” (Obos Abortion Contributors). About 1.2 million women per year had abortions when they were illegal. The deaths per year for abortions when they were illegal was 500,000 per year. This would make the death rate for abortions when they were illegal 416 per 100,000. Today, while abortion is legal, the death rate for abortion is only .6 per 100,000 and it is “...one of the most commonly performed clinical procedures, in the United States....” The death rate is lower for legal abortions because they can be done in a timely manner by trained
Oddly, physicians brought abortion into the public’s eye. These physicians formed a pro-life movement arguing the moral knowledge that the public didn’t seem to have (12, Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood p. 000). According to the source, women didn’t understand that the embryo is a living being. With their lack of knowledge about things, they came “murderesses” and the only way this could be solved was to outlaw abortion. They kept the idea that abortion was murder, but, at the same time, they also said that only they could decide when an abortion should occur. With their accomplishment, in 1900, every state had a law that stated that abortion is illegal except for when the mother’s life is in danger. But the weakness of this was that the law didn’t specifically define the danger a mother should be in.
Abortions have been performed for thousands of years. In the 1800s abortions began to be outlawed. The reasons for anti-abortion laws varied for each state. Some people did not want the world to be dominated by newly arrived immigrants. Abortion in the 1800s were very unsafe due to the fact that the doctors had a limited educations and hospitals were not common. The outlawing of abortions from 1880 to 1973 led to many woman attempting illgeal abortions. (add author). Almost two hundred women died from attempting illegal abortions in 1965. Between two hundred thousand and one million illegal abortions were given each year. In states where local laws restrict the availability of abortion, women tend to have the lowest level of education and income. Additionally, in those states, less money goes toawrds education, welfare, fostercare programs, and adoption services. (Anderson, 5).
During the mid-19th Century there were no actual federal law regulating abortions, many states were against it and banned the whole practice entirely, except when the life of the mother was in danger. However there were some states that made no exception, not even to save the mother’s life. A lot of women argued that it was unconstitutional, and found other ways to have one. Whether it was by an unlicensed physician or performed the procedure themselves. Most illegal abortions were dangerous because they were performed in unsanitary conditions. As a result, many states such as the United States and New York began to legitimize or ban abortions complete...
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, or premature termination of pregnancy, can be accidental or intentional, and both types can be legal or illegal. If the ongoing pregnancy becomes a medical threat, abortion is not illegal. Legal developments and healthcare services are intertwined. The American Medical Association stated that abortions were wrong and unsafe, which led the National Abortion Federation to make abortion a "physicians-only" practice that could be performed legally to save a woman's life (National Abortion Federation NAF). It wasn't until 1973 that abortions were made legal in the United States due to the "Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade, ruling that Americans' right to privacy included the right of a woman to decide whether to have children, and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state interference" (NAF).
The debate of abortion continues to be a controversial problem in society and has been around for many decades. According to Jone Lewis, “In the United States, abortion laws began to appear in the 1820’s, forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy” (1). This indicates that the abortion controversy has been debated far back into American history. Beginning in the 1900’s, legalized abortion became a major controversy. In 1965, all fifty states in the United States banned abortion; however, that was only the beginning of the controversy that still rages today (Lewis 1). After abortion was officially banned in the United States, groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League worked hard on a plan to once again legalize abortion in the United States (Lewis 1). It wasn’t until 1970 when the case of Roe (for abortion) v. Wade (against abortion) was brought...
...to have an abortion because of her own specific reasons due to health reasons, or unable to support her baby that is her reasons and her reasons alone, that right should not be taken from her.
Contrary to common beliefs, abortion has been a hot topic 200 years prior to 1972 Roe vs Wade. According to an article by Brian Young, “Life before Roe”, “the first US law against abortion, adopted by Connecticut in 1821, criminalized the administration of poison or of any "destructive substance" to induce a miscarriage…In 1840, however, Maine became the first state to pass a law that expressly protected all babies…” In 1859 The American Medical Association did their own investigation on how to protect the unborn fetus. From 1821 to January 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down the Roe vs Wade there were many laws passed and many laws amended. However, after many disagreements, laws and amended laws by 1973 abortions was the law of the land. Although an abortion was law, there was another huge organization that stirred up even more controversy, Planned Parenthood. According to an article, “Ex...
Illegal abortions performed in unsafe conditions contribute to a great number of deaths every year. According to Wendy Wanlund, “In 1930, illegal abortion was the official cause of death for nearly 2,700 women, or 18 percent of childbirth-related deaths recorded that year” (Abortion Debates). In the more than four decades since Roe v. Wade was decided, thousands of American women’s lives have been saved by access to legal abortion care. Furthermore, making abortions illegal would force women to go about terminating their unwanted pregnancies with unsafe procedures. Every year, millions of women in the developing world are treated for complications from unsafe pregnancy termination. These complications can include heavy bleeding, infection and sepsis, as well as more severe conditions, such as lacerations or uterine perforation, that can put a woman 's life at risk. Lack of access to abortion clinics does not result in fewer abortions, it results in unsafe and illegal abortions.
The US Supreme Court has declared abortion to be a "fundamental right" guaranteed by the US Constitution. No woman should be required to give up her life or health or family security to save the life of a fetus that is threatening her well-being. Access to safe and legal abortion is an important aspect of women’s health care. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States. The risk associated with childbirth is approximately fourteen times higher than abortion. Over 90% of abortions in the United States are performed in outpatient settings and almost all complications that arise after an abortion can be, and are, treated on an outpatient basis. Hospitalization due to an abortion is rare. There is a less than 0.3% risk of major complications following an abortion that might need hospital care and a recent study found that the risk of major complications from first trimester abortions by the aspiration method is even less—0.05%." We the affirmative hold that the current law on abortion is civil, humane, and inscrutable legal. It is our belief that if a woman does not find it appropriate to have child then she should not have to bear that burden. Those who disagree advocate striping women of their human right of happiness when saying they should not be able to decide for themselves whether they want a child or not. The process of which abortion takes place is very much so humane contrary to our opponents
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
There was an article that discussed about abortion and stated, “The most common medical issue associated with abortion is infection, a potentially serious and life-threatening problem. Abortion can also cause excessive bleeding and damage to the uterus…” (“Abortion” 2014). I can understand why people might feel this way, however, abortions are done safely. Simon LeVay, a Ph.D. neuroscientist, Janice Baldwin, a Ph.D. sociologist and John Baldwin, a sex education teacher, wrote an article on abortion and stated, “Abortion is overall a very safe procedure. Less than 1% of abortions performed before 21 weeks of pregnancy result in major complications such as heavy bleeding or infection. If abortion is made illegal, surely many women will continue to seek them in secrecy and likely sacrafice sanitary conditions and professional care; illegitimate abortions have caused thousands of women to die throughout history all over the world”. The government needs to understand that not allowing insurance companies to cover abortion doesn’t help women in need. Females shouldn’t have to be raped or be in dangerous environments in order for them to have their abortion paid
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...
I believe that the government should not be able to control what a woman does with her body. By granting women the right to choose, this does not permit her to kill, but to decide what is best for all persons involved. There are many situations that show that abortion may be the best for the parents and the unborn child. Situations such as rape or incest prove that it is not the woman’s fault and not fair to the mother or the unborn child to pay for it. There are other situations such as if the mother carries a disease the can be passed on, or if the parents are unfit to raise a family at the time. Any case however, should be between the people involved and not the government.
Women should have the right to decide whether or not they would like to have an abortion. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines abortion as; “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.” The idea of a woman’s right to have an abortion being taken away is merely incomprehensible.