The Pros And Cons Of Abortion

With repeated threats from Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and multiple states passing restrictive laws, reproductive rights—and abortion in particular—continue to be increasingly under attack in the United States. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that “a woman’s choice whether to have an abortion is protected by her right to privacy” and that any restrictions on that right must be under “strict scrutiny.” This means that by law, women have the right to get abortions without facing unnecessary restrictions. According to Roe v. Wade, the only time the government could enforce restrictions on this right was when there is a “compelling state interest” to do so.

Since Roe v. Wade in 1973 the Nation has been divided into two schools of thought. Both sides have convincing arguments that are heard all around. The Pro-Life group believes that abortion is ultimately murder. Even if that human is not born you are killing the potential of a living homo sapien. The Pro-Choice group on the other hand looks at this not as murder but an infringement of our constitutional rights and that we are empowering women to make this a decision about their body and not to be obstructed by the government’s views.(Abortion Procon.org) Maureen Shaw is a feminist, writer, and a mother. She has wrote many articles for websites including, Quartz, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and many others. Maureen Shaw a writer on social issues has wrote an article on how becoming a mother has “made her even more Pro-Choice.” on the website Rewire. This article describes how the conservatives in the United States and those of conventional thinking have a clouded view on why women have abortions and why they are getting abortions. Shaw’s journey into motherhood has strengthened her view on abortion and on the right-wing political ideologies to judge her motivations.

Since Roe v Wade, there have been major advancements in the maternal-fetal world of medicine. Advanced technology and science have shown us that there is “life” to a fetus before the last trimester, leading to many regulations and laws to prohibit abortion for the life the fetus. Discussed in this paper are the policies, court cases, and executive decisions affecting legal abortion in the US and the ethical implications that debate them.

There are two main political parties you can choose from in the United States, The Democrats and the Republicans. There are also third parties you can choose from. People can choose to be part of any party. We are divided by the left and right side on the political spectrum. The right are more conservative and the left are more liberal. These two political parties show philosophical differences through their viewpoints on major topics. With so many differences between the parties, finding topics or issues upon which constituents agree on can be difficult.

While the fight to legalize abortion, for reasons other than a mothers health concerns, was won, states such as Texas are now reconsidering the regulations, which go along with such right. In 2004 the State of Texas introduced the Woman’s Right to Know Act, which “requires that all abortions at or after 16 weeks’ gestation be performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC)” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775). Roe V Wade’s Supreme Court decision makes it federal law that abortion be legal, therefore the state of Texas cannot make a law specifically prohibiting abortions around this time. However, they can implement acts such as the one discussed above to hinder a women’s access to such rights. By implementing the Woman’s Right to Know Act, the state of Texas is allowing abortion, however it makes access to it within the state of Texas out of reach for the majority of women. In the time following the effect of this law “not one of Texas’s 54 nonhospital abortion providers met the requirements of a surgical center” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775. Following that, a

Texas continues to fight women’s rights groups for the life of the “unborn child” and has won on many levels. According to the Texas Abortion Laws, Texas includes mandatory ultrasound imaging and parental consent for minors, and women must make at least four visits to a doctor and receive an ultrasound. Women may only receive a third trimester abortion if it is necessary to prevent death or substantial risk of serious impairment to a women’s physical or mental health, or if fetus has severe and irreversible abnormality. Texas considers an illegal abortion if it destroys the vitality or life of child in birth or before (which otherwise would have been born alive); operating a facility without a license, failure to meet Board of Health standards, or failure to make reports to Department of Health; act preformed after pregnancy with intent to cause termination of pregnancy other than for purpose of birth of live fetus or removal

abortion unless it risks the life of the mother (CNN, 2017). Texas had enacted a criminal

“Texas’s new strict legislation is already forcing women to leave the state in order to receive medical services in neighboring states more sympathetic to their desires to obtain an abortion (Hagle).” This is causing many problems for expectant mothers, especially those who have preexisting genetic medical conditions. Many time a mother may have some type of illness that can be given to a fetus during pregnancy. Sometimes these issues are seen during a routine ultrasound and sometimes there are not noticed until the time of birth. This is causing woman who live in the state of Texas to have to cross state lines when they find out something is wrong with their baby and choose to terminate the pregnancy.

Abortion is a subject that numerous people have strong opinions about; some believe that it is a form of murder and should be banned, yet others believe that the decision should be for the woman herself to make. In my eyes, the choice to abort or not abort is the woman’s, not the public’s. However, many men disagree with pro-choice.

The topic of reproductive rights surrounding women in Texas has been a hot buttoned issue since the closing of many reproductive centers across the state. Recently damaging abortion restrictions were passed and therefor encroach on women’s reproductive rights even more by decreasing access to abortion care. Texas’ 84th Legislature, both passed HB 3994 as a law and had it Governor Abbott make it effective with his signature on July 8, or this year. This law complicates access to abortion services for mistreated and neglected minors and for those who do not possess specific identification cards in Texas.

Abortion is one of the most controversial topics and many argue that it's wrong, but I disagree, I am a strong supporter of abortions. An abortion is when a woman deliberately terminates a pregnancy, there are many medical methods used to perform an abortion. The techniques used for abortion have changed drastically over time and many cultures developed their own forms of abortions. Originally abortions were unregulated and many women performed abortions on themselves at home, which were very unsafe and many at home abortions resulted in injury or death. The two main methods of abortion as of right now are surgical and medical abortion, these are much safer than previous methods and rarely inflict any harm onto the woman. The surgical method is performed using a vacuum like device to empty the uterus of its content. The medical abortion can only be used early in a pregnancy and requires a woman to take a prescribed pill for the first seven weeks of her pregnancy.

In 1971 a pregnant, single, Texas woman by the name of Norma McCorvey wanted to have an abortion but couldn’t because it was illegal in Texas. They told her that she could go out of state and get one where it was legal,

One of the most debated topics in America, since the landmark case Roe vs Wade, has been abortion. Abortion is “the determination of a human pregnancy ” (Bacon). There are two types of abortion. The first is medical and the second is surgical. A medical abortion is a pill usually taken by the women in weeks 2-10 of the pregnancy. The pill will cause cramps, and heavy bleeding. A surgical abortion is “ performed using what is called suction aspiration. The woman needs to be in her first trimester of pregnancy, which means 12 weeks pregnant or less” (Better Health). Some complications that occur during a surgical abortion are infections, excessive bleeding, and possible damage to the reproductive system. Abortion should be illegal because unborn babies should have the same rights as we all do. My belief is that life begins at conception and that every unborn baby should be given the chance to breathe outside the womb. Women should also not use abortion as a form of contraception when there is adoption available. According to ProCon.org, 2.6 million women living in America in 2002 were trying to adopt babies. After 1973, adoption rates dropped due to the legalization of abortion.

It is an unfortunate truth that if a woman wants to abandon her pregnancy, she will find a way to do so, regardless of what a law states- whether it is relocating to a place where she is able to have the procedure or resorting to unhealthy mechanisms that promote severe health risks. Despite the government’s efforts to halt or decrease the number of abortions, new problems seem to grown out of old

Weather abortion is okay or not, every woman deserves a chance to decide what’s best for themselves. Some people like Don Marquis, author of “An Argument that Abortion is Wrong” believe that abortion, except in rare circumstances is wrong no matter what (Marquis pg 141). Feminist believe that women should be treated equal, have equal pay, be respected and empowered (Bryan Par 3). Feminist ethics isn’t a single theory (Landau pg 275). It is a family of ethics that build on the belief that women’s interest and reasoning has been undervalued and that women deserve equal consideration (Landau pg 275).