Abortion has been a controversial topic regarding the political, religious, spiritual, and economical views of many Americans throughout history. Understanding the difference between pursuing abortion or rejecting it at the end is an individuals option. Abortion refers to the voluntary termination of a pregnancy, resulting in the death of the fetus or embryo.(CITE) Therefore, throughout the entire life journey of Congress and legal rights, there has been a drift of thoughts towards abortion. It can be represented both parties that advocate for “pro-choice” or “pro-life” and there can be two sides presented with both arguments. After many debates and thoughts on this legal topic, one must consider if it fair and valid to legalize abortion
Abortion has been a heated debate in the United States for decades. Since before the ruling on Roe v. Wade, it is clear that this is an issue that is far from ever being decided upon. Between those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice, scholars from both sides work on disproving the morality of the other side. With the evolution of abortion laws and regulation through the decades, it is difficult to imagine the United States without conflict pertaining to abortion. Despite pro-life and pro-choice agendas, the country is in ever-changing opinion when it comes to abortion.
Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.
The issue of abortion has always been a controversial one for citizens of the United States. Abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy after the embryo has been planted in the uterus (Abortion). An individual’s stance on this controversial issue categorizes them into one of two very different groups. An individual who feels that a woman should not have an abortion- due to moral or religious views- is said to be “pro-life”. Coincidently, those who feel that a woman should have the right to choose abortion are said to be “pro-choice”. “Pro-life” supporters point to the practice of abortion as an immoral one. Supporters state abortion is immoral because it takes away the rights of the unborn fetus, since activists consider human
Abortion has been and still is one of the most controversial topics in American culture. The reason for the controversy is the different viewpoints of this very personal matter. Some believe that abortion is the same as murder. Others believe it’s a personal choice which only they have the right to make. Due to the nature of the procedure and the concerns associated with ending a pregnancy, abortion will continue to top the list of “touchy” subjects in American politics and culture. As a pro-choice advocate, it is important for the right to have an abortion to be established and protected.
One of the first moral issues addressed by both sides of the abortion debate concerns a pregnant woman’s so-called natural “right” to make “reproductive choices.” (“The Rights of Pregnant Women”) Anti-abortion advocacy groups claim that “the only way to actually protect the mother’s rights will be by enforcing laws that secure her child’s right to life,” (“Argument 2”) whereas pro-abortion groups contend that these laws “create a dangerous precedent for wide-ranging government intrusion into the lives of all women.” (“The Rights”) With two fundamentally contrasting viewpoints at odds with each other, it is apparent that one of the core issues concurrent with abortion is a woman’s rights versus the rights of her unborn fetus.
Pro-Life or Pro-choice is the highly debatable question that is discussed when the topic of abortion is brought up. Abortion is one of many controversial topics in America. Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy. Merriam Webster’s 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: as a: spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation b: induced expulsion of a human fetus c: expulsion of a fetus by a domestic animal often due to infection at any time before completion of pregnancy (Merriam-Webster).” When a woman elects to end her pregnancy, she has two options depending on how many weeks
With recent developments in Northern Irish legislation for ‘on demand abortions’, the debate between pro-life and pro-choice has been thrown back into the media and the morality of abortion scrutinized under the eye of third wave feminism, which has reclaimed the 1970’s slogan of ‘The Right to Choose’. The following essay intends to discuss how abortion is always an option and never a morally wrong act, as it is the mother’s choice to do with her body what she wishes and such the fetus has no right to leech off the mother when the host is not willing. In this discussion one shall, as Thomson did in ‘A Defence of Abortion’(1971), accept the stance that a fetus is a person from conception, to avoid that issue all together.
The restrictions and the debate that surrounds the issue of abortion has changed dramatically throughout the course of history and it continues to change until this very moment. All around the world and in every known society, women have used abortion to control their reproduction, regardless of it’s legality. Abortion used to be exercised freely in the United Sates, up Until all the states started to ban It and place a lot of restrictions on it. They stated that a woman can not abort except in extreme cases in which the mother’s life might be in danger. After the restrictions caused a lot of health issues and raised concerns on women’s health, The Government abolished all the restrictions. In this paper I will analyze and discuss three main positions on the issue of abortion. First, there are those who associate themselves with the title “pro-life”. These individuals are anti abortion, birth control, embryo research or anything that can control or cause any harm to the fetus. Second, there are those who at the other end of the spectrum who firmly believe that if a woman decides to abort, then it is her constitutional right to do so without any interference from the government. Third, are those who believe that if a woman is raped or her life is in danger, then abortion should be completely and solely up to the woman, but other than that, abortion should be illegal. This group of individuals are also for birth control and do not oppose educating
The controversy that is abortion is a complicated matter. It affects Americans by making them choose between pro-life and pro-choice. Can one truly decide to be either pro-life or pro-choice? This choice is chosen by what one truly believes. Some may believe there is not a choice to be made but a side to choose from. “Pro-choice and pro-life don’t engage the central issue that divides them” (Oliver pg. 19).
The United States has been divided now over the issue of abortion for thirty-three years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973. As of today, over 45 million legal abortions have been performed in the United States. Pro-choice advocates hold these 45 million abortions as being 45 million times women have exercised their right to choose to get pregnant and to choose to control their own bodies. To pro-life, or anti-abortion, advocates these 45 million abortions constitute 45 million murders, a genocide of human life in the United States propagated by the court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The debate over abortion in the United States is thus a debate of two extremes. One side argues from the personal liberty of the mother. The
How a woman uses her body is her concern only. If she chooses to have an abortion, it is her choice and that’s all that matters. Pro-choice is not the same as pro-death or pro-abortion. We are not suggesting that each and every pregnancy ends in termination -- only that the choice is there. It is going to be the person who is carrying that child who ends up with the responsibility of raising that baby, not the people who are picketing outside of the local PlannedParenthood. Perhaps if you are pro-life you can also just be considered pro-birth. Your main focus is to have a baby born, but not about a child raised, fed, or taken care of. If someone doesn’t want a child, then how are they going to take care of it? If we outlaw abortions, women
The controversy surrounding the ethicality of abortions has been a hotly debated topic during the past several decades. In the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, the Court ruled that women had the constitutional right to seek abortions; however, in 1989, the Court later decided that each state had the right to set its own abortion policy. Heated disagreements and different perspectives have led to the creation of two different movements: the prochoice movement and the prolife movement. The former supports abortion, the intentional ending of a pregnancy, while the latter claims that abortion is immoral. The issue has been escalated from a matter of choice to the questioning of morality – Is having an abortion the killing of a human?
Abortion is perhaps the most disputed issue in America today. There are nine states in the United States that do not have specific laws prohibiting abortion after a certain point of pregnancy. This means that an abortion can be performed at any time, despite how far along the pregnancy is. This controversial topic is viewed through public opinion, legislatures, and the courts. There are three main concerns that are discussed within this issue: the constitutional rights of both the woman and the fetus, the development of the fetus, and the statistics between the harm restricting abortion and the loss of life caused by abortions. Allowing Americans to partake in abortions, revokes the nation’s moral values. It is situations and matters like these that define America.
Women seeking abortions often find themselves either unaware or with unwelcomed pregnancies, so they typically deem abortion as their last resort method because preventative options were not used or had failed (Rossi 1). In fact, abortion may be the only problem in which sexual activity itself and towards life are in disorder (George, Jr. 371). Common liberal beliefs are that women have the right to determine what happens to their bodies—pro-choice (Kamide 1). However, when viewing abortion from a conservative stand point, having an abortion is the murder of God’s creation—pro-life (Clifton 1). These differing views from both political parties regarding abortion are what began the overall argument—whether women should have the right to choose to have an abortion or not. Currently, conservative politicians are working to end taxpayer dollars used to provide abortions and liberals are defending the funding of abortions when a woman does not have the financial means (Kamide 1). So, due to legal, religious, and cultural differences, abortion has remained a controversial topic (Debate
Abortion is dividing America. Without a common understanding of abortion, this issue will always be divisive in America. Throughout the history of America, abortion has been an issue that has generally separated people into two camps, those in favor of abortion and those against abortion. However, these two groups, more often than not, have not approached their understanding of this issue from the same perspective. Generally speaking, those in favor of abortion see the issue of the personal rights of women. However, those against abortion, view the issue of the rights of the child. As a result, these two perspectives will never gain unity or a common understanding of abortion. The purpose of this paper is to not only give a clear understanding of both sides of the issue, but to argue that this issue will never be a unifying issue in American culture.