Is Abortion Always The Right Thing?
In America, everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness. As a female, the right to my own body is apart of my happiness. Having a male tell a woman what she can and can not do with her body is not a right that they have. Nationally, the number of abortions is decreasing. In 2011, there were over a million abortions done but that went down by about 19% in 2017 to 862,000 abortions (Nash, Guttmacher Institute, & Dreweke, 2019).
“Life is defined as any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli.” (Life)
With the above definition, a fetus is not life….yet.
With everything, there are two sides to every argument. Abortion can be looked at as murder, unbiblical, and just flat-out wrong. However, it can also be looked at as a woman’s right to her body, life-saving, and having to power to give women options. Everyone has the right to their own opinions but looking at facts can help you decide which side you are on. I am in between.
For the people that see abortion as wrong, they can see it wrong for multiple reasons (usually depending on their background). For my mother, every time I bring up abortion, she blatantly tells me that I am wrong. She views abortion as murder and unbiblical. The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which was enacted “to protect unborn children from assault and murder,” states that under federal law, anybody intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child should “be punished… for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.” (Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004). The act also states that an unborn child is a “member of the species homo sapiens.” These are the legal side of her argument. She then goes to the Christian side and says that the Bible does not distinguish fetuses and babies therefore abortion is just as horrid as killing a baby that is out of the mother’s womb. She has a right to her own opinions which are enforced by the law and her religious beliefs. Everyone has a right to their own opinions.
In certain circumstances, having a child can be harmful to the mother which could lead to her death if she was to come to full term with the baby. These are the high-risk pregnancies (which is the meaning of the picture above). Another argument for pro-choice is that abortions allow for rape victims and underage kids to not have a baby they could not care for, or that they did not want. It allows them to not feel scared of bullying or the fear of being trapped. Yes, they could put the child up for adoption, but then they have to see the bump that reminds them of the time they were taken advantage of or a bad choice. There are many reasons a person would want to get an abortion but these are just a few.
My personal belief is that each situation should be looked into for how it is. For example, if a person is willingly having sex with their partner and she gets pregnant then I do not believe that abortion should be an option for them. They know the consequences of their actions and should be reliable to keep those consequences. If they really can not afford to keep the baby then they can put it up for adoption. However, if a woman goes out and gets raped then she should not have to endure those nine months carrying a child she did not give consent to. Abortion is never an easy decision to make but it is the woman’s decision. No one has the right to tell her what can and can not be done with her body unless they have been in that exact situation.
Sources:
AsapSCIENCE. (2017, January 12). What Actually Happens When You Have An Abortion? Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWKqeJxzeBc
Life. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/science/life
Nash, E., Guttmacher Institute, & Dreweke, J. (2019, September 18). The U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Drop: Once Again, State Abortion Restrictions Are Not the Main Driver. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2019/09/us-abortion-rate-continues-drop-once-again-state-abortion-restrictions-are-not-main
Pros & Cons — ProCon.org. (2020, June 04). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://abortion.procon.org/
Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004. (2004). Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.