

An 18 year old child, who is a honor student, captain of her high school basketball team, and has a full ride scholarship to the University of South Carolina to play collegiate level basketball. She is walking into an abortion clinic with five hundred in her hand debating should she do it? Investigating abortion is enticing to me, because it is a heavily debated topic by the American public but is not fully understood by many people. I would like to bring light to this topic and inform the many people of the United States that are disassociated from all the facts about abortion. When I think of my personal values the consist of the rules of life that I believe in following, although abortion is within my values, other people values concerning abortion greatly varies. 

For me the abortion topic hits home, because of a personal experience that affects me. My mother was in a hard time in her life and was not sure if having my little brother was the best things to do at the time. So she thought long and hard about having the abortion and went to my grandmother with five hundred dollars in her hand and was being asked to be taken to the abortion clinic. My grandmother ultimately talked my mother out of having the abortion. The option for abortion should be there for mothers that don't have a support system or cant care for the child. I have completed countless hours researching abortions from both the views of the arguments Pro-Life and Pro-choice. My mother's past experience actually brings in another side of the story that is a lot of the time untold, that being the parent or subjects at hand. Abortion is a life altering decision therefore dismantling the government from making decision about our bodies, allowing the public to multiple forms of abortion, and allowing abortion in extreme circumstances is key to the procedure remaining legal. 


Abortion is not a relatively new idea in terminating the pregnancy, in the mid-1500 B.C Egyptians suggested in some of their medical text that plant fibers and crushed dates be placed in the uterus to start the abortion process (ProCon) . Through time the abortion procedure has changed and they way the people viewed the process has evolved as well. The abortion debate is long steamy argument that has brewing for decades now since the supreme court ruled that the procedure is "fundamental right" in the Roe versus Wade case in 1973 (ProCon).With the decision of the ruling being this open the doors for two types of abortion, initially this the medicated abortion in which it must be performed within the first 9 weeks of a pregnancy (New Health Guide). Then the second type of abortion allowed women who missed the first 9 weeks deadline to receive the medical procedure of a surgical abortion in which is legal up until the 14 weeks but in some states they allow the termination period to go up to 24 weeks (New Health Guide). 

Along with the two types of abortions there are two separate viewpoints on abortion, one being pro-life which means the supporters are against abortions and then the pro-choice side of the debate where its supporters believe that abortions is the mothers decision, and is ultimately her choice. The abortion argument hit one of its peaks in the 70's where multiple legislative works and court cases were decided concerning abortions. The most prominent was the Roe v. Wade decision in which Norma Mccorvey, she was named Jane Roe in court documents to protect her privacy, filed a lawsuit against Dallas county district attorney Henry Wade (ProCon). Mccorvey was wanting to end her pregnancy, but in the state of Texas, where the mother is from, abortion is not legal unless the mother life is at risk with the baby is kept to full term (ProCon). This was the first time federal action was taken on abortion in which the Supreme Court ruled that most states anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional. The ruling stated that in the first trimester (0-12 weeks) legislative action is prohibited to intervene with the abortion, also during the second trimester (13 weeks to 28 weeks) the ruling allowed the states to regulate abortions in ways that are based off the mothers health (ProCon). In the third and final trimester (29 weeks to 40 weeks) the Supreme Court decision stated that the state could not only regulate but prescribe abortion if the fetus doesn't have a chance of living a promoting interest of a functional human life (ProCon). 

Above all, abortion should remain legal because the government should not be able to tell people what to do with their on bodies and will cause more strenuous restrictions on abortions, causing social uproar. A person is not the property that the U.S. government owns. Therefore the restriction of women's ability to make decision about her body is unjust. 

In Rebecca Seinfeld's article "Wars of the Wombs" analyzed  Israel's abortion laws were criticized and showed how the laws would could potentially  be compared to other countries. The Israeli government restricted abortion only to certain scenarios in which were extreme and left an large gap in the middle age women to even have hope of receiving an abortion. For example, after the mother meets the arduous criteria she must also present her case to three person committee consisting of a social worker and 2 non- related medical doctors (Steinfeld). After the new rules regulating abortion were put into action there was social out cry in Israel were the state was torn in two. An example is the development of many feminist groups that protested, held hostile rallies, and low income families were experiencing harder times economically because of the inability to care for extra children (Steinfeld). This is vital to look at the situation form a different perspective by showing what a similar first-world country is battling and how the Untied States can relate. If the requirements that in place continue to grow, instead of the government trying to protect the women not only will it hurt women but also harm the society as a whole, by increasing the amount of civil unrest and families that cant provide for themsevles. The Israeli dealt with these issue of rejecting abortions and it almost destroyed Israel, therefore if the abortion becomes illegal the United States is just following Israel footsteps.  The denying the right to abortion represents an inappropriate overreach by the government, a system that is suppose to promote freedom and stands on the ability for citizen to have a choice.

Abortion should not be looked at only from a government perspective but on how individual circumstances of a person are affected. When you think about a crime in general, the first person that you would think to commit the crime would not be in your on own home. Domestic violence is a real issue in the United States and women are being raped and abused by their partners sometimes resulting in unwanted prenancies.. Domestic violence is one of the many reason abortion should remain legal because it will allow those women that are raped or molested within their home to have help if the victims did not want to keep the baby (Mattingly). Mattingly states the limitation of the power of women during the 1970'sis part of the reason women specific cases are not taken into account when legislation is put into place and how it relates to today's problems of domestic violence with abortion playing a role in that (Mattingly).

 Some examples supporting that women abortion rights were secondary to other issues such as budgeting or the stock market etc. at the time, was the passing of the Hyde amendment. The admendment banned the federal government to pay for abortion which made it hard for the poor or any one who could afford a abortion to receive one. Also the failure of the passing of legislature for funding of the Office of Domestic Violence, which provided assistance for women involved in domestic violence problems in general. For instance, a women whom were raped by there significant other they would get help with a abortion from the Office of Domestic Violence to help get away from the situation and get an abortion if they wanted to do so. There is not only a physical abuse that is entangled in abortion but the mental hardships and personal battles that a women faces are often left unseen. If a women happen to be a victim of unwanted incest the mental damage would be enormous. Without abortion being legal the woman would have to carry to baby to full term and the pregnancy would be a constant reminder that of the terrible crime she experienced. After an experience woman can face months of the therapy for the humiliation that associated with rape and at this point the woman mental health should not be jeopardized by the fetus (U.S. Public Policy).Women can face a lack of sexual drive for others, emotional withdraw from loved ones, and there many complications that can occur during birth if the woman was forced t have the child (Moon).  Therefore abortion is some women's only option to escape reliving the horrific domestic violence events such as unwanted incest, rape, and molestation

 Furthermore, not only should abortion remain legal, but every woman in the United States should have the resources and ability to receive a abortion. The word abortion has such a negative connation because most people think the only way to get an abortion is the surgical procedure. If the fetus has not yet pass the first trimester then a medical abortion can be preformed through medication, by which a Mifepristone Protocol pill is consumed to terminate the pregnancy rather than a surgical abortion (International). The medical abortion is a process of different doses of the Mifepristone Protocol in which is administered by a medical staff over a two week period followed by a final check up assuring the pregnancy is terminated. A medical abortion method open many doors for low income homes that wants to get an abortion. Medical abortions are cheaper than the surgical route, making the women who couldn't afford the procedure before are now able to receive an abortion (International). The use of Medical abortion broadens the spectrum of woman who can receive the procedure no matter race or financial position. 

The International article also advocates that there is a shortage of medical staff needed to perform medication abortions and nurses with the proper training and procedures are just as qualified and are able to give medication abortions (International). The nurses had a success rate that was just as good as physician with their success rates differing on 1% falling within the 5% of allowed fluctuation in experiments (International). Patients were just as comfortable with their care of nurses as doctors. The nurses followed the same procedures as the doctors did when administering the medicated abortion. Proving that abortion is not a complicated process in certain scenarios and more healthcare workers should be allowed to do it thus making abortion more available. Thus even though abortion laws should stay relatively similar we need to extend this care to a greater body of people.

Refutation 

The topic of abortion is a emotional and touchy subject matter, it brings in many view and opinions form several different groups and types of people. For many religious groups such as Catholics believe that the fetus should be considered a human and alive at the point of conception when the women gets pregnant (John P.). Therefore the fetus is considered a life form and having the abortion process is killing the fetus, which murder of a human is against their beliefs (John P.). Catholics also believe that abortions should not be solely the mothers decision and that the process should not be decided lightly. Catholics feel that a choice of that magnitude should be a community decision in which the church is involved to help guide the mother through the pregnancy instead killing the unborn child (John P.). The church backs this claim with references to the bible by telling how wrong abortion is and if a women does receive an abortion she will be redeem by God in an negative way (John P.). They also believe that the young mothers who aborts or thinking about receive an abortion for  their child, needs to supported by the community the most (John P.). The Catholic church believes the mother results to abortion when she can not care for the child, but if the church stepped in a provided assistance for the mother then the child life can be preserved.  Catholics feels that the moment the community stops showing support and guidance for young mothers the society altogether has choose death for the fetus at hand (John P.). Although the church has a great presence in our society today it cant always be the ultimate basis of al the laws and decision that are being made.

If a women has made the decision that she is no fit to have the child it should be her decision even if the community is affected by it. There are many Americans who are not religious may feel as if the Catholics are forcing their values and beliefs on them if they receive help and do not want the church interfering with their personal lives. Many women who are raped do not want to remember that experience ever again and if the victim gets pregnant that would be an everlasting memory especially if they had to keep the child. No governing body religious or not should be able to force that upon a women. In some case the fetus will not be able to live a sustainable life due to a defect, in which someone would have to care for the child at all times may not what some families can handle therefore they choose to abort the child (ProCon).

Another reason why some believe that abortion should be illegal is that the fetus can feel the procedure being done and is causing extreme amounts of pain for the fetus (Samuel). This statement is support by the research done by Associate professor of Neurology and Anatomy at the University of Utah revealed that the spinal cortex is developed enough at the 12th week of pregnancy that the fetus could feel the abortion and that it would be an immense amount of pain (Samuels). In result causing some to believe that the move of the fetus is the child reacting to the painful procedure and is causing more pain.

 In contrast to the pain amount argument was a more recent study conducted in 2013 by  Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has evidence that proves with pain is not  felt by the fetus. The study states the most neurologist agree that the spinal cortex is developed at the 12th week of pregnancy but the cortex is not functional. The spinal cortex does not start reacting to pain until the 20th week and is not fully functional until the 26th week of the pregnancy (ProCon). Therefore feeling the sensation of pain is long after most abortion are preformed and most states prohibit abortion at the 26th week, when the spinal cortex is fully functional unless the mother life in endangered(ProCon). The Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist also proved that the movement of the fetus was is actually the reflexes of the muscles, tendons and ligaments rather than the fetus reacting to the pain stimuli (ProCon). This research justifies the movements of the fetus as reactions, but there is no pain to fetus because of the underdeveloped spinal cortex until the 26th week of pregnancy.

Moreover, where do you draw the line? How is it determined if the fetus will ever feel anything? The real question that should be asked when arguing abortion is what is worse the pain the unborn or abruption of the life of a woman. The importance of supporting abortion has several benefits in which the mothers can choose different life style and better themselves in the future. For example, a college student could finish her degree, a working woman can get the promoting she has been working so hard for, and the struggling mother who can not take on the responsibility of raising another child are all able to continue their lives without the stress of having a child. With abortion remaining legal in the United States it would make the abortion more accepted socially instead of the girl who had a abortion being glared down and talked about by others who she might not even know. The mother would not have experience the pain of pregnancy and labor, also the mother would not have to face the possible complications of labor. So the persistence of the Pro- choice supporter is crucial for abortion to continue to be legal and fight for the representation of women to control their rights.

The world we live in today is always going to have conflicting arguments and opposing sides believing that their side is right. The main component of abortion is the legalization, and the regulations should not be influenced by any culture, religion, or science research that doesn't unveiled all the facts. Although its hard to affect this topic at individual level I will to continue to research and dialogue about supporting abortion. Also I can raise awareness about the anti-abortion laws that prevent woman from getting the procedure by hosting rallies and lobbying. In conclusion, you can argue this research question because abortion has variety of different meaning to so many people. For example someone may believe that terminating the pregnancy at all should be illegal, while others believe if you terminate the pregnancy before the end of the first trimester you did not harm to the fetus (Abortion). Making abortion a very controversial, debatable and augmentative topic which is needed for a fully developed research paper. 

