The person who decides the fate of an unborn child’s life should not be solely the mother. Between the two sides of abortion, pro-life vs pro-choice, the argument is outlined by a blurry line. Everyone has a different backgrounds, beliefs, and morals which affect their outlook on abortion. A common topic of argument is the debate of when a child becomes a child in the womb. The question “When does it go from sperm and egg to a person?” is often asked. Each woman who has or will find out that she is pregnant has had to decide if she feels prepared, capable, or willing to have the child. If she feels she is not, she will then have to decide what to do with the child. Though she has these choices it does not mean she should or even could take the life of an unborn child. An unborn child is just a person who has a blank slate. There is no telling who that child would grow to be had the mother chosen to follow through with the pregnancy. An overlooked alternative to abortion is adoption. The life of an unborn child is in the hands of those around it, it is defenseless. Even though an unborn child’s life is in control of others, that does not mean that its life should be able to be easily ended with little thought. Abortion should not be an alternative to birth control, it should be a last resort. 

 There are two sides to the abortion debate, one side being Pro-Life and the other side being Pro-Choice. Both sides hold their own beliefs and definitions to what abortion is and whether or not it should be allowed. The line between the two sides is blurry. Usually, the ones who are the most vocal about their particular sides are the extremists. To be Pro-Life is to be someone who values the life of an unborn child and wants to make abortion illegal no matter the reason. Pro-choice is the exact opposite. Pro-Choice supports the right for women/mothers to choose whether or not to abort their child. As with everything, politics tends to get involved and people choose their sides. Most of society likes to be able to be a part of a group or under one unified name to know they are surrounded by those who support their opinions. The more and more people separate to these different sides the more and more extremists are made and the more civilized conversation is lost. Friedman defines the sides as, “Republicans name themselves 'pro-life' and Democrats as 'pro-choice.' It is a huge distortion” (Friedman 13). Often politicians will abuse this labeling and side choosing to gain votes. For example, certain politicians will claim to be pro-life, but will then support policies that directly harm the general public (Friedman). This abuse distorts what it means to be either side. To truthfully assess how someone feels about abortion and what should be legally decided upon it, people first need to start being honest with themselves and others about how they feel. 

Something that is commonly argued when it comes to abortion is when an unborn child becomes what society would consider a person. If one goes the biological route for defining what it means to be human, one could consider it to be when a child becomes genetically different from its parents. If that is the case then “from the moment of conception, the being that begins as a single cell is biologically different from her mother. She is a unique combination of her mother and her father who has never existed before” (Peredo). With that definition, it would be logical to assume that at the time of genetic difference a person is made. People will often classify a fetus as being human, but not being a person due to it not responding to stimuli, responding to pain, and breathing while in the womb. If these qualify someone as a person then people on ventilators, in comas, and the small percentage who cannot feel pain cannot be considered people (Peredo). Though these unborn children are still developing and have not yet survived the full term of the pregnancy, it does not change the fact that everyone alive was once in that stage of life. A comparison that could be made is the difference between killing a toddler versus killing the same person when they are an adult. The charges depend on the state and the judge, but it is still classified as murder. This example person at the toddler and adult stage is considered a person, but not while still developing in the womb, yet you are doing the same at both stages, denying them the ability to continue growing and developing. Abortion is the halt of growth for that developing child and denial of the rest of its life. No matter how old a human is, it is still a person and halting its growth is still its death and denial of the rest of its life.

While the life of an unborn child should be valued, so too must the life of the mother. In the past women’s fates were decided based on how early they became pregnant, whether it was because they would get married after conception, would be left alone to raise the child, or wanted the pregnancy and began the rest of their life with that child. In the past women had few options when it came to civil rights and the decision about their future. Janet Harris tells her personal story of how abortion allowed her to control her life by saying, “when abortion was about women having control not just over their bodies but over their destinies. An unwanted pregnancy would have derailed my future, making it difficult for me to finish college and have the independent, productive life that I’d envisioned” (Harris). Years ago, a pregnancy would deny a woman’s progression. Within the last hundred years, there have been massive changes to a woman’s role in society, a shift from a stay at home caretaker to an equal provider. This shift has allowed for a pregnancy to no longer fully decide the fate of a woman’s future. A decision that is often not thought of is what to do if one knows there is going to be a birth defect or some form of illness with the child. It is news no parent wants to hear, but after knowing they must decide if they want to continue or pursue different options. During a pregnancy, a mother has many choices she must decide on. Things like what her diet will be like, how she will treat her body, whether or not to see a doctor to monitor the pregnancy, and many other factors that can assist in the development of a child. Medoff gives the statistic that “nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended, and about four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion” (Medoff 1). If a mother feels that she is not yet prepared, capable, or willing to continue a pregnancy often she will commonly seek an abortion. That is just one of the many choices she can make. There is nothing that is truly preventing a mother from making any choice she wants in regard to her child while in the womb. The decisions are based more on her morals and background. Every mother has a list of choices she must make; it is her body that is being used as a vessel. Though she is in control of her body, she should not be so easily able to prevent the future life of another with little to no consideration. 

Everyone who is alive now or ever has been was once an unborn child. Their life was once in the hands of their parents and in the hands of the mother’s choice to continue or to terminate the pregnancy. If you look at the oldest child in a good number of families you will find that they were born to a young mother. Whether that mother meant to get pregnant or not, they were still conceived while the mother was young. She might not have been prepared or known how she would deal with a child in her life. The thought of having a child at the age of fourteen is a scary one. Even the thought of having a child at nineteen is scary. Deanna Wallace tells her story of how her family was born to a young unprepared mother but managed to grow into productive members of society. Wallace tells a story of neglect, abuse, and foster care. Though they suffered a terrible first few years they eventually were adopted. Through this adoption, they were able to have a normal childhood filled with love and support (Wallace). This personal story told by Wallace is just one example of how even though a mother could be unprepared or incapable of supporting the children she has there is always hope for a better future for those children. Had the mother chosen to abort all three children the world would be short of the talents and services they provide now. This is just one story of success. For every success story though, there are plenty of tragedies where the children end up in a life of suffering or crime, but the moral of the story is there is always hope. Wallace wants the world to know that there is always a chance for something good to come out of a bad situation like the one they went through.  

One of the biggest deciding factors that decide how someone feels about abortion is their opinion on whether or not women should have the right to choose, meaning that no matter what they will have the ability to choose what to do with their body and the pregnancy. Throughout Warnke’s journal, she makes multiple comparisons between pre-existing rights and the right to choose for women. The founding fathers put together a list of unalienable rights that protected the interests of the citizens of the United States from the government. Such rights like freedom of speech were given to citizens because the British government wanted to silence those who opposed the crown. Warnke makes the observation that “rights, in general, are freedoms we possess at least in part because others may disapprove of our beliefs and their expressions in words or practices” (Warnke 166). The only reason for a there to be a right given to a group of people is because there is another group who opposes their beliefs. In the stance of abortion, one group wants to deny the beliefs of the other. Some women will use the example of rights given to oppressed groups to make a claim to why they should have the right to choose. This is inherently illogical; one given right does not extend to all things. For example, “Neither a right to free speech nor a right to exercise one’s religion involves ending a human life, no matter at how early a stage of existence” (Warnke 165). Often, expecting mothers will try to reason why they should or should not get an abortion based on their pre-existing rights or religious beliefs. Truthfully, the only aspect that can control that decision is the mother and how she feels. If a mother wants the ability to gain rights to choose, then so too must there be a counter right to balance things so as to not allow abuse. Warnke makes the point that “if women’s abortion rights should be balanced against a fetus’s right to life, so too much property rights be balanced against rights to free speech, rights to domestic tranquility against the right to own guns, and so on” (Warnke 166).  Inside the womb, there is a growing and developing person. No matter what reasoning a mother uses to explain why she chose abortion she is taking away the possibility for that child to become a part of society. In such an important decision as this, there needs to be an understanding of the gravity of the decision so people do not make it lightly. As stated in Newtons Third Law, for every action there needs to be an equal and opposite reaction. There needs to be someone out there who is able to look out for the well-being of future children. 

Dr. Anthony Levatino is a physician from New Mexico who went before Congress and told some graphic stories about some of the late-term abortions he performed. In his speech, one gruesome detail he shares is that “you can then extract the skull pieces. Many times, a little face will come out and stare back at you” (Levatino). This is what a late-term abortion is. It is not done humanely or easily. In the early stages, the baby is so small that any suction that is done will take the baby and amniotic fluid with it. As the baby grows though it will result in more gruesome and barbaric ways of removal. This is the side that few think of when they decide to get an abortion. During the procedure, the mother is usually asleep and they walk out of the room baby free, another life literally sucked out of them. As a way of trying to reason with doing it, people will claim that the baby cannot feel it. Levatino gives his professional opinion that in the procedure he performs that “if you refuse to believe that this procedure inflicts severe pain on that unborn child, please think again” (Levatino). People need to realize that the unborn children inside of the womb are not these nameless things. They are a blank slate of a person waiting to finish growing so it can become someone. To think otherwise is to not value the development of a person. 

One of the most overlooked sides to the abortion argument is the alternatives to abortions. Women may feel like their only way out of an unwanted pregnancy is to get an abortion at the beginning. This is not true. As mentioned earlier in the article written by Wallace, adoption can be a positive alternative to abortion. If a mother becomes unexpectedly pregnant but is unable or unwilling to raise the said child she can put the baby up for adoption in hopes that those that adopt will raise the child well. If done right, the mother can select parents she can trust and know the child will be cared for. This allows for a life to be saved and a family to be made. Abortion is one of the most widely talked about and acknowledged ways of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. Medoff says that “abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on women in the United States, with at least three in 10 women experiencing at least one abortion by age 45” (Medoff 158). Few are told about the alternatives and because of this, abortion is as common as it is. Nock questions “what it means that abortion is given greater attention than adoption, forced marriage, or other alternatives to an unwanted pregnancy” (Nock 279). Due to how controversial abortion is it gets the most news time and therefore is exposed to more women. This exposure slowly sits in the back of their mind and makes them believe abortion is one of the only ways to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. There are women out there who both do not want a child and do not want to experience pregnancy, but they are as much to blame for the loss of life and anyone else. 

The life of an unborn child is in the hands of those around it. The choice of how to care for and what to do with a child is up to the mother and involved parties. There is nothing that can fully stop a mother’s choice to end an unborn child’s life. Having abortion in a clinic allows for a safer way of doing it. Even though the choice is ultimately in the hands of the mother, that does not mean she has the right to end the life of a defenseless growing person. At the moment that an unborn child becomes genetically different, it is a person, a person that has a blank slate and will one day become a member of society. One that has its own opinions, style, preferences, lifestyle, and dreams. To take those possibilities away should not be allowed for any light instances. Abortion should only be allowed for extreme situations but not as a form of alternative delayed birth control. If two people want to have sex then they need to be able to handle the consequences if they do not prepare. In cases where the mother is unable to provide or is unwilling to care for the child after birth, there are alternatives. Society needs to be more aware of adoption and marriage as a way to help care for a new child that was unexpected. The life of an unborn child should be valued and protected, in cases where there is no other option the decision should be made well informed and without regret. Society has taken away the gravity of abortion. Society has taken away the value of a growing child. One night’s mistake takes away the possibility of life for a whole other person. 
