Worldwide Abortion is a very common procedure and in 2000 the United States alone had over one million women choosing an abortion (Harper, Henderson, Darney, 2004). State regulations on abortion resulted in abortion services to be mostly available in specialized clinics, which almost everywhere are subjected to harassment. Women are told that it is their right to choose if they would like to get an abortion, but availability to these clinics combined with the judgment and harassment of protesters can make this choice very difficult to the point that women don’t feel that they have a choice when it comes to abortion. Also, state restrictions have more impact on younger or poor women than adults or rich women. Aspen Baker is an advocate for “pro-voice” instead of pro-life or pro-choice, she claims that 1 in 3 women have an abortion in their lifetime. Abortion does not have any correlation to negative physical effects or negative mental effects after a woman goes through an abortion.  Abortion should be available to any women who would want to get an abortion because it has no negative mental or physical affects post abortion and there is evidence based date that post-abortion women are at a higher chance to use contraception and go back to school also, if there is no safe available option for abortion, women are at a higher risk of using illegal and unsafe abortion.

Today in the United States Abortion is a very controversial topic. People will argue if they are either “pro-choice” or “pro-life” and if abortion should be illegal or not. Planned Parenthood V. Casey in 1992 defended the right of abortion for women. But this case also gave the United States the right to put restrictions on abortion. Some of the abortion laws are: Forty- three states prohibit abortions, generally except when necessary to protect the woman’s life or health, after a specified point in pregnancy, and Forty- five states allow individual health care providers to refuse to participate in abortion and forty-two states allow institutions to refuse to perform abortions. A nationally representative survey of women who had abortions in 2000-2001 showed the demographic characteristics of abortion. For ages fifteen to nineteen the abortion rate was twenty-five per one thousand, for ages twenty to twenty-four, the abortion rate was forty-seven per one thousand (Harper, Henderson, Darney, 2004).

Abortion has no correlation to negative mental or physical effects post-abortion. Abortion is a very safe and common procedure, if performed from a qualified health care provider. The death rate for abortion is extremely low, at 0.6 per every 100,000 abortions. The actual risk of death from childbirth is eleven times greater than the risk of death from abortion (Harper, Henderson, Darney, 2004). The risk of any major complications from abortion is less then one percent.  There is no evidence that abortion causes childbearing problems if done from a qualified health care provider. Recent research on abortion and mental health studies are biased by political motivations. Some people claim that women who have abortions will experience “post abortion syndrome”, but the existence of this has not been established empirically (Charles,2008).  Abortion does not cause women to not be able to have a successful pregnancy later in life, nor does it have any damage to the women. The procedure itself is very safe and simple. There are not a lot of complications that can arise from abortion and are also very uncommon.

        Abortion should be something that women have as an option if wanted without the fear of harassment or judgment. The only opinion allowed in this matter should be the woman’s. How can we allow opinions based on religion or politics without considering the right of the women to make this choice?  Many women who have abortions are either not ready to financially support a child at that time and/or are in school and do not have support or the maturity to raise a child.   Forty percent of teenagers in the United States who become pregnant did decide to have an abortion (Zabin, 1989). Women who choose to have an abortion were more likely to not live in poverty, and more likely to continue school to achieve a higher education (Zabin, 1989). Many young women accidently get pregnant in high school. Everyone has most likely known someone in their own high school who has gotten pregnant, and most likely dropped out to take care of this baby. How are they going to support a child when there are not many jobs that will hire anyone without a high school degree? This young mother and the baby will have to face a much higher chance of living in poverty. Not every woman who gets pregnant is ready to have a child and many children all over the world are living in poverty or in foster care, which is so over populated with children that most of them never find families and have a rough time for the rest of their own lives bouncing from Foster home to Foster Home. Sixty percent of all women who choose to have abortions did not plan to have sex or to get pregnant. Research shows that if people where told abstinence was the best method of contraception then it might increase the rate of abortion because they were not educated at all. Education is the first and best offense against abortion. Preventing pregnancy by talking open to your children about contraception methods rather than preaching abstinence might just turn the high number of teenage pregnancies around.    Every woman should be aware of all the options of contraception and also of her option if pregnancy occurs and is not wanted. In today’s society, graduating from high school is something that most people do. A high school diploma is almost for every job required in today’s workforce, even for most minimum wage jobs. A minimum paying job pays seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour, which is not enough to support yourself. So how can a woman who has not graduated from high school support a child? That is not in the best interest for the women or the child. 

 Today many people are against abortion because of their religion, but someone’s belief should not stop others from having their right to choose and be aware of their options. Abortion clinics around the nation are harassed by protesters, many women seeking abortion are afraid to go to some of these clinics. If women do not have access to abortion clinics then they are more likely to try and get an illegal abortion or might flee to another country to have an abortion. Both options are not in the patient’s best interest because both options might not be safe. Half of the maternal deaths happen in illegal abortions (Faundes, 1997). Access to safe and legal abortions depend on the health and the legal system making sure that all women will have the right to choose, have the opportunity to understand, and have access to all of their options. Would you want your daughter to get an illegal abortion and get sick with an infection? Maybe even worse, she could die from these complications, or would you rather give her access and availability to the medical treatment from a qualified and safe health care provider. In the United States of America, a minor who is looking to get an abortion has to have parental consent and has to go through a waiting period. A young girl who happened to get pregnant but is too afraid to tell her parents, wants to get an abortion because she knows she cannot support the child or simply does not want to might just use the illegal option as her way out without knowing the danger.  Abortion should not be a dirty word that people are afraid to talk or ask about. Young girls should be made aware of contraception and all of their options if they become pregnant, so they do not make a terrible uninformed decision that could majorly affect their life. 

Abortion should be a topic that women should not be afraid of to talk about. It is a choice that any women should have the right to make. Abortion does not have any negative mental or physical effects associated with it. People who are against abortion call themselves “pro-life.” They argue that abortion is killing a life. Two-thirds of abortions take place in the first eight weeks of pregnancy and ninety-one percent of abortions take place within the first thirteen weeks of pregnancy. When a child first starts to form it is just a mass of cells growing inside a woman. Since the women are the one carrying the baby, the women should have a right to her own body and what she wants to do with it. Most people who argue with abortion bring up their own beliefs and what they think is right. But the law and rights of other women are not based on what other believe, or beliefs in general. The laws are based on the rights that every man and women should have a right to make within themselves. Abortion is not a controversy over pro-life or pro-choice. Abortion is a right that any women should have to choose. 

In the United States of America there are many controversial arguments on the Abortion topic and a lot of different opinions on right or wrong. Abortion is one of the main topics that no one can seem to agree over. Why can we not agree to disagree? Why is it allowed that certain groups can force their opinion on everyone and make a topic like Abortion seem like an act of murder? No one should try to force their opinion on others. We all grew up different, some of us are very lucky and have all the love and support they could ever wish for and in those cases Abortion is probably not even a thought since these women are not alone. What about the ones that have no support, no real love in their direct family or grew up in desperate conditions and would like to have a chance of a better life by finishing school and life their own life before they are responsible for someone else? Should they be punished just because they made a mistake of not using birth control? How about the ones that grew up without any education or access to birth control because their family believes in abstinence till marriage? Are they sinners too because they were told different and did not obey? There are so many different reasons why woman get pregnant and don’t want to be. It should really not matter to anyone why a woman might choose the abortion road. We should all stay away from judgment and harassment and start working on solutions for the right of the woman to have the freedom to choose what she feels is best for her in a safe environment. Abortion should be talked about more, so women have more knowledge on the subject and know all their options.

Contraception education and access should be a main focus for the prevention of Teen pregnancies. Of course, there are a lot of protestors that argue that Adoption is always an option. But who wants to adopt the baby if it is not totally healthy? Where will this baby end up? Most likely Foster Care, where millions of children hope that someone will come an adopt them. The reality is harsh and it’s pretty sad when you here all these sad stories of children that stay for almost all their live in foster care because most families want only healthy newborn babies. Also has anyone ever thought of the child they saved from abortion by making it illegal in most states? The child that grows up and knows it was not wanted but since Abortion was no option his life was saved. Can we be certain that this will not have a huge psychological impact in his wellbeing? There are so many different views on the discussion of abortion and every group seem to base theirs on belief rather than research or evidence based facts. Opinions are only good if they are tolerated and accepted by but if we start forcing them on others we become a dictator to a certain point since we do not respect or accept the opponent’s opinion. So by making Abortion illegal we are dictating to woman that they do not have the right to choose once they become pregnant. Women should not be afraid to go to an abortion clinic because of protesters and people who harass them into feeling like they do not have a right to choose. Abortion should be an option to all women and all women should feel safe and secure with their decision. They should not be ashamed, feel like they will be harassed by protestors or judged by their right to choose. Young women today should be told more about contraception, so they do not get in a situation that they are not ready for. Many young women today are afraid to talk about contraception and pregnancy and all of their options because they think it is a “dirty” word or topic, because they have been told their whole life that they should not talk about it. But if young women were more knowledgeable about some of these things they would have less of a chance to become pregnant by accident or have sex before they are ready for it. Today’s society should work towards being more receptacle for everyone’s right including the ones that we do not approve of because we feel different about this topic. Abortion is not a dirty word and should be an open discussion point for everyone that wants to keep this as an open topic. 
