
For decades, abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time. To this day, various people all over the world believe that it is an immoral act and even consider it to be murder. Abortion is defined as “the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to being capable of normal growth.” Numerous people, mainly pro-lifers, do not support abortions and believe that it should not be allowed. But, the government decided to give us these “rights” for abortion in 1973. Although they passed these laws, they still continue to be altered and tampered with to this day. Many pro-lifers and people in the government do not know that if we had these laws taken away abortions would continue to happen, unfortunately they would be performed by people with no experience. Over 47,000 maternal deaths occur each year due to unsafe abortions. It isn't up to the government to tell women to give birth or not because we have the right to speak on what we, as women, decide to do with our bodies. Abortion is justified because the mother’s life might be in have health complications, they may not be financially stable, or emotionally stable or they could be a victim of sexual abuse. 

The first illegal documented abortion was performed in 1966 by Doctor Curtis Boyd. Boyd was raised in a Christian home in Texas, and later in life became an ordained Baptist minister. Then, with complete disregard of the opinions of his church members he did what he thought was best for the women. Boyd left the church and opened up a back alley abortion clinic in Athens, Texas because he knew that it saved many lives. Boyd is an an example of a pro-choice Christian and just wanted to do what he thought was right for the women. He knew that he was putting his life on the line and told people, “In those days, the big fear was someone would either file charges against me or I would have some major complication or patient death. I knew that every patient I saw had the potential to not only take my medical license, but to put me in prison” (Baldwin). However, this was not okay and women should’ve been able to have an alternative option which is what then led to Roe vs. Wade in 1973 which was a U.S. Supreme Court case on the legality of a woman’s right to abortion. “The interests at stake with abortion rights were thus not unique to that context, nor unique to pregnant woman, nor unique to pregnant women with unplanned pregnancies, but were instead relevant—and indeed had been affirmed by the Court—in other contexts for many other subjects” (Chinn). This is when the government acknowledged our opinions and needs on legalizing safe abortions; nevertheless, somewhere along the joy of legalization came bias pro-lifers.

From the day Roe vs. Wade occurred up until this day pro-lifers like to assume that they, people of pro-choice, are strictly pro-abortion and fail to realize that abortion has helped out many women in society in many positive ways. People who are pro-abortion are the opposite of pro-life. Pro-choice supporters are not advocating for women to have abortions; they are advocating for women to have the freedom to choose to abort. No one in their right mind hopes for women to get abortions. To be pro-choice does not mean you are pro-abortion. Pro-choice believers support the right to privacy and the idea women should have the choice to do what she pleases with her own body. Pro-choice simply means you have the right to choose and right to voice your opinion, pro-voice, as Aspen Baker calls it. In her TED talk she elaborated on our needs of emotional support and not wanting to be judged. She didn't think it was right to ask women to pick a side. “We wanted to show them that the whole world was on their side, as they were going through this deeply personal experience. So we invented ‘pro-voice’” (Baker). Beyond abortion, pro-voice works on hard issues that we've struggled with globally for years, issues like immigration, religious tolerance, violence against women. Pro-voice is a great because it stops the divide between people of pro-choice and pro-life because it means that everyone has a voice.

Pro-choice believers take sympathy for women when if comes to making a decision about abortion, whereas pro-life supporters call her a murderer if she ends up not wanting to keep the baby. When women get abortions the outcome is more than likely harassment because of a woman’s choice to be pro-voice. Pro-lifers stalk, threaten, and even go as far as killing women who chose the choice of abortion. “According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization of abortion providers, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, there have been 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, 13 wounded, 100 butyric acid stink bomb attacks, 373 physical invasions, 41 bombings, 655 anthrax threats, and 3 kidnappings committed against abortion providers” (KL). Pro-life supporters didn’t care for the mother’s lives because they felt that if they could kill an innocent baby, then they deserved to be killed. They are so hurt over the woman’s decision that they decide to take it upon themselves to terminate them. No matter what the circumstances are, pro-lifers feel as if every child has the right to live even if her health is bad or she isn’t financially stable. They believe that if you bring a baby into the world voluntarily or not, you are going to take care of it from there on out and you will have to go through the struggle. This is what people of “pro-life” defend. They would rather have it illegal then to know that some people in this world, including the government, are okay with it. Pro-lifers pay no mind to illegal abortions happening around the world and need to wake up because even if it was still illegal they would still happen. “A study of the Mississippi experience found that after August 1992, when the delay law took effect, 53 percent more women had abortions in the second trimester” (Page 59). Even after these insane statistics they even refused to use of contraceptives, “Is is our pro-lifers who are leading the movement to deprive women in the world’s most desperate regions of contraception. Recently, they’ve been very successful” (Page 123).

Pro-life supporters do not care to hear any explanations and it’s either their way or no way because it’s just hard for them to understand why we need to abort the baby. But, pro-choice supporters are more understanding and believe that women shouldn’t be told what to with their decision, whether they choose to keep it or not. People of pro-choice don’t ‘only’ support abortion nor do we persuade that decision, they support many other options as well as adoption. We support the choice of the mother and there are many different reasons they choose to wait, one which includes, health complications. A woman may not be physically stable enough to carry a growing human being because of womb complications the fetus may have. Most women don’t know they are pregnant and may have been a frequent drinker and/or smoker and to prevent the baby from having defects they choose abortion. Also, “abortion prevents suffering…some fetal defects, such as bilateral renal agencies or anencephaly are simply not survivable” (Doyle). Countless amounts of women die each year to pregnancy-related deaths. Sadly, over 600 women die each year in the United States as a result of delivery complications. During pregnancy, a woman’s body goes through many changes and most are normal. Unfortunately, numerous cases end in deaths. For example, the mother might be obese, develop hemorrhage or preeclampsia, or unfortunately just be too old and these are some things that push the woman more towards abortion. Fortunately, pro-choice supporters believe in the well-being and safety of the mother because it’s her life and her choice and that is what the movement believes in. 

Abortion is a part of set tools that help women and men form families of their choosing. Abortion care is a positive social good and many pro-life supporters believe this is true but choose not to agree because of their religion/beliefs. But, everyone in this world knows to be successful you need to be 100% focused on the goal and have no distractions. Most women feel that getting pregnant when your career is just flourishing is not the best way to start and most of them unfortunately have unplanned pregnancies. Many of these women chose to get an abortion because it will be better for their career in the long run. Even though that may have been their decision then, a lot of these women still choose to have families in the future when it is a more convenient. Tarico says, “I am pro-abortion because well-timed pregnancies give children a healthier start in life” (Tarico). Growing up in a stable healthy home with a mother and father who raise the child with unconditional love can have such a great effect on their upbringing. As well as that, there are also those women whom have surprise pregnancies and choose to keep it because it pushes them to do better in their work and that is amazing. But, parenting is a lot of work, it takes many years of attention, patience, persistence and plenty more. Therefore, I believe a mother should not choose to have a baby or put it up for adoption if they don’t plan on taking care of it properly and/or if they are simply not ready.

Tons of unplanned pregnancies happen everyday. Approximately, 50 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and of these 43 percent end in abortion. To try and prevent these pregnancies they created contraceptives so that our fertility could be controlled. These have helped over millions of women who either never want to get pregnant or want to wait until a later, more convenient time. Contraceptives are 99% effective if taken correctly, great number of women don’t take it on time, and most women can’t even afford contraceptives because they don’t have insurance. Young women in high school tend to get pregnant because of their failure to take the pill. In most cases a lot of these girls are unemployed and have no income. This then leads to the judgment of pro-life supporters because they tell them that they are going to hell for sex before marriage. This is very hypocritical of pro-life Christians because they grow up learning to not judge others and to accept people for who they are. Christians are supposed to treat others how they would like to be treated and know that no matter what everyone is a child of God. In 1 John 4:7 God says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God”. And in Matthew 7:1 He states, “Do not judge, or you to will be judged”. These are well known scriptures that Christians tend to forget and they need to be cemented into our thoughts. There are many pro-choice Christians out there and they know that if you repent and chose to continue to live for God then he will forgive you. Getting an abortion is in fact a sin and many pro-choice Christians know this but, it might not have been the time to bring a human being into the world. Other people of pro-choice would look at all sides of the situation and understand that it could’ve been a mistake. Pro-choice citizens would wonder why you would want to bring a child into the world if you can’t even support it. Young women under 18 shouldn’t feel bad if they chose to not keep it because everyone should know that you are not only putting yourself at risk but, your baby’s.

Having the choice of abortion has a great affect because international childbearing helps couples, families and communities to get out of poverty. Early unplanned childbearing contributes to multi-generational poverty. This is not good for society and it just leaves the mother to be yet another statistic. I am pro-choice and a feminist. Feminism is important because you believe in your rights as a woman. I think a lot of women should look at that as a great thing because then you will not have to worry about others opinions of ‘your’ choice. Pro-choice individuals believe in fresh starts and compassion. Many people have had at least one time where they have had unprotected sex and sometimes people have an accident. When accidental pregnancies happen the mercy, compassion, and generosity of others is needed. Having a support system during such a big time is very important for the mother’s recovery after an abortion.

In 2004, the Guttmacher Institute anonymously surveyed 1,209 post-abortive women from nine different abortion clinics across the country. Out of the 957 women who responded, less than 1% were victims of rape. This is important because many of these girls or women may be in such a terrible emotional state. Pro-choice supporters have heard many stories about forced pregnancies and are completely supportive of abortion when it comes to this. Pro-life supporters would say that it happened for a reason and you shouldn’t take a child out of the world because they can’t tell you if they want to live or not. But, pro-lifers do not know what these women go through once something so traumatizing like that occurs. The mother would think about the day it happened everyday she carried around the baby and that is very unhealthy. Some may choose to keep it because it may end up being a blessing in the long run and they see the light at the end of the tunnel and that’s great and pro-choice supporters are all for this. But, most pro-choice feminist believes very strongly in your choices not only as a human being, but as a woman. No woman should be told to do with her body nor her decisions. 

Over the days, years, and decades women have gained their rights as humans. In 1960 the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills. On June 10, 1963 the Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job. And in 1973 s a result of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court establishes a woman's right to safe and legal abortion, overriding the anti-abortion laws of many states. Abortion rights is something that we continue to take for granted and we need to remember that women fought so hard for this. Whether anyone chooses to support it or not we as women should not let something like this drive us apart but, bring us together. Sadly, abortion arguments will always continue because there will always be a mother somewhere that can’t or won’t want to raise her child or go through with giving birth. There will always be cases of incest, rape, or health issues that will come into play on deciding if aborting the fetus is a better option in the long run. Until every woman is on contraceptives, there are no more rapes, or there are no more incidents of incest, there will unfortunately always be unwanted pregnancies that exist. Hopefully us as a society can come together and maybe in the future, eliminate the need for abortions all together. With the advances in science and technology and our goals of world peace, abortion will not need to be made illegal, it will just become a bygone.
