Abortion: ethical, legal, and social perspectives

¶ … woman's right to choose is important, to society and to women in general. There are two distinct camps on the debate on abortion in America. One supports a woman's right to choose what to do with her body, while the other supports the rights of the unborn child. Both sides have arguments and assessments to convince others about their positions. It has legally been a woman's right to choose an abortion or not since Roe vs. Wade passed in 1972, and that is the grounds of this argument today. As one writer notes, "Roe ignited an ongoing debate about the proper regulation of abortion. What many regard as the nation's most divisive issue has taken on a language of its own, based on the Court's decision in Roe, subsequent eases, and prevailing social and legal thought" (Roy 339). Even today, people debate the relevance of abortion, and the warrant of its relevance in society.

Those who support a right to choose claim that a woman's body is her own, and she should have the right to choose what to do with it. Statistics show that in 1972, 586,760 abortions were performed in this country, while in 1995, 1,210,883 were performed (CDC). Proponents argue that these children would have been unwanted, would probably have grown up in poverty, and were often born to young, unmarried women who had little of the backing necessary from society or their families to successfully raise these children.

The qualifiers and rebuttals to this pro-choice argument are many, as well. One of their main points is religious opposition to abortion on moral and spiritual grounds. Another author notes, "The primary argument against the right to choose has it that 'personhood' begins at 'conception,' that fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses are 'persons' or 'unborn persons.' This is a view with very little historical precedent, essentially a Vatican invention in the latter part of the nineteenth century" (Doerr 40). The Catholic Church vehemently opposes abortion, and does not condone it for any of its members, and many other groups object on moral grounds, as well. While it is clear abortion is a very personal and moral decision, a woman should still have the right to choose what happens to her own body. Even more than that, she should choose whether she bears a child or not, because she is the one who will have to raise it, take care of it, and support it, unless she gives it up for adoption. Thus, she should have the freedom to make her decision based on what is best for her, not according to laws that do not pertain to most of the people who create and legislate them. Politicians should not be able to make the decision for anyone; they should have the freedom to make that very difficult decision on their own.

Before Roe vs. Wade, when abortions were illegal, it did not stop women from having them. They simply had them illegally, and suffered infection, internal damage, and even death as a result. To return to those days by outlawing abortion would be a return to "back-alley" abortions and death. Young women are not going to stop having unprotected sex, and they are not going to stop having abortions. Indeed, the statistics show that abortions have more than doubled since 1972. That is because they are more available, but it also indicates that women are going to continue to have abortions, and banning them will simply force them into far less safe and healthy options.