Dashira Mendez

Professor Rogal

English 110

April 29, 2020

Should women be able to have abortions?

Over the years, the argument on Pro choice Vs Pro life has grown bigger. The debate on whether Women should be able to abort babies or not has been going on for decades now and many states have started to join in on this argument. Some have implemented extreme restrictions when it comes to abortion and some have not. Pro choice means that you support women’s rights to have abortion and Pro Life means that you are against women having abortions and that the baby should live. Many people believe that women should not be able to have abortions because they are killing an inoccent baby, getting an abortion can harm women, and the baby should have to right to live. However, I think that women should have the right to have  abortions. Women should have control over their bodies, the right to abortion is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution, can reduce injury and death caused by unsafe abortion, technology and abortion procedures are very much advanced and women who are denied abortion are more likely to suffer from mental problems than women who receive abortions.

Women should have the right to have an abortion because women should have control over their bodies. No one or anything should be able to tell a woman what to do and what not to do with their bodies because they are the ones who should have all the control with it and should be allowed to do so. According to pros and cons of current issues, an article about arguments for and against abortion,  “The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives”(ProCon.org). This shows that women should have control over their bodies because for them to give birth to a baby they need to be economically stable and make sure that they have a good social life before they start having babies and if they are not economically stable then they won’t be able to buy the things that the child needs and won’t be able to maintain a good stable life. Also, according to that same article on pros and cons of abortion and the supreme court case Gonzales v. Carhart, “a woman’s autonomy to determine her life’s course, and thus to enjoy equal citizenship stature”(ProCon.org). This quote also shows that women should have control on what they do with their bodies because it talks about how a woman should be free to do what she wants in order to enjoy being equal to everyone. Lastly, women should have control over their bodies because only they know when they are ready to have kids and how they are going to do it. It is no one else’s decision.

The second reason why women should have the right to have an abortion is because the right to abortion is a fundamental right protected by the constitution. This means that the constitution agrees with women having the right to have abortions but not all states let women get abortions depending on how far along they are. According to the abortion case Roe v. Wade the right to have an abortion remains the law of the Land. This shows that no matter what under the constitution, women should have the right to have an abortion whenever they want to depending on how far along they are and which state they live in. For instance, according to an article by USA today, in which they talk about some of the states that have put restrictions to women when it comes to abortion, “Seventeen states ban abortion at viability, meaning that the pregnancy has reached the point that the fetus could survive after delivery”. This shows that under the constitution, women have the right to have abortions but certain states prevent them from happening at a certain stage of the pregnancy. Lastly, if it is in the constitution, the rights for women to have an abortion should not be violated or taken away from them no matter what happens. According to planned parenthood.org in which delivers reproductive health, and sex education, the constitution of the U.S Supreme court,.. “Affirmed that access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right”. This shows how women’s right to have abortions is a fundamental right because it is stated in the constitution

Another reason why women should have the right to have an abortion is because they can reduce injury and death caused by unsafe abortion. Many times women who have unsafe abortions come out with injuries or even dead which is why they should have the right to have abortions, so that they don’t practice illegal or unsafe ones and so that they can come out safe and healthy. Some of the things that women would use before to perform abortions were coat hangers, knitting needles, or radiator flush. All of these were very dangerous ways of performing an abortion which is why there were so many deaths and injuries. Meanwhile now, we women can have a safe abortion with all of this new methods that there are which can lead to a decrease in injuries and death. Also, according to Procon.org, with all of the unsafe methods of abortion used back then, in 1972, there were 39 maternal deaths from illegal abortions and after the Roe v. Wade case, that number dropped to just 2. Even Though, 39 deaths may not be looked as a lot, that number dropping to just 2 is good because it just shows that after abortion was made legal, death number in women who had illegal abortion dropped tremedously and gave women more freedom with their bodies whenever they wanted. Lastly, according to the World health organization unsafe/illegal abortion cause 68,000 deaths wordlwide each year and most come from countries who do not have legal abortion services. These statistics show that after Roe v. Wade case, maternal deaths during abortion have decreased ever since eventhough there is still a pretty high number but only because those women do not have a legal abortion service where they live and are afraid of what is going to happen to them if someone finds out that they got an abortion illegally and will probably face some consequences.

Moreover, technology and abortion methods are very much advanced. Over the years technology has had a huge improvement which also leads to the improvement in abortion methods. For instance, according to willradio, an Illinois public media where they talk about abortion and some technology that might be replacing the abortion procedures, “telemedicine abortions were as safe as having a physician in the room’… This shows that as technology improves, abortion methods improve as well because instead of a physician being in the room with a pacient it would only be in a form of electronic information instead.  This also shows that technology has improved so much that physicians won’t be needed in the future because they’ll be things to replace them with. Also , according to willradio, “Telemedicine abortion technology is just one type of technology that will impact and change the abortion debate. These technologies may not change people’s philosophies, but will change how they debate and where”. This states that with this new technology of telemedicine, basically the whole world around abortion will change especially the way it’s done. These pieces of evidence shows that as technology advances, the methods of abortion improve which in the future will be very different than from what they are now which shows that women should have the right to have abortions because as the years go by, technology advances and women will be abe to have safer and better abortion methods.

Lastly, women should have the right to have abortions because even after years of getting an abortion they feel more relief and feel like they have better opportunities. For example, according to an article by Minnpost on a study done to women who had abortions five years ago and during the interviews were asked if they had experienced relief, happiness regret, guilt, sadness or anger as a result of their decision to have an abortion, “…the overwhelming majority of women said they didn’t regret having their abortion. That was true of 97 percent of the women one week after the abortion and of 99 percent five years later”(Minnpost.com). This quote from the text shows why women should have the right o have abortions because based on this study done, women who had abortions did not regret making that decision which is a good thing because this way they won’t feel pressured afterwards and they will feel relief especially since most of them did not want the baby.

To conclude, the debate around abortion and wether women should get one or not has been going on for decades now and will continue to get bigger over time. In the U.S many states have placed restricitions when it comes to women having abortions when it comes to a certain stage of the pregnancy which has spiked up the debate on abortion. Even Though, Many believe that abortion should not be legal because it basically means killing an innocent human being, abortion should be allowed without restrictions in every state because women know when the right time to have a baby is and I think that other poeple should not decide that for them especially governors and mayors because they do not know what it is like to be in a position where you have to keep a child when you are not economically or mentally stable and in a situation where you really have to thik whether that desition will ruin your life or make it better. What do you think? Do you think abortions should be banned?or should they be allowed everywhere?

 

 

Bibliography

1. “Pros & Cons – ProCon.org.” Abortion, abortion.procon.org/.
2. Beck, Madelyn. “Technology Changing Access And Outcomes In Abortion Debate.” Illinois Public Media, 13 Sept. 2018, will.illinois.edu/news/story/technology-changing-access-and-outcomes-in-abortion-debate.
3. “Abortion Worldwide 2017: Uneven Progress and Unequal Access.” Guttmacher Institute, 25 July 2019, www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-worldwide-2017.
4. Perry, Susan, et al. “Five Years after an Abortion, Most Women Feel Relief, Not Regret, Study Finds.” MinnPost, 15 Jan. 2020, www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2020/01/five-years-after-an-abortion-most-women-feel-relief-not-regret-study-finds/.
5. Godlasky, Anne, et al. “Where Is Abortion Legal? Everywhere. But …” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 23 Apr. 2020, www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/05/15/abortion-law-map-interactive-roe-v-wade-heartbeat-bills-pro-life-pro-choice-alabama-ohio-georgia/3678225002/.
6. Parenthood, Planned. “Roe v. Wade: The Constitutional Right to Access Safe, Legal Abortion.” Planned Parenthood Action Fund, www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade.