Defending Reproductive Autonomy: The Pro-Choice Abortion Movement

Abortion Debates: Perspectives and Controversies

Your loved one wants to get an abortion, but their state has made it difficult to access one. What would you do? Abortion is when a pregnancy is ended early. There are two types of abortion: medical and surgical abortion. (“What Is Abortion…”) Medical abortion uses an abortion pill. It’s usually for pregnancies that are from 12 to 14 weeks. If this fails, then they do surgical abortion to complete the procedure.

(“Medical Abortion…”), (“Abortion, Wikipedia…”) Surgical abortion is when they use suction-aspiration or vacuum aspiration. Vacuum aspiration removes the fetus or embryo, placenta, and membranes by using a syringe. Suction-aspiration uses an electric pump. (“Abortion, Wikipedia…”) People have different opinions on abortion; they are called pro-life or pro-choice. We should keep abortion legal and get rid of laws that all but ban it or make it difficult to access because of the common good, the dangers of making it illegal, and constitutional rights.

Pro-choice thinks abortion is right. Pro-life is against abortion. Pro-choice thinks there should be abortion because it gives women the choice to terminate their pregnancy. This choice empowers women because it gives them independence and the ability to determine their future. Pro-life thinks that there shouldn’t be abortion because they think abortion is murder. They think killing a human that’s innocent is wrong and that the person who gets an abortion should be punished.

Even though fetuses are not born yet, they should still be considered human beings. (Abortion ProCon.org…) There isn’t a society where it allows someone to intentionally harm or take one’s life without punishment. Pro-life people think that abortion isn’t any different. People who choose abortion are usually minors or young women who have insufficient life experience to fully understand what they are doing. Many of them might have lifelong regrets afterward. (Lowen, Linda…) Because of Roe V. Wade, States have passed laws that restrict abortion. “Last Five Years…”

People who are Pro-life have said that during the abortion procedure, fetuses experience pain. This isn’t true because fetuses cannot experience pain. They have not developed enough to support pain experience. The flinching and other reactions that happen are more reflexes and not indications that they are feeling. (Abortion ProCon.org…) They also have said that abortion is killing a human, which defies the word of God. Although a lot of religious groups are against abortion, many of them support women’s reproductive choices and believe that abortion should be legal.

Abortion’s Impact on Society and Women’s Well-being

In the Bible, there’s no prohibition of abortion. It doesn’t say that killing a fetus is equivalent to killing a human. (Abortion ProCon.org…) Another thing they have said is that abortion is dangerous. This isn’t true because abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine when it’s performed by a professional. (The Constitution and Personhood Jurisprudence…) They have said that fetuses are human beings. Fetuses cannot survive on their own. They are dependent on their mother’s body. (Millstein, Seth…) The fetus is a part of the woman’s body; therefore, it should be the woman’s decision to decide if her unborn child lives or dies. (“It’s My Body/ a Women’s Choice…”)

Legal abortion supports the common good by protecting women’s rights, causing unwanted children, crimes, and an increase in population. (Abortion ProCon.org…) Banning abortion violates women’s rights because it doesn’t give them the right to control their own body. (The Constitution and Personhood Jurisprudence…) Unwanted children lead to poverty and crime. If there wasn’t abortion, there would be increased poverty because of more unwanted children who are born into poor families.

(The American Journal of Public Health…) After abortion was legalized, crime rates dropped. Women who have abortions are most at risk for giving birth to children who engage in criminal activity. Women who had control over their pregnancy were most likely to raise their children in optimal environments. (Abortion ProCon.org…) There’s population control because only wanted children are born. (The American Journal of Public Health…) If there wasn’t abortion, then the population would increase. (Abortion ProCon.org…)

There are many dangers to banning abortion. If women get denied abortion, they are three times more likely to become poor and twice as likely to become victims of domestic violence. Resulting additional births would increase the federal deflect by $225 million over nine years. When women have abortions, they are less likely to suffer mental health issues than women who are denied. Women who choose abortion often don’t have the financial resources to support a child. Pregnancies that are unintended will increase the number of birth defects, children with low birth weight, maternal depression, increase the risk of child abuse, and lower educational attainment.

(Abortion ProCon.org…) During a study, they interviewed people who were planning to have an abortion; 73% of respondents said they couldn’t afford a baby. 38% said that giving birth would interfere with their education and career goals. (Abortion ProCon.org…) It costs a lot to have a child in the hospital. Giving birth would increase the sixth most common cause of death, giving birth. (The Constitution and Personhood Jurisprudence…) When you ban abortion, you put women at risk by making them use illegal abortionists. (Ethics – Abortion…)

Constitutional Foundations and Ethical Considerations of Abortion Rights

The Constitution supports abortion by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Fifth Amendment says that “no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due to process of law nor shall a private property be taken for public use without compensation.” The Fourteenth Amendment says, “No State should make or enforce any law that will abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens. Nor shall any state deprive people of life, liberty, or property without the process of law. Nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.”

(The Constitution and Personhood Jurisprudence…) In 1970, a pregnant woman in Texas brought a lawsuit against Henry Wade in a Texas federal court. She was single, and she wanted to get an abortion. She wanted it done by a doctor, but she couldn’t afford to travel outside Texas. Also, she couldn’t get a legal abortion in Texas because her life wasn’t in danger. The woman’s lawsuit claimed that the law violated her right to privacy. The case made its way to the Supreme Court. Then, in 1973, the Supreme Court decided that the state law that banned abortions was unconstitutional.

(Roe v. Wade…) Women have the right to an abortion because it’s protected by their right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment. (Roe v. Wade…) People who are born have civil rights. If you aren’t born yet, then you don’t have civil rights. The Declaration of Independence says a woman has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (TONY KIMBERLIN…) Banning abortion would impact this because, in special cases, it doesn’t give women the right to life because they might die from giving birth. If they don’t have an abortion, they don’t have a choice; therefore, they don’t have liberty.

And forcing someone to have a kid wouldn’t give them the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone should have a standard of living, good health, and well-being for themselves and their family. Banning abortion would violate their standard of living because they need to take care of a kid and themselves. If there isn’t abortion, they might not have good health because they are likely to suffer mental health issues. Also, they don’t get a well-being because they are forced to raise kids. By getting rid of abortion, it violates women’s rights. (Worrell, Marc…)

In conclusion, we should keep abortion legal and get rid of laws that all but ban it or make it difficult to access because of the common good for less likely to violate women’s rights, fewer unwanted children, fewer crimes, and population control. The danger of making abortion illegal is women becoming more likely to be below the poverty level, likely to become victims of domestic violence, and are likely to suffer mental health issues. The constitutional rights that support abortion are the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and Roe v. Wade. The Declaration of Independence and The Declaration of Human Rights also support abortion. Therefore, you should be pro-choice. Join the National Abortion Rights Action League pro-choice America.

References:

1. “What Is Abortion?” Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion.
2. “Medical Abortion: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007382.htm.
3. “Abortion.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion.
4. “Abortion ProCon.org – Fetuses Can’t Feel Pain.” ProCon.org. https://abortion.procon.org/fetuses-cant-feel-pain/.
5. Lowen, Linda. “10 Arguments for Abortion and 10 Arguments Against Abortion.” ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/arguments-for-and-against-abortion-3534153.
6. “The Constitution and Personhood Jurisprudence.” American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-and-personhood-jurisprudence.
7. “Millstein, Seth.” The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, 4th ed. Ed. Russ Shafer-Landau. Oxford University Press, 2017.
8. “It’s My Body/ a Women’s Choice.” Feminist Women’s Health Center. http://www.fwhc.org/abortion/itsmybody.htm.
9. “The American Journal of Public Health.” American Public Health Association. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.75.7.761.
10. “Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).” Justia US Supreme Court Center. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/.
11. TONY KIMBERLIN, CRIME REDUCTION, AND THE CRIMINAL LAW. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2011 366, 3293-3302. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0047.
12. Worrell, Marc. “Women’s Rights: Why Banning Abortion Would Violate Them.” HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/womens-rights-why-banning_b_981267.