Abortion: A Controversial and Timely Topic
Abortion is a controversial subject that can be viewed by two opposing points of view. There is the pro-choice side of the argument and the pro-life side of the argument. A person can either agree with you on the issue or they can be on the total opposite end of the spectrum. The issue of abortion is very timely right now with the Federal Government threatening to take away all funding for Planned Parenthood, where the majority of abortions are performed and where women get birth control (Ertelt, 2011). The statistical rates of abortions, the reasons for having an abortion as well as arguments for both sides of the position will be examined in this paper.
The likelihood of having an abortion is much greater when a person is young. Fifty- two percent of all abortions happening in the United States occur in women under the age of twenty- five. Women in the ages of twenty through twenty- four obtain thirty- two percent of all abortions. Teenagers obtain around twenty percent and girls under the age of fifteen only account for under two percent (Abortion Facts).
The rates of abortions vary by race, marital status, religion and age. White women lead the abortion rates with sixty percent. Sixty- four percent of all women who have abortions are never- married women and married women only account for eighteen percent of all abortions. Catholic women account for thirty- one percent of all abortions and forty- three percent of all women will have one abortion by the time they are forty- five (Abortion Facts).
In researching why women obtain abortions in her article “Why Women Choose Abortion-Reasons Behind the Abortion Decision”, Linda Lewin (2011) examines a study released by the Guttmacher Institute in 2005 which point out three main reasons why women have abortions. One is a negative impact on the mother's life. She explains that taken at face value this reason may sound selfish. However, a pregnancy that occurs at the wrong place at the wrong time in a woman's life can have a detrimental effect on her ability to raise a family and earn a living.
The other two reasons cited as to why a woman might have an abortion are financial instability and relationship problems and/or unwillingness to be a single mother. Further, when women were asked to provide reasons why they chose to have an abortion (multiple responses were permissible) of those who gave at least one reason: 89% gave at least two, 72% gave at least three. Nearly three-quarters said they could not afford to have a baby. The answer of not being able to afford the baby was most frequently followed by one of three other reasons: pregnancy/birth/baby would interfere with school or employment, reluctant to be a single mother or experiencing relationship problems, and done with childbearing or already have other children/dependents (Lowen, 2011).
A person's political stance on abortion as well as their values will ultimately have an impact on how a woman makes a decision about whether or not to have an abortion. A person who is pro-choice would be more likely to have an abortion and a person who is pro-life would be against having an abortion. The pro- choice side believes that government should not have a say in what a women does with her own body (Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice, see cartoon below). Whatever they want to do with their body they should be allowed to do without anyone trying to make them stop (Abortion: pros and cons). The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion as a result of Roe vs. Wade on January 22, 1973 (Pro-Choice-An Informed Choice?). This issue has been a controversial and a widely debated one ever since.
The pro-life side of the argument believes in the notion that people do not have the right to kill another life in order to preserve a woman’s right (Abortion: pros and cons). The pro- life side believes that all life deserves an opportunity and that life starts at conception. However, the other side of the debate disagrees and believes that life does not begin until a baby is delivered and breathing their own air (Abortion: pros and cons).
There are other factors that affect the abortion argument as well. People who are very religious, for example in the Roman Catholic faith do not believe in abortions. They believe that government has an obligation to preserve all human life, regardless of intent, viability or quality of life concerns. The Roman Catholic Church prohibits abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, the death penalty and war with very few exceptions (Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice).
There are other factors that affect the abortion argument as well. People who are very religious, for example in the Roman Catholic faith do not believe in abortions. They believe that government has an obligation to preserve all human life, regardless of intent, viability or quality of life concerns. The Roman Catholic Church prohibits abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, the death penalty and war with very few exceptions (Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice).
The religious and scientific aspects of agreeing or disagreeing with abortion can also be looked at by thinking about the soul of the baby. The pro-life side of the issue would say that the soul is developed at the moment of conception. However, the other side believes that the soul is implanted when quickening occurs, or when the fetus first begins to move. To further complicate the issue of when the soul is implanted, the United States government cannot acknowledge the existence of an immortal soul implanted at conception without taking on a specific, theological definition of personhood (Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice).
Also, there is no scientific basis for the existence of the soul. If we look at science to help define when a life begins you first have to understand the brain. In that case, neo-cortical development, which scientists believe makes emotion and cognition possible does not begin until the late second or third trimester of pregnancy (Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice).
A recent development in the abortion debate is that the Federal Government is threatening to stop funding planned parenthood which does more than 324,000 abortions annually and receives more than $363 million in federal, state and local taxpayer funds. The House of Representatives approved the Pence amendment which takes away funding for Planned Parenthood. In leading the way to support the amendment Congressman Mile Pence of Indiana said, “I believe that ending an innocent human life is morally wrong. I also believe it is morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to fund organizations that provide and promote abortion-like Planned Parenthood of America” (Ertelt, 2011). Abortion advocates said if Planned Parenthood loses its government funding that women would be hurt. “Planned Parenthood has provided health services to one in five American women” Rep. Nita Lowley of New York said (Ertelt, 2011).
The fact that the government is going to stop funding Planned Parenthood is adding fuel to the fire of the abortion debate. The issue of abortion can make people very upset and emotional on both sides of the debate due to their own religious, philosophical, political, and personal beliefs and experiences. Unfortunately, it is an issue that will continue to be argued by both sides of the debate on a yearly basis. Reducing the number of abortions is the goal for both sides, however, how to attain that goal is the question.
Works Cited
"Abortions: pros and cons." Abortion Support. Designed by realcubes, Web. 30 Mar
All About Popular Issues “Pro-Choice Abortion- An Informed Choice?”
Ertelt, Steven. “House Overwhelmingly Votes to Scrap Planned Parenthood Funding.”
http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/18/house-overwhelmingly-votes-to-scrap-plannned-parenthood-funding/LifeNews.com Feb. 2011
Finer, Lawrence B. and Lori F. Frohwirth, Lindsay A. Dauphinee, Susheela Singh and Ann F. Moore. "Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitiative Perspectives."Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Guttmacher.org, September 2005.
Guttmacher Institute. "Abortion Facts." The Center for Bio- ethical reform. Web. 30 Mar 2011.2011.
Head, Tom. “Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice.” About.com. Civil Liberties http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/tp/Pro-Life-vs-Pro-Choice.htm
Lowen, Linda. “Why Women Choose Abortion - Reasons Behind the Abortion Decision
Majority of Women Who Terminate a Pregnancy Cite One of Three Reasons” http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionReasons.htm
2 Mar. 2011
Keep Your Big GOP Government Off Of My Body!
March 7, 2011
tags: Paul Jamiol, Political Cartoon
by Zooey
I tried to put a political cartoon at the end of the essay but i do not think that it is going to appear.
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