Background and Thesis: Abortion is a topic that has been discussed and debated a lot throughout human history. The definition of abortion varies from source to source; for example, in the dictionary it says that, abortion or voluntary abortion is the termination of an unwanted pregnancy by the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus (Abortion Dictionary). Some encyclopedias says that, voluntary abortion is the removal or expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before viability (Abortion Encyclopedia). However, viability is the capacity of living outside the uterus, or the ability to operate or be sustained, to live even under certain conditions, that does not mean that the fetus is not alive (Viable; Viability). An abortion that is not voluntary, is many times called miscarriage, but a miscarriage can also be induced. In general, the term abortion is mostly used for an unwanted pregnancy that is induced.
Even though abortion is considered one of the safest procedures in medicine, unsafe abortions result yearly, in almost 70,000 maternal deaths, and about 5 million are injured, with temporary or permanent damage (Shah, and Åhman 1149). The World Health Organization (WHO) published an online journal paper which reports that, from 80 million women that have unwanted pregnancies every year, 60% abort their babies (Grimes, Benson, and et al 7).
The status of abortion and its legality vary around the world. In some places abortion is totally legal, no matter the reason why the mother wants to kill her child; however, in other places, it is only legal in cases of rape, incest, and fetal defects. There are places where abortion is not legal at all, unless it poses risk to the mother's life. Therefore, when it comes to abortion we have mainly two groups of people, which are those in favor of abortion, and those against abortion. The people in favor of abortion are called "pro-choice", and they believe that women should have the right to do what she wants with her body, the right to choose. Those against abortion and its legalization are called "pro-life", and they believe that no one should have the right to take a human life, whether they are born or not.
Life begins at the moment of fertilization. The fertilized egg contains the full genetic code of a human being and it's developing and growing just like a baby does (Langman). So abortion is the killing of another human life, even in cases of rape and incest, where innocent children are being punished for a crime they didn't even commit.
Opposition:
The population that calls themselves "pro-choice", believe that a woman should have the legal right to terminate her pregnancy, because they think that the baby is not a human-being yet. According to them, the pre-born baby, lacks the qualities of a person such as: the capacity to feel, social experience, and independent existence. Not only they support its legalization, but also enforce abortion in cases such as rape and incest.
In 1973, there was the famous case of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. Roe's base was the 14th amendment, the right to privacy, which was enough at that time, to give women the right to terminate their pregnancy. The "pro-choice" population have always praised Roe for recognizing that a woman's right to control her body is more important than a fetus' right to live. Also , they say that whether a woman wants to abort her baby or not is a private issue, and that's not the government's concern (Roe v. Wade). The American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) says that the idea that the fetus has more legal rights than the woman who carries it, would make pregnant women second-class citizens with fewer rights, and more obligations, than others (Kolbi-Molinas). Just as we should not force anyone to donate their organs to save someone else's life, it's said that a fetus should not have the right to use the mother's body for life support.
"Pro-choice" groups, often use certain situations such as rape and