Abortion: Third Trimester One of the most controversial topics today, is the issue of abortion. It is extremely difficult for the two opposing sides, on the legality of abortion, to see eye to eye. This is mainly because the two sides, who can live in the same country, state, cities and neighborhoods, live in polar opposite worlds. A neighbor that you see every day playing with their children, getting the mail, and doing yard work, may live in an exactly opposite world. Questions to consider may be: Are they married? How many children do they have? Are they female or male? Do they have a job? Did he or she go to college? Where did they grow up as a child? Do they regularly attend a place of worship? As it can be seen, people can lead entirely different lives and have different views on the world, regardless on where they live. More importantly, it is the government’s job to make laws that appeal to both sides of the issue, and to protect the basic rights of all its citizens. This is why the legality of abortion is so very debatable, and why its legality means many different things to many different people. Abortion has been practiced for hundreds of years and the medical technology has advanced accordingly. However, the result remains the same for the defenseless child. Abortion continues to be one of the most debated and country dividing topics this nation has ever seen. In the past, there has been gradual increase towards governmental restrictions of abortion. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was one of the greatest victories in congress related to this topic. The ban restricts a certain form of abortion past twenty-four weeks from conception (United States Congress). Abortion will never become completely illegal, but the restrictions that govern abortions can be changed to incorporate a smaller and more humane time frame for abortions. The key issues are a numerous and different as the people who hold an opinion on the topic of abortion. The case of Roe v. Wade was the first to define a right to privacy. Using this same notion of a right to privacy, in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Roe v. Wade, that a woman has a right to privacy in the medical procedure of abortion. This right to privacy, according to the court, means that she can have an abortion at anytime in any method she feels necessary. This case did allow for the state to impose limits on the right to an abortion as the state sees fit, however. (Roe v. Wade). For others, the abortion issue has more to do with a persons right to live. Though in the case of Roe v. Wade, the court decided that a life does not begin until birth, many religious organizations and non religious organizations alike, argue that life begins at conception. So is the mother killing an innocent human being when she decides to get an abortion? Is the mother a murderer? These groups argue that the child has committed no crime and is simply a victim or circumstance in being conceived. Though the issues of the beginning of human life versus a woman’s right to privacy are by far the most important in the abortion debate for pro-life activists, there are several other important issues debated by the pro-choice side. First, is that of a woman’s right to self protection. As many people on both sides will argue, a woman must be able to have an abortion if the pregnancy may cause her physical harm or death. As former president Ronald Reagan, a very strong pro-life advocate, wrote in a 1979 letter to concerned voters “An abortion is the taking of a human life and that can only be justified or excused in our society as defense of the mothers life-- if her life is threatened by continuing the pregnancy.” (Skinner, Anderson, Anderson) Just like any other argument, there are two sides to every bit of detail. In the case of abortion, pro-life activists believe abortion is immoral, unethical and should be permanently banned from practice. On the other hand, pro-choice activists