Abortion Rights
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Health 1103
Professor Jiri Stelzer, Ph.D.
March 9, 2014
Abortion Rights

Abstract In my review of abortion I will discuss the topics of pro-choice and pro-life. Why certain people are for abortion and why others are simply against abortion. I will discuss the Roe v. Wade decision, the legal ramifications of pro-choice, and the opponent of abortion. Also I will cover the possible ways to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancies. After giving the evidence of the pro-life and pro-choice topics, I will then give my opinion on how I feel about abortion, and whether I am for or against it.

The debate over whether or not abortion should be a legal option continues to divide Americans long after the US Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision on Roe v. Wade declared the procedure a "fundamental right” on Jan. 22, 1973. Proponents, identifying themselves as pro-choice, contend that abortion is a right that should not be limited by governmental or religious authority, and which outweighs any right claimed for an embryo or fetus. They argue that pregnant women will resort to unsafe illegal abortions if there is no legal option. Opponents, identifying themselves as pro-life, assert that personhood begins at conception, and therefore abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent human being. They say abortion inflicts suffering on the unborn child, and that it is unfair to allow abortion when couples who cannot biologically conceive are waiting to adopt. Abortion Is a Valid and Positive Reproductive Choice. Over the years, abortion has been stigmatized by those who view it as the least desirable, or a completely unacceptable, reproductive option. It is critical not to give in to the pressure to stigmatize abortion as the one invalid reproductive choice among all the options facing a pregnant woman. We all want to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, but there is no reason to single out abortion among all a woman's reproductive choices as the one choice which is somehow less valid or acceptable than childbirth, adoption, or other reproductive choices. Abortion is a valid personal decision within the continuum of health care. Opponents of abortion often portray abortion as a negative problem that society should try to eliminate. While we work to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, abortion is a valid and acceptable reproductive choice. For most women who have made this choice, abortion is not the problem, but is a life-affirming solution to the problem of unplanned pregnancy. (Kerry) Since the Darwinian Revolution of the 19th century our society has turned upside down. Everything under the sun had become questionable, the origin of life, how we came to be, where are we headed and what to do in the here all became questions in life. But one of the greatest impacts of this new age thinking is its effect on our Old World values. Western societies values, morals and ethics became debatable, with some people striving for change and others clinging for stability. Battle lines had been drawn and the Liberals and Conservatives were ready to duke it out on a number of issues. One of these debates centers on a woman’s right to have and abortion. According to the Webster’s