Societies Differing Opinions of Abortion
Alana Berry
Sociology 1101
9:30 AM T/TH

Abortion is an issue that is often argued because it causes great disagreement among people. In the United States, “when asked how they think most Americans feel about the abortion issue, 51% of U.S. adults say the public is mostly ‘pro-choice,’ while 35% say ‘pro-life’” (Saad 2013).” One of the societal views on abortion is that “abortion is a form of murder and demeans the value of human life” (BalancesPolitics.org 2013). Other people believe that “abortion is not murder because it is performed before a fetus has developed into a human person” (BalancedPolitics.org 2013). While people have debated over the facts presented, “Americans have, for the most part, been closely divided since 2009 in their personal identification as either pro-life or pro-choice” (Saad 2013). In Society, people believe that abortion is wrong but when the idea of abortion becoming abolished they fight to keep it legal. Abortion “is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability” (Abortion 2013). In today’s world, “nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and about four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion” (Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States 2013). Five years ago, “in 2008, 1.21 million abortions were performed” which was a drop “down from 1.31 million in 2000” (Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States 2013). On average, “each year, two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion” and half of these women “have had at least one previous abortion” (Facts on Induced Abortions in the United States 2013). Statically from age, “eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers,” “women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%” (Facts on Induced Abortions in the United States 2013). Statically from race, “non-Hispanic white women account for 36% of abortions, non-Hispanic black women for 30%, Hispanic women for 25% and women of other races for 9%” (Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States 2013). Institutionally, abortion is viewed differently through the media, family, and also the government. The media sends the message that abortion is okay when they continually talk about celebrity abortion scandals. The Family image tells people that abortion is wrong because every life is sacred. Also religion is a large part of the average family life, and in the Christian religion, it has been a custom to “always value human life, including unborn human life” (“Religious Views on Abortion” 2013). In the Bible, children are called “very small/ young children” before birth (“Religious Views on Abortion” 2013). The different groups in government also take stands on the topic of abortion. From the democratic party, “under the Obama administration, abortion rights proponents have won significant battles on the national level, fighting back attempts to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most health plans cover contraception free of charge” (Deprez 2013). Although the Obama administration has tried to support pro-choice movements, other institutions have tried to stop abortions from taking place. “In January 2011, Michigan State Senator Rick Jones, a former sheriff from Grand Ledge, introduced legislation that would dramatically raise the costs of providing abortions in the state” (Deprez 2013). The topic of abortion relates closely to the theory of symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is “a paradigm that sees interactions and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction” (Ferris 2012). A paradigm is “a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding social reality” (Ferris 2012).