Imagine you’re a young pregnant woman that is both financially and emotionally unprepared to take care of a child. Choosing to have an abortion is not Pro-Choice advocates sympathies for these women while Pro-Life advocates label her as a murderer. A woman should have every right to choose what she does with her body. No one should have the power to force a woman to keep an unwanted child. Although abortion procedures and expensive, it does not compare to the price of supporting a child.
Forcing a parent that is not ready to keep a child leads to an increase in “abused and/or neglected” children (Santacruz). An experience like this can destroy a childhood and provoke degenerate behavior. Pro-Life activists need to understand the inferior life that the child will be forced to go through. Bennett’s Pro-Life cartoon conveys being unable to take care of a child as “That’s Life!” (Bennett). The message reflects the flawed viewpoints of Pro-Life believers. Raising a child in a home that lacks good values is not “life”, it’s abuse. Denying abortion does not resolve any problems. Women desperate enough will figure out a way to end their pregnancy on their own.
In addition, many women have suffered from unsanitary procedures and attempts of self-abortion. Self-induced abortions, typically considered by teenagers, is extremely dangerous. Most women that attempt self-abortions end up in the emergency room with a bleed of some sort. Dangerous abortion methods include taking medication, consuming too much alcohol, and even inserting an object into the cervix to attempt removal of the fetus. The legalization of abortion will save these desperate individuals from the dangers of illegal operations. The decrease of these insufficient methods “almost eliminated one of the major hazards to the lives and health of fertile women” (Morgantaler). Mortality rates have also fallen for women trying to abort. The consequences of legalized abortion “have all been beneficial not only to individuals but also society in general” (Morgantaler). Therefore, eliminating legal abortions would be drastic for society as a whole.
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The most controversial question related to abortion revolves around when an embryo is considered a human. Pro-Life activists believe that a child’s life “begins inside the female body” as soon as there is genetic DNA and proof of existence (Lu). However, Pro-Choice activists still consider the unborn child as an embryo. Embryo’s are incapable of conducting a thought or emotion, so how can we consider this a human. “Our tonsils and appendices” both meet this specific criteria for life, “but we don’t consider their removal as anything close to the killing of a person” (Head). Embryo’s are incapable of conducting a thought or emotion, so how can we consider this a human. Killing an embryo cannot be compared to killing a child because unlike a child, an embryo is unaware if it’s living. Whether the decision is humane or not, the mother of the unborn child should still be given a choice.
One million teenagers in America become pregnant each year, and about 85% of them are accidental. These teenagers are left with a very strenuous decision, to give up on her dreams, or to have an abortion and continue on the best path for her?” (Santacruz). Teenage years Teens ask themselves the same pressing questions that adults do when they found out they’re unexpectedly pregnant. Can I afford to take care of a child? Am I ready for motherhood? Do I want a child right now?. Teenage moms are negatively impacted by having a child. Most pregnant teenagers turn out to be high school dropouts.
Dropping out of high school damages a young adults future. Being a pregnant teenager comes with judgement and peer pressure, which often pushes the adolescent to wanting an abortion. An abortion would save this girl from humiliation and rumors by removing the fetus before anyone knew. However, instead of telling their parents, teenage girls often resort to self-abortion or illegal abortions. Unsanitary procedures can affect these teenagers immensely.Eliminating the opportunity to receive legal abortions would drastically impact this generation.
Abortion controversy will always exist because there will be mothers that disagree. Our society needs to “stop messing with [women’s] rights” (Toles). Abortion laws kill women. Even if abortion is illegal, it won’t stop women from going through with an abortion. A women should have the right to end the life of a unborn child. Society must come together and weigh out the negatives of abortion in order to stop the disruption of an unplanned child.
Works Cited
- Bennett, Clay. “Pro-Life.” Timesfreepress.com, 19 June 2011, www.timesfreepress.com/news/opinion/cartoons/story/2011/jun/19/pro-life/52170/.
- Head, Tom. “The Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice Debate.” ThoughtCo, 16 Oct. 2018 , www.thoughtco.com/pro-life-vs-pro-choice-721108.
- Lu, Rachel. ‘Pro-Life Women Do Not Want Reproductive Rights.’ Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/IVSPZO594682750/OVIC?u=j061901007&sid=OVIC&xid=0a251057. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018. Originally published as ‘Some women don’t want reproductive rights. I’m one of them,’ The Week, 14 Feb. 2018.
- Morgentaler, Henry. ‘Abortion Is a Moral Choice.’ The Ethics of Abortion, edited by Christine
- Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2001. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010012205/OVIC?u=j061901007&sid=OVIC&xid=bf616b1e. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.
- Santacruz, Diana. “3 Reasons Why I’m Pro-Choice.” ScholarshipPoints, 28 Feb. 2017, www.scholarshippoints.com/campuslife/3-reasons-why-im-pro-choice/.
- Toles, Tom. “CartoonStock – Cartoon Humor, Political Cartoons, Comics, Illustrations.” CartoonStock – Cartoon Humor, Political Cartoons, Comics, Illustrations, 2012, www.cartoonstock.com/.
