In Defense Of Abortion

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For hundreds of years women helped each other to abort their pregnancies. Without legal prohibitions, women in Europe and the United States provided abortions and trained each other to perform the procedures. In the past century different states had begun to outlaw any procedure that would terminate or avoid pregnancy. In 1973(?) the United States Supreme Court asserted a woman's constitutional right to abortion in determining Roe v. Wade. After several decades of quiet disagreement, abortion has once again become a political hotbed. Under the direction of religious fundamentalists and fanatical anti-abortionists, this privacy right is in jeopardy. While both sides present strong arguments, these same positions have already been exhaustively debated and ruled upon by the Supreme Court. To turn back the clock on this issue would discriminate not only against women, but even more so against those in lower socio-economic groups. Therefore, the United States should protect a woman's Constitutional Right to choose.

Outlawing abortions will not make them go away. It will only increase the dangers and discrimination that have been associated with illegal abortions in the past. Should abortions be banned, then qualified medical care for abortions will either cease to exist or will be extremely hard to find. Today there are many books and organizations that offer free advice and counseling regarding pregnancy options. Without such services women will rely on potentially uninformed or misinformed sources. In the 1950's and 60's secret underground organizations like the Jane Collective existed but were very hard to locate. "In the 1950's approximately 1 out of every 3000 illegal abortions performed resulted in the death of ...

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...e the poor to seek dangerous illegal abortions. A woman has the right to decide what is responsible, moral and best for herself and her loved ones, considering her resources, commitments, hopes and needs. The United States has a legal obligation to protect a woman's life by protecting a woman's right to choose.

Works Cited

"Abortion." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2004 4th ed.

Alderman, Ellen, and Caroline Kennedy. The Right to Privacy. New York: Vintage, 1997.

Fried, Marlene Gerber, et.el. Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.

Marinucci, Carla. "Huge Abortion Rights Rally: Hundreds of Thousands in D.C. Pledge to Take Fight to Polls." San Francisco Chronicle. 26 April 2004: A1.

Newton. Course home page. 13 Apr 2005 .

Rowland, Debran. The Boundaries of Her Body. Naperville: Sphinx, 2004.

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