Women and the Choice of Abortion

In the last few decades, abortion has become a much-discussed subject. It has been a central point in many political affairs as in; selecting justices for the Supreme Court, it has also become an issue for candidates for state and local offices as well as for the U.S. Presidency. What exactly is abortion anyway? Depending on who you ask one will always get different answers, but the dictionary defines abortion as the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. The moral question has always been whether or not it should be a woman’s decision to get an abortion. The other side of that question is whether the government should have control over a woman’s body and forbid her to get an abortion. Pro-Choice, though it does take the side of legalizing abortion, it does not mean Pro-abortion. Pro-choice is the right in choosing whether to reproduce, adopt, or abort. I believe a woman should have the right to choose whether to keep the baby if she knows that she is willing to take up such a huge responsibility.

The fundamental issue that Pro-choice focuses on is whether anyone-including the government, the church, and pro-life protesters- can tell a woman what to do with their bodies. Pregnancy carries many obligations, and one will lose many privileges. One of those privileges is the right to pursue happiness. A baby can sometimes disrupt a woman's pursuit of happiness. Having the option to perform an abortion can solve that obstacle. Most of the time the mother of the unwanted child is very young and inexperienced or too poor to take care of the child. The child is usually malnourished, has no medical care, and gets very little attention or love.

When talking about abortion, there are many different ethical questions involved. Ethics is what one uses to distinguish what is right from wrong, good from bad, etc. Since people come from different backgrounds, they have a different code of ethics, therefore answering the question of right and wrong can not be easily answered, and who knows if it can ever be answered? There is no correct ethical or moral code for one specific time period, or group of people, so one must decide what they believe on the issue of abortion, by examining there own code of ethics.

Without a woman's right to do what she chooses with her body, her freedom and ...

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...nking of herself, she also thinks on behalf of her baby. Abortion clinics do not make the choice easier, nor do they force the woman into the surgery. People who are against abortion have the choice not to have one. It is not fair to take away the choice of people who do want one.

The reason I believe so strongly about the abortion issue is because sometimes circumstances beyond a woman’s control present themselves. Women who are raped, who carry a disease, who are too young to be mothers, and who are drug addicts should all be able to obtain an abortion. Not only is the choice a good one for the potential mother but it is also a good choice for the unborn child. Before sixteen weeks the unborn child is not even considered a fetus. That is why I believe that abortions before sixteen weeks are justifiable. I do not believe anyone just gets pregnant to have an abortion. The whole situation is both physically and psychologically painful for the woman. There are many factors to consider in choosing whether or not to carry a child to birth or abort, but these factors are very personal and can only be answered by the woman who has been confronted with the fact that she is pregnant.