Isis Young

Graduation Project Research Paper

May 2 , 2017

Pro Life vs . Pro Choice ( Abortion )

What's your standpoint on the controversial issue of abortion, would you consider

yourself Pro-Life being that abortion should be illegal and not performed anywhere, or Pro-

Choice where supporters feel as though it should be completely up to the mother and no one

else? Abortion is one of the most controversial topics of all time. These disputes are divided into

groups of supporters who are Pro-Life or either Pro-Choice. Some people feel as though

abortion is considered murder and should be banned no matter what the issue may be .

Abortion should be completely up to the women to decide whether or not she is ready to

become a mother, in some cases a rape could have occurred that forced the pregnancy on

the woman , in other cases some women find out the child could possibly have an defect

that could cause them to have more complications in life than the average person , and

some women aren't quite ready to be mothers .

Abortion has become a controversial issue of today's society . There are opposing sides

on this issue such as being either Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. Those who are Pro-Life basically feel

as though abortion is an abomination and is akin to murder . Those who are Pro-Choice think it

should be completely up to the woman to decide whether she's ready or not to pursue that

parenthood. Abortion has been around for thousands of years. The U.S. Supreme Court Case of

Roe vs. Wade in 1973 has made abortion legal in America. The ruling was that babies are not

considered a living person, from that point on they have had no rights or protection under our
Constitution. In the year 1969, a woman named Norma McCorvy became pregnant after

allegedly being raped. Norma, who would later adopt the pseudonym, "Jane Row" , wished to

end her pregnancy by abortion; however, the Texas law outlawed abortions except for the

instance when it would save the mother's life. In 1970, McCorvy filed a class action suit in the

Federal District Court in Dallas. The district court ruled that the Texas law was

unconstitutionally vague . The law infringed the woman's right to choose whether or not to have

a child.

There are many reasons a woman could want an abortion , one of the those reasons being

that a rape could have occurred . Rape victims have absolutely no control over rather or not they

are ready to conceive and bring a child into this world . In a 1987 survey by the Alan Guttmacher

Institute in which abortion patients were asked why they were having an abortion, only 1 percent

of the 1,900 women questioned named rape or incest. Although its only 1 percent no child

should come into the world unwanted. The Colorado Department of Public Health and

Environment stated that unintended pregnancies are associated with birth defects, low birth

weight, maternal depression, increased risk of child abuse, lower educational attainment, delayed

entry into prenatal care, a high risk of physical violence during pregnancy, and reduced rates of

breastfeeding . With this information it should give you a little more open mind to the reasoning ,

although there's a small percentage of females who get abortions after a rape occurs , no human

life should come into life unwanted to get neglected or be an reflection and reminder to a rape

victim . We shouldn't just consider what's religiously or what you think it morally right , we have

to think about what that mother would have to go through throughout her pregnancy , and the

possible neglect the mother could give her child for being the result of such a traumatic

experience .
 Other reasons such as a child defects along with pregnancy complications would be yet

another reason women have abortions . Some women and families feel as though it would be

devastating to bring a child into a world knowing he / she has defects that could possibly be a

major impact on their life such as even more complications , bullying , or more likely an early

death at a younger uncommon age . Birth defects, including low birth weight babies, are the

leading cause of infant mortality. The risk factors for low birth weight babies are poor maternal

nutrition, teenage pregnancy, premature birth, drug and alcohol use, smoking, and the presence

of sexually transmitted diseases. If all women began prenatal care in the first trimester of

pregnancy, the number of low birth rate babies would be reduced by an estimated 12,600 per

year. Low birth rate babies are associated with a significant risk of cerebral palsy, mental

retardation, retinopathy or prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), cerebral

hemorrhage, deafness, autism, and epilepsy. With all these factors of different defects and

complications a mother should be given that right to abort . A sad situation would be be a mother

or family bringing a another human life into this world to face more than the average human life

compilations. For instance in a case of trisomy 13 50% of babies survive beyond their first 7.5-

12.5 days. About 20% of babies born with trisomy 13 survive the first year of life.

Another reason why a female may want an abortion is they might not be ready altogether

for many different reasons mentally or financially. Typically people don't look at the fact of it

only takes one time to become pregnant, one unprotected sexual encounter or mishap . The most

common sub-reason given was that the woman could not afford a baby now because she was

unmarried thats was 42%. 38% indicated that having a baby would interfere with their education,

and the same proportion said it would interfere with their employment. In a related vein, 34%

said they could not afford a child because they were students or were planning to study .
Unintended pregnancy rates among women below the federal poverty level are five times greater

than those at the highest income level. The cost of pregnancy, partially depending on method of

delivery, can range anywhere from $3,000 to $71,000.

In 2008, approximately 33 percent of women obtaining abortions lacked health insurance,

while 31 percent were covered by Medicaid. For the uninsured, the average cost of pregnancy

ranges from $30,000 to $50,000. This is a 50 percent increase between the years of 2004 and

2010. Forcing a financially insecure woman to carry out a pregnancy can wreak havoc on both

the woman and the child. With that being said you should be able to have the option to abort just

in case you're not financially or mentally stable and ready .

Some people consider abortion wrong because the killing of an innocent human being is

wrong, even if that human being has yet to be born. Unborn babies are considered human beings

by the US government. The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which was enacted "to

protect unborn children from assault and murder," states that under federal law, anybody

intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child should "be punished... for intentionally

killing or attempting to kill a human being." It is immoral to kill an unborn child for

convenience. The Guttmacher Institute reported that half of all women having abortions every

year have had at least one previous abortion, while 8.5% of abortions reported to the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 were undergone by women who had three or more

previous abortions. This suggests that many women are using abortion as a contraceptive

method. Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt, PhD, wrote that after abortion was legalized,

"Conceptions rose by nearly 30 percent, but births actually fell by 6 percent, indicating that many

women were using abortion as a method of birth control, a crude and drastic sort of insurance
policy." Others believe abortion isnt considered murder until the fetus is completely out of the

womb .

Abortion wars will always continue because there will always be a mother somewhere

that cant or wont want to raise her child or go through with giving birth. There will always be

cases of incest, rape, or health issues that will come into play on deciding if aborting the fetus is

a better option in the long run. Both views have good points, and they are taking into account

either fighting for the mother's rights, or giving an unborn child a voice when they otherwise

cant speak for themselves.Until every woman is on contraceptives, there are no more rapes, or

there are no more incidents of incest, there will always be unwanted pregnancies that exist.

Hopefully our society as a whole can eventually move towards eliminating the need for abortions

all together. With the advances in science and our goals towards world peace, abortion will not

need to be made illegal, it will just become obsolete.

Works Cited

"Abortion." Guttmacher Institute. N.p., 01 May 2017. Web. 19 May 2017.

"Abortion ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.

Parenthood, Planned. "Roe v. Wade." Planned Parenthood Action Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May
 2017.

Saperstein, Jessica Arons and Shira. "The Right Way to Reduce Abortion." Center for American

Progress. N.p., 23 Oct. 2006. Web. 19 May 2017.