A Woman’s Controversial Right
Barack Obama once said, “Women are not an interest group. They are mothers, and daughters, and sisters, and wives. They are half of this country and they are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health.” In 1973, the United States Supreme Court fought for the legalization of abortion through a case now known as Roe v. Wade. Roe was a Texas resident who wanted to end her pregnancy through abortion. The laws in Texas prevented women from getting abortions unless it would save the women’s life. Abortions eventually fell under the category of a person’s right to privacy and were under the Fourteenth Amendment. After the case was passed, over forty million fetuses were aborted. Abortion is often related to the words pro-life and pro-choice. When people are pro-life, they are opposing the death of people, no matter how old they are. On the other hand, being pro-choice means advocating for legal abortions, as well as advocating for women’s rights. Women should have the right to an abortion because, although it has the chance to become a human being, it is a part of the mother until the mother has given birth. Not only that, but if abortions were illegal, then many women would turn to dangerous methods of abortion, and some families are not financially stable.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, independent is defined as “not subject to control by others; self-governing”. People who are pro-life say that fetuses are independent, however, they depend on the mother for the nutrients that are essential to life, so how can they be independent? To clarify this, Des Moines Register states that a fetus is not its own person. “A fetus is not its own person. Not for tax purposes. Not for life insurance. Not by the census. Not when you buy an airline or movie ticket. A fetus cannot be taken into foster care. It isn’t eligible for a kid’s meal at a restaurant.” First, a fetus cannot make its own decisions because they do not have a brain yet. A brain is typically developed a little after four weeks, but even when children are six or seven years old, their mother still makes the decision for them since the child would not know the consequences, so a fetus cannot be independent when it is only six or seven weeks old. Not only that, but the fetus is made up of cells and they do not form the body systems such as the skeletal body system or the nervous system until later in the pregnancy. Without any body system, it would not be able to live the everyday life of a human. Additionally, according to a hospital, a heartbeat is what signals life or death. However, a heartbeat does not generally develop until six weeks. So, while it is still in the mother’s stomach, it is not an individual, but rather a part of the mother. Another reason why fetuses are dependent is due to the fact that the fetus cannot eat or drink by itself. The basis of survival is water and food, however, they cannot get food or water by themselves. Their diet is dependent on what the mother eats; for example, if the mother drinks alcohol, the fetus will be affected, and will most likely be affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS. Due to not feeling a motherly bond with her fetus or other reasons, some women may have to abort their child illegally.
There is almost no connection between legal abortion and how frequent abortion occurs, but there is a strong connection between legal abortions and abortion safety. Taking a look at statistics can provide some insight on what a difference legal and illegal abortions make. “In 1972, there were 39 maternal deaths from illegal abortions. By 1976, after Roe v. Wade had legalized abortion worldwide, this number dropped to two” (“Should Abortion be Legal”). Miscarriages are when the fetus is not developing normally, and women have miscarriages on purpose sometimes. Not only that, but illegal abortions can be done in suspicious places such as the “back alley”. Getting a procedure done in a back alley can harm the person, or worse, can cause death. Also, many women have accomplishments that they want to complete, but if they have a child too soon, that would hinder them from completing their goal. So, some women rely on abortions when it is too soon to have a child. Abortions that are not legalized will not stop abortions, they will only prevent abortions that are safe. When a woman gets an illegal abortion, they will have to pay money and may not be financially stable.
A baby not only needs attention, but it also requires the necessities of a shelter, food, and toys. It needs nutrients to grow and be strong, but if the mother does not have enough money, the baby cannot live a strong and adventurous life. A survey in 2005 was done to ask women why they decided to abort the fetus. “A Sep. 2005 survey in the peer-reviewed Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health asked women why they had an abortion found that 73% of respondents said they could not afford to have a baby…” (“Should Abortion be Legal”). Having to raise a child in poverty would break the mother’s heart; she knows that the child has the potential to have a successful career and future, but without money, the child would suffer without financial support. The mother would also be at an advantage if she aborted the baby because having a child costs a fortune. This is true for all families, especially when they have to pay college tuition. When the child grows up, he or she might resent the mother for not being able to provide the necessities; they might be jealous of other kids who are able to get an education, or they do not have to think about what will happen when their financial situation becomes worse. Children can be competitive, and they might be jealous of how their peer could have something that they did not have. Overall, women who are not financially stable will also endanger herself by continuing the pregnancy.
There have been many people who have changed the world at an old age, for example, Stephen Hawkings. Some people are set about thinking that the fetus could change the world when they grow up, but the mother could also change the world, and she might not want to have a child yet. A number of people believe that life starts that conception, so unborn babies are essentially human beings, meaning they have a right to live. I do believe this to a certain extent because the mother would be endangering herself if she continued with the pregnancy. Also, there are typically two types of births: a cesarean section (more commonly known as a C-Section) and a vaginal delivery. Since technology has evolved abortions with more advanced treatments, medicines, and tools, there have been fewer deaths when aborting a fetus than giving birth. In fact, “Should Abortion be Legal” states that “A 2012 study in Obstetrics & Gynecology found a woman’s risk of dying from having an abortion is 0.6 in 100,000, while the risk of dying from giving birth is around 14 times higher (8.8 in 100,000).” Other people also argue that if the mother chooses to abort the baby, it will harm the fetus. According to Google, a nervous system is “the network of nerve cells and fibers that transmits nerve impulses between parts of the body.” However, the baby will not feel any pain during a procedure until the third trimester, which is when the nervous system develops; most abortions occur within the first or second trimester, and since the baby has not developed the system, it will not be harmed during the procedure. To support this, Dr. Anne Davis, who is an Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) Nurse and the medical director for Physicians for Reproductive Health, as well as an abortion provider, states “the system isn’t developed until the third trimester of the pregnancy.” Most abortions are within the first or second trimester of the pregnancy, so the fetus will not feel pain due to an undeveloped nervous system. Not only that, but a woman would be endangering themselves with a continued pregnancy.
People who read this may think that being pro-choice is the same as being pro-abortion, however, pro-abortion is when a person is advocating for women to abort their fetus while being pro-choice is a person supporting a women’s choice to abort. The decision to an abortion should be left to the mother because a fertilized egg has the potential of becoming a person, but while it lives off of the mother’s nutrients, the fetus is still a part of the mother. Also, I am pro-choice is because illegal abortions will cause dangerous abortions, and without money, the family will not be able to provide a stable education for a kid, thus hindering his or her future. Some would say that it is murder, however, abortion is not the same because murder is the death of a person, but a fetus has the potential to become a person so it is not a person yet. Additionally, it is the termination of a pregnancy, not a child. Therefore, abortion and murder are two separate matters. Today, in the modern world, many teenagers still get pregnant. Getting pregnant at a young age can cause stress because they may not know how to deal with it, or how to tell other people. I believe that they should focus on graduating school, and then think about starting a family. Reality shows how hard and painful life is, and many orphans know what reality is at a young age since they were left at an orphanage because their parents could not care for them, or did not want a child yet. According to The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), there are 153 million orphans worldwide. If the orphans had a country to themselves, they would be the ninth largest population in the world, and Russia is the eighth largest population. The world is currently suffering from overpopulation, and there are more than a million people that do not have a parent. Abortion could help solve a piece of this puzzle, and there would not be as many orphans as there are now. Many people tend to adopt younger children than older children because they would develop a closer bond, leaving the older children at the orphanage. Abortion has been a political debate for a long time now, however, I believe that abortions should be a woman’s choice as Hillary Clinton once said, “We’re always going to argue about abortion. It’s a hard choice and it’s controversial, and that’s why I’m pro-choice, because I want people to make their own choices.”