Why Should Abortion Be Legalized

There are a myriad of incentives as to why abortions must be legalized. Firstly, abortions are committed for various reasons. In order to understand why abortions ought to remain legal, it should first be taken into account why women might consider making this highly controversial decision in the first place. Abortion is considered in drastic cases like that of rape, birth defects, the fetus not being able to survive after birth, health concerns for the woman carrying said fetus, incest, or being in an abusive relationship. Abortion may also be considered in less drastic, but equally important cases like not being in a relationship with someone the woman may want to have a baby with, wanting to finish school or college, wanting to focus on work, or just plain not being ready to have a baby. Whatever the reason for not wanting to go through with the pregnancy, women should be able to make this decision for themselves considering it is their body that will have to go through the hardships that a pregnancy entails. Women already have had to fight for equality on all fronts, they should at least be able to decide what to do with their personal bodies.

Personhood begins when a fetus becomes viable, which means able to live outside the womb, or at birth but definitely not at conception. A fetus is not self-sufficient so when a woman gets an abortion, it is the end of a pregnancy and not a baby. Another reason to note about how to know the difference between a fetus and a baby is that when a baby is born, that is when we start counting their age and not while in the womb. Furthermore, fetuses are not counted in the US Census while babies and small toddlers are. According to Michael J. Perry, “A human zygote, embryo, and fetus are each a human life, albeit an unborn human life,” he goes on to say that this life has the nearly the same weight any human life morally speaking. He claims that this stance is not religiously associated so it should be considered when contemplating abortion. This is where things get messy because while scientifically speaking the fetus is not viable until 28 weeks, Mr. Perry claims that the life holds the same weight as an already-born human life.

Regardless of what others may say, having the choice to decide whether you want to reproduce or not does empower women worldwide. The ability to choose whether to reproduce or not gives women control of their personal bodies. It is for this reason that abortions should be legalized. Paul Saurette and Kelly Gordon see Pro-choice as “Pro-aborts are more likely to be neutralized” by boycotting places like Planned Parenthood in order to get their voices heard in the controversial issue of abortion. There is a huge misconception that pro choice means pro abortion and this claim must be addressed. Pro choice does not mean pro abortion. Pro choice does, however, mean that a woman should be able to decide what to do with her body.

Why should abortion be legalized? Women should always have the right to choose whether they want to undergo nine months of hormonal changes and the trauma that childbirth entails. There is a huge difference between choosing to get pregnant and carry on with a pregnancy and being forced to do it. In fact, even women who plan to get pregnant can have a tough time during their pregnancy because pregnancies can have a myriad of side effects. Pregnancy can alter ones’ state of mind and make them depressed, it can also alter ones’ physical state in terms of gaining weight, morning sickness, or even getting illnesses that did not previously have such as high or low blood pressure, hemorrhoids due to constipation, and more.

It is easy to take the stance Barbara A. Miller takes when teaching sex education “The most effective way to avoid pregnancy is to abstain” which means to not have sex at all, but sometimes sex is beyond your control or birth control fails. In those cases, forcing someone to go through all those hardships, not to mention 18 years raising the child. In these situations, why should an outsider decide whether she should go through with the pregnancy when they will not provide care for the child, financial help or anything else for that matter? Regardless of what anyone else may think, no child should come into this world unwanted. Children should be a blessing to any couple, not a mental and financial strain.

Even when highly laws ban an act, that does not mean it will eliminate said act. Ban on abortions have not eliminated abortions in the past and will not do so in the future. In fact, the only thing that banning abortion will do is endanger the livelihood of the woman getting a back alley abortion. The truth of the matter is that these anti-abortion laws make abortions that take place occur in unsafe and unsanitary conditions for the patient getting said abortion. If abortions are made illegal again, there will be a rise in complications for women who do get abortions. These complications can even result in death. An increase in crime rate will also take place because doctors will still perform these procedures and women will still seek them.