Abortion: Make It Illegal

Dallas Chambers Mrs. Baker English 112 03/26/13 Abortion: Make It Illegal Some people believe that there is nothing wrong with abortion, and that it is perfectly moral. Meanwhile others believe that abortion is murder regardless of how far along the baby has developed. No matter what a person believes, abortion is not the right choice. I believe that every child has the right to live even if the mother is young or not financially secure. Abortion is the termination of an innocent child. There are many reasons why abortion should be illegal: ethically and physically.

There are many reasons why women choose to have an abortion. Some are selfish and others are selfless, or to protect themselves or the child from future harm. The selfish reasons include that having a baby would interfere with school/work, that they cannot afford a baby or that they are having problems with their significant other. These are merely excuses for not wanting to accept responsibility for their actions. Some of the selfless reasons include medical problems, either with the mother or child, and because the woman was raped. These are the two main qualifiers for this argument.

Some women say it is their right to choose whether or not they want to abort a baby. This is true and that right is protected in the Constitution. Also, in the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case in 1973, the Court ruled that abortion is a woman’s fundamental right. However, when considering an abortion a woman is not just making a choice about her own life, she is deciding whether or not to terminate another. It is fine to make a decision when it only concerns one person, but when it is a decision for that person and someone who cannot speak for themselves it is not fair.

There are plenty of other options to choose from rather than aborting a baby. These women could give the baby away to a loving family who can’t conceive children or who has health problems. They could have the baby adopted, granted it is not easy to give away a child but it is better than terminating it and never giving that child a chance to grow. There are open adoptions and closed adoptions. It is very easy to find a place to arrange an adoption considering in today’s society the world is at our fingertips. If a person looks on Google they can find plenty of websites that can arrange adoptions.

For example, just in North Carolina there is achildshope. com, christianadopt. org, littleangelsadoption. net and many more. A woman could also put the baby in the foster care system or take the “path less traveled” and keep the baby themselves. It is better to have a child and give them to a deserving home or couple than to terminate it before he/she even had a chance. Think about it. Any of the lives terminated could end up becoming a doctor, lawyer, or even the next Einstein. Another reason not to terminate a life is because abortion can cause health problems to the woman who receives it.

These health problems do not only include physical but also mental. Some physical side effects of abortion are bleeding, hemorrhage, infection, inflammation of organs, and increased risk of miscarriage in the future. Some psychological side effects include anxiety, depression, use of alcohol and marijuana, and also suicide. Abortion can cause many health problems and may even kill you, not to mention it is terminating the life of an unborn child… Why would a mother risk that? However, if there are risk factor brought on by a pregnancy then the subject of right or wrong gets more complicated.

Either the mother or the child’s life could be in danger. If the mother could possibly die by giving birth to the child then it is not right for anyone to prevent her from terminating the pregnancy, if she chooses to do so. Also, if the child will be terminally ill from the moment of birth, than the mother should be able to determine whether she should terminate the life of that child. Another qualifier would be if the woman was raped. A woman should not have to endure the pain of pregnancy when it was not her choice to have intercourse in the first place.

However, a woman cannot just go to a clinic and say they were raped. There must be a police report on file stating that the woman was raped in order to go ahead with the abortion. Abortion has been a very controversial subject for the past few years and throughout all the debates regarding it I have heard some very interesting comments made by the Pro-Choice believers. Some of these comments included that women should be able to make their own decisions, the baby isn’t alive until it exits the womb, and it is better to kill a baby than have it suffer in a family who doesn’t want it or cannot provide for it.

While all women have the right to decide what to do with their bodies, they all have to take responsibility for their actions as well. If a woman is headed to work and drinks a fifth of vodka before getting in the car to drive there, that is her choice. However, if she ends up killing someone she can’t just say “well, I’m pro-choice” and then walk away. That woman would have to face the consequences of her actions and go to jail. Why is it any different to kill a human being outside of the mother’s womb than it is when the child is still inside of it?

Either way a human being was killed. Whether they were born yet or not is irrelevant. “A baby isn’t alive until it exits the womb. ” Some people do believe that a baby is not alive until it takes its first breath, which is at birth. However, whether you consider the baby alive at the moment of conception or not, the baby will grow into a human being and for someone to terminate the child’s life before it has a chance to grow and develop is wrong. The only moral termination of pregnancy is through miscarriage and nobody has control over that.

As previously stated, there are other options than just keeping the “unwanted” child. There is foster care, open adoption and closed adoptions. In conclusion, abortion is morally and ethically wrong. It is the termination of an unborn child and a woman should not be allowed to terminate a pregnancy without any consequences. There are plenty of other options to choose from besides just terminating a pregnancy. This is why abortion should be illegal in the United States.