Opinion Essay: Pro-life Versus Pro-choice in Abortion

Abortion is a topic full of controversy ever since it was first allowed in the 1800s. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of the pregnancy. People get abortions for the safety of themselves and for other health and safety issues. During the 1800s they were only allowed in certain states, as long it was used for the safety of the mother, until 1973. In 1971, the court case Roe v Wade was brought to the supreme court, she was fighting for her rights to get an abortion and not until 1973 was the decision made that abortion was now legal in her home state. I think the mother should have the right to have an abortion under certain circumstances. If it’s during the first trimester, causes harm to the baby or the mother, or if the women had been raped. I don’t believe they should be allowed just because they don’t want the baby, there are many different choices including adoption. That decision was help made even with some pro-life groups. The question is, pro-life or pro-choice?

The Roe v. Wade case in 1971 had been reissued in 1972 and the final decision to make abortion legal until after the first trimester was in 1973. This was allowed under the fourteenth amendment. The case was filed by Jane Roe, whose actual name is Norma McCorvey. She was in the young 20s when she had gotten pregnant and she did not want to keep the baby. Where she lived in Texas, abortion was illegal unless it was for the safety of the mother. With the supreme court’s 7-2 decision the law had changed in 42 other states. By the time the case was over, Roe had the baby and put it up for adoption. Until 1995 she was pro-abortion, things had changed when she started to become a reborn christian and decided to speak around the country to speak out against abortion. This case has started many movements later in time, including the abortion rights movement. This movement supports the fact that a women should have the right to an abortion, if she pleases. Which means she should have the right to terminate her baby, for any reason.

Many religions disagree with the process of abortion, especially the Roman Catholic Church. The fifth commandment in the Roman Catholic Church is you shall not kill. They believe that all life is sacred from conception until natural death,and taking a life, unborn or born, is morally wrong. They say it’s not only the killing of a life, it kills something to the world. In the eyes of God every human is marked for something good with an important leadership role. Catholics also believe that abortion is an unacceptable form of birth control and how people take it for advantage. It is unfair to the people who can’t have children, while there is many other women just aborting an unborn child. The people who get abortions could at least keep the baby and put it up for adoption so that other families that can’t have a child could have the opportunity to adopt a young child.

Throughout the years, it has become more common for teenagers to get pregnant. In 2005, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women between the ages of 15 and 19. With statistical proof teenage pregnancy is a result from the lack of communication with parents over sex. 85% of the pregnancies are unplanned because of the lack of communication. They are so young, that it is more common they don’t want to tell their parents so they get an abortion. According to ThoughtCO.

“A teen considering abortion is influenced by where she lives, her religious beliefs, her relationship with her parents, access to family planning services, and the behavior of her peer group. Her educational level and socioeconomic status also play a role.”

If a teen decides to have an abortion, 34 states require some form of parental permission or notification for a minor to get an abortion. For the teen that decides to not tell their parents it makes the situation a more difficult and stressful choice. “When finances, life circumstances and rocky personal relationships prevent a teen mother from being able to raise her child in a loving, safe, and stable environment, terminating a pregnancy may be her only viable choice.” (Lowen.) Many teenagers today think their only option is to have an abortion, many older adults look down on young moms and make them feel they don’t have what it takes to be a good mother.

What does it mean to be “pro-life?” Pro life means you do not agree with the killing of an innocent child. That above all, the pro-life movement is deeply rooted in the fundamental belief that all life, no matter how small or poor or unwanted, is worth protecting. (ACJL.) They feel that the unborn child has the right to be born and whether the parent decides to keep the baby or put it up for adoption is up to them. The babies heart starts to beat at 3 weeks and can feel pain at 20 weeks, and at the eighth week the eyes are visible. (Dinkha.)