Abortion In The 1960's

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues of today’s society. Abortion is defined as the removal of pregnancy tissue, products of conception or the fetus and placenta from the uterus. The terms fetus and placenta usually are used after eight weeks of pregnancy, while the other terms describe tissue produced by the union of an egg and sperm before eight weeks. Each year approximately 1.3 million women in the United States choose to end a pregnancy. “One recent report estimates that 25 million women have illegal abortions and about 20 million have illegal abortions each year. The estimated current global monthly average is 1,227,000 abortions. Around 78 percent of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 22% occur in developed countries. Worldwide, lifetime average is about one abortion per woman” (Bacon 4).
Women may get an abortion because they can’t care for the baby or because they’re too young to have a baby. However, in the 1960s there were concerns about the role of poverty, race, and population. “There were many other forces underlying popular support of abortion reform in general during the 1960s. Greater sensitivity to issues of poverty and race heightened awareness of the unequal quality and availability of abortion services to women according to social class and skin color. The price for an abortion
In the United States, abortion is used most often to end an unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancies happen when birth control is not used, is used incorrectly, or fails to prevent a pregnancy. Abortion is also used to end a pregnancy when tests reveal that the fetus is abnormal. Therapeutic abortion refers to an abortion recommended when the mother's health is at risk. Roughly one-half of all abortions are done during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy and about 88% during the first 12 weeks of