Pro-Choice of Abortion

I. “The term "abortion" actually refers to any premature expulsion of a human fetus, whether naturally spontaneous, as in a miscarriage, or artificially induced, as in a surgical or chemical abortion. Today, the most common usage of the term "abortion" applies to artificially induced abortion” (NRLC, 2011). In this essay I will be writing about abortion and whether or not abortion should be legal. The people who are against abortion are commonly known or referred to as Pro Life and the people who support abortion are recognized as Pro Choice. Many of the reasons that women have abortions are based on their own beliefs and personal decisions. Many believe that there is no argument that will uphold against killing an unborn child. Other people believe that women are capable of making the right decision for themselves and their families whether it means aborting a child or keeping it.
A. Women have abortions for many reasons, and whether or not these reasons are right or wrong is the question.
II. Pro Life. “Abortion is murder, and murder is illegal, so abortion should be illegal” (Mosser, 2011). Some people’s personal or religious views make them pro life and support the outlaw of abortion. In other cases some people see the side effects of terminating a pregnancy and they do not want to harm future chances at child birth. There are a lot of couples or single people that make a decent income that is enough to support a child and look to adopt. These people are often turned down because the demand for American adoptions is so high.
A. People’s lives begin at conception.
1. The unborn child has the ability to grow inside the mother’s womb. A child starts out as a fetus and if you kill it you are killing a living human.
2. A fetus is “an unborn or unhatched vertebrate in the later stages of development showing the main recognizable features of the mature animal” (Princeton University, 2012).
B. Abortion can lead to a variety of health concerns and side effects.
1. The death rates of women who have abortions are much higher than women who don’t have abortions. Suicides are also much more common in women who have abortions.
2. Statistics have also shown that women are at a much higher risk for cervical, ovarian, and liver cancer. They are at a higher risk for uterine perforation, cervical lacerations, placenta previa, pre-term deliveries and labor complications, handicapped newborns in future pregnancies, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, and an increased risk in having lower overall health. It is also more common for women to have psychological problems after having an abortion as well.
C. Over 130,000 children were adopted in 2008. Adoption can be a much better alternative to abortion after looking at the possible side effects. If women were not legally allowed to abort, there would be more babies to supply the adoption demand.
III. There are times when women see uglier parts of life and come to the decision to abort a baby.
A. Some of these women come to this conclusion due to rape, severe health defects of the fetus or mother, or in some cases poor life choices and family planning skills.
1. “According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 91% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are female” (National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, 2012). Of this 91% some cases do end up in unwanted pregnancies.
2. In some cases a woman is encouraged to terminate her pregnancy when her physical health is in jeopardy or when the fetus is at risk of having severe mental or health defects.
B. Every year about 2.6 million pregnancies are unplanned in America and half are ended by abortion.
1. Women from all different social, racial, religious and economic backgrounds choose abortion.
C. Some women need the choice to abort a baby and making it illegal could affect their mental, physical or monetary state.
IV. In conclusion to abortion there are many pros and cons to why it should be illegal or legal.
A. Women come to the conclusion to have abortions due to many different personal motives and convictions.
B. Whether or not to make all abortions illegal is too generalized to put such a definitive law on considering some cases are a little more delicate than others.

References
NRLC (2011). Abortion: Some Medical Facts. National Right to Life. Retrieved from http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ASMF/asmf3.html
Mosser, K. (2010). Logic: An Introduction. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Princeton University (2012). WordNet Search – 3.1. Retrieved from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fetus
National Center of Domestic and Sexual Violence (2012). Sexual Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.ncdsv.org/images/sexualassaultstatistics.pdf

References: NRLC (2011). Abortion: Some Medical Facts. National Right to Life. Retrieved from http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ASMF/asmf3.html Mosser, K. (2010). Logic: An Introduction. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Princeton University (2012). WordNet Search – 3.1. Retrieved from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fetus National Center of Domestic and Sexual Violence (2012). Sexual Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.ncdsv.org/images/sexualassaultstatistics.pdf