Topic: Abortion
Psychology 101
Jasmine Payne
Summary of Background Research Abortion is a controversial topic that has plagued the country for decades. Even after the 7-2 Supreme Court trial (Roe vs. Wade) made it legal for women to choose to get abortions. This decision was based off the right of privacy coupled with the agreement between the woman and the state. Due to this decision abortion rights vary from state to state, in fact, about 85% of United States counties do not provide abortion services. Even though, abortion is ten times safer than the actual process of giving birth and 68,000 women died from resorting to “back-alley abortions.” Knowing all this, there are still two main groups arguing over the right to choose or to preserve a life: Pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life groups pull their reasoning from the bible, their morals, and the basic rights. They believe that from the moment a fetus is conceived it has the basic rights, including the right to live. Pro-life supporters strongly believe that by choosing abortion you are killing a human being and going against not only religious beliefs but also the law. They argue that having an abortion is killing a human because the unborn child’s heart begins to beat after three weeks and its brain starts to function at six weeks. They also use the argument, “We do not allow the killing of toddlers so why should the killing of unborn humans be accepted?” Instead of abortion they would rather women use alternate ways of protection, meaning instead of getting pregnant and dealing with the aftermath they would rather a woman remain abstinent or use alternate forms of birth control. They believe that abortion is a form of genocide and has a psychological aftermath. Overall, they believe abortion is wrong and a threat to both the mother and child. Pro-choice groups, on the other hand, hold very different beliefs. They believe it is the woman’s sole choice on what happens to