Cayla Lepior
Mr. Lutz
English 151
24 October 2011
Abortion Controversy
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are roughly 3,322 abortions per day; amounting to 1.21 million abortions performed every year in the United States. There are many different opinions about abortion, such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. People who believe that abortion is wrong and should be stopped in our society are considered to be on the “pro-life” side of the controversy. Those who believe a woman should be able to decide what she does with her body and who support abortions in the United States would be considered “pro-choice”. In today’s society, the issue of illegalization of abortions in some states, if not all, has become more and more of a controversial topic. In order to have an opinion about this controversy, people should be informed about both sides as well as other perspectives.
Pro-Choice Arguments
The definition of pro-choice: “Favoring or supporting the legal right of women and girls to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy to term” (American Heritage). There are many reasons why pro-choice advocates believe this about abortion. An important argument from this side of the controversy includes: “If people want to stop abortion, they should turn to methods that do work” (10 Arguments). This is extremely important in my opinion because if there are people who are against abortions, they should not blatantly say something is wrong without providing possible solutions. There are many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies that result with abortions. For example, offering sex education in order for people to be informed about the decisions they are making. Pro-choice advocates also argue that, “Doctors, not governments, should always be the people to make medical recommendations and opinions” (10 Arguments). This argument is especially important because in today’s society, people feel more and more controlled by our government, causing a feeling of less power. For the government to illegalize abortions in the United States would be comparable with the President telling everyone they had to receive an operation, which is outrageous and would never be allowed. These are only a limited amount of reasons why people should have a right to their own decisions, especially when involving their own body.
Pro-Life Arguments
The definition of pro-life: “Advocating the legal protection of human embryos and fetuses, especially by favoring the outlawing of abortion on the ground that it is the taking of a human life” (American Heritage). On the other side of the controversy, pro-life advocates believe that abortion should be illegal and should be banned from the United States. An important argument that pro-life defenders embody is that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion is equivalent to murdering a human being (Women’s Issues). Since murder is obviously illegal in our country, it would make sense to think that abortion should also be illegal. A different, less emotional argument would be that most Americans who pay taxes may have conflicting views about the legality of abortions since often times, U.S. tax dollars are used in order to fund a majority of abortions (Women’s Issues). Abortion has been made illegal in some States in the past, however has later been overturned. People advocating for pro-life are intensively trying to pass laws in order to make abortions illegal, but only time will tell what the outcome will be.
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