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Madison Rossetti

Dr. Perparim Gutaj

Political Science 1100

April 26, 2021

Issue Paper: Abortion

One of the most pressing issues right now in the United States is abortion and whether or

not it should be illegal. Right now in the United States abortion is legal in all of its states and

territories, but there are still restrictions and accessibility issues that vary from state to state. In

the United States right now there are people that are pro abrotion, anti abortion and those that

think abortion should be legal in certain situations. According to an article by ABC news they

state, “The push for these laws didn’t come out of nowhere. They’re part of an aggressive new

strategy in the legal fight over abortion, which has escalated since Republican lawmakers swept

state legislatures in 2010.” Because of this it is much more difficult to get an abortion now in the

twenty first century. Every minute we don’t try to make a change in the United States is another

life that is lost due to abrotion.

Abortion is both a political and ethical issue in our world today. People that identify as a

conservative often have an anti abortion view. The Hastings Center explains this by saying,

“Conservatives regard the fetus as a human being, with the same rights as any human being who

has been born, from the beginning of pregnancy onward.” Conservatives are correct when they

say a baby is a human being right from conception, and it is our right and duty to protect them.

Becuase differnt politcal parties have different views on abortion that is creating an even bigger

divde in our society today which is making it harder to make abortion illegal.
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Along with the divide that is going on there is a huge ethical problem with abortion. In

many states and aross the United States it is very hard to find a doctor that will give you an

abortion if you are beyond twelve weeks. According to usafacts.org, in 2018 forty percent of

abortions occur before six weeks or earlier. By week six the neural tube closes in a developing

fetus. The neural tube gives rise to the baby's brain and spinal cord, the heart and other organs

also start to form, and the heart begins to beat. They also show that thirty eight percent of

abortions occur from seven to nine weeks. By nine weeks, organs continue to develop and the

baby begins to move around. Even fifteen percent of abortions occur from ten to thirteen weeks.

By thirteen weeks the baby's organs are fully formed and at work. Larger bones including those

of the skull are beginning to harden.

In six states it is legal to get an abortion up until week twenty four, at which stage the

fetus is almot fully developed. In seven states there is no limit to the week which you are able to

get an abortion. Because we have so many states that are allowing abortions this is causing

problems because many people will just go to those states to obtain an abortion. To put an end to

abortion, we have to pass an anti abortion law, but it is becoming harder to do because of the

increasing opinions of citizens in the United States. According to an article by Her Campus they

talk about how many people think the medical doctors should have the say to whether or not

abortions are legal. But, we cannot leave it up to the people that work in that profession because

then we will have differing rules all over the United States. At some point we need the

government to step in, and we need a law passed to make abortion illegal.

Until about 1880 abortions were widely practiced and allowed by law in the United

States. In 1880, abortions became crimilized except when necessary to save the mothers life.

After abortions became illegal, women continued to have them secretely. CNN health states, “In
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the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, the estimated number of illegal abortions ranged from

two hundered thousand to one point two million per year.” During the same time as the civil

rights movement the women's liberation movement arose as well. In 1973 Roe V. Wade was

passed and abortions were legalized in the United States. As a result of this decision the number

of legal abortions increased to about one point six million a year from 1980 until the 1990’s.

Because of the Wade ruling it has caused many women to obtain abortions, as well as many anti

abortion movements to start up all across the country.

Abortion is a huge problem in the United States today because of what The Atlantic calls

an “unwinnable” argument. The Atlantic describes this as an unwinnable argument because fo

the consequences that are going to happen whether abortion is legal or illegal. If abortion is legal

then we are killing inicent human beings and causing pain to the fetus. In the article they talk

about how a mother feels when they see their baby on ultrasound and how meaningful it is to see

that little human growing in their body. They continue to describe the unwinnable argument by

showing that if abrotions are illegal then many women get abortions illegally or own their own.

In the article it talks about how women were using lysol to abort their babies themselves. This is

why it is considered an “unwinnable” argument.

Currently abortion is legal in the United States, thirty eight states require a licensed

physician to perform an abortion, an forty three stats prohibit abortions after a certain point in

pregnancy except when necessary to protect the mothers life or health. Only eighteen states have

laws stating that counseling must be given to women before abortions. According to Guttmacher

Institute they say, “Eighteen states mandate that women be given counseling before an abortion

that includes infromation on at least one of the following: the purported link between abortion
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and breast cancer (five states) the ability of a fetus to feel pain (thirteen states) or long term

mental health consequences for the women (eight states).”

Anti abortion laws are very slowcoming because of the controversial topic matter.

Abortion has been a huge topic in the United States and has become bigger due to the #metoo

movement in 2006. The #metoo movement was brought about by women to raise awareness for

women who have been sexually abused. Because of this movement that is trying to find safe

ways for many young girls to gain abortions it has caused an uproar in our country today. In

many articles people talk about the divide that is becoming larger because of this movement and

the reason behind it. Along with this movement there have been many others that have sparked

on the side of pro choice and anti abortion. These have caused an issue in the trying of politicians

to create an anti aboriton law.

The goal in the United States right now would be to pass a law that ultimately makes

abortion illegal. But because of Roe V. Wade and where the world is at right now, that doesn’t

seem very likely to happen. Because we can’t make abortions illegal right now, we need to figure

out how to reduce them and continue to lessen the number of abortions. The Center for American

Progress says it very well when they say, “Simply put, there are two key ways to reduce abortion

– by making it less necessary or by making it less available.” And because even when we make

abortion illegal people will still find ways to do it in secret, so we need to figure out how to

reduce the number of abortions right now. Some changes that we can make to help decrease the

number of abortions is to cut public funding for them, lessen the amount of available doctors that

will perform abortions, and to create mandatory counsleing before getting an abortion, and

making adoption more aviable to everyone.

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We need to implement these tactics to help create a safe environment for everyone.

Because we cannot make abortions illegal at the moment, we need to try our best to reduce the

number of them. If we create mandatory counseling with the mothers showing them the facts

about a fetus and the developemt rates of them maybe we can get more people to understand

what they are really doing when they are participating in abortion. We can use government

control and cut public funding for them so they are less accessible for people. We can also try

and create a better way so that people know that they have options other an abortion such as

adoption where the baby can have a safe and healthy life. We need to reach the people of the

United States and educate them on what is going on with the climbing rates of abortion. If we

cannot make abortion illegal, we can try and take steps in the right direction by creating a better

life for those babies. If we can try our best to reduce the number of abortions then we are one

step closer to saving tons of lives.