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Taylor Brenner

Professor Lupinacci

English Composition 1

December 7, 2022

Abortion Is Healthcare

An abortion is defined as, “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy before it has

reached the stage of viability” (Britannica 1). The abortion debate is a long-standing controversy

amongst our country that touches on the legal, moral and religious aspects of abortion. As most

debates go, there are two sides to how people view abortion. The “pro-life” side, who believes

that the fetus is a human deserving protection, separate from the mother. On the other hand, the

“pro-choice” side believes that it is the mother’s right to choose whether or not she carries on

with the pregnancy. I believe that abortion is a human right, where it is up to the mother to make

the decision of whether or not she wants to carry the fetus.

As stated before, abortion has become a huge topic of controversy in our country, and

others as well. As of right now, abortion laws vary greatly between different jurisdictions,

ranging from prohibition, to public funding of the procedure. There are two different approaches

to the abortion procedure. First is the medical abortion. “Medical abortion refers to a method of

inducing the abortion of a pregnancy by the ingestion of a pill called mifepristone, followed by a

dose of misoprostol 24-48 hours later” (Pruski 253). The second option is a surgical procedure

that uses physical means to remove the fetus. Personally, I believe that allowing it to be the

woman’s right to choose, is the best way to handle the situation. Many on the opposite side

believe that being “pro-choice”, means that you are “pro-abortion”. For many on the pro-choice

side, this is not the case. It is right in the name of our cause. Choice. The belief that a woman
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should be forced to carry a baby unwillingly or being unable to financially support the baby is

cruel. Not only for the mother, but for the baby if it is born. There are many reasons why

someone would not want to go through with a pregnancy. One of many being that they are

simply unable to properly provide for their child if they give birth to it. Another instance where

abortion should be an option is in the case of rape. In any case, it should always be up to the

person who is carrying the fetus. With this being said, there should be limitations to the

procedure as well. Once the pregnancy has reached a certain stage, and the fetus would be able to

survive on its own is where the line should be drawn, unless the mother could face problems

herself. Most doctors consider fetal viability to be 24-28 weeks into the pregnancy. At this mark,

the fetus could be delivered and be successfully resuscitated without significant morbidity.

Following the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion,

“there are currently 21 million women, in 13 states, with the ability to terminate a pregnancy

prohibited or severely restricted” (ProQuest 1). This means that women who go through with the

procedure, and even the medical provider, could face serious jail time.

Another way that Pro-Life advocators try to diminish the Pro-choice movement is saying

that the mother could always just put the child up for adoption. This raises the question of “what

about all the children in the foster care system that are abused, or have been in the system since

they could even talk”? “In the U.S alone, 420,000 children are currently in the foster care system.

90% of the children will experience some kind of severe trauma, and 25% will attempt suicide”

(For Others 1). Putting even more children in the foster care system will make matters worse. I

believe that the solution of “just putting the children up for adoption”, is a lazy answer for real

problems. When Pro-lifers are asked if they have ever rescued a child from the foster system, the

common answer is no. When asked why, they usually respond with “I have my own children”.
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This answer completely dismisses the idea that children should be put up for adoption, in place

of abortion.

Although the main objective of the Pro-choice movement is to ensure the woman’s right

to abortion, they also advocate for sex education, contraceptive accessibility, reproductive health,

as well as many other things. Groups like Giving Compass, located in Harrisburg PA, provide

information about reproductive justice, have charities, issue funds and even disaster relief funds.

This gives people the opportunity to learn more about the Pro-Choice cause, and what they do

for the people they support.

There are two different sides to every debate, and the choice is up to the individual to

make as to which side is agreeable. It is our job to ensure that people have the accessibility to

make their own decisions. I believe that abortion rights are human rights. Being Pro-choice does

not mean you are pro-abortion. It is simply giving someone the option to choose for themselves.
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Works Cited

Pruski, Michal, Dominic Whitehouse, and Steven Bow. "The Right to Choose to Abort an

Abortion: Should Pro-Choice Advocates Support Abortion Pill Reversal?" The New

Bioethics, vol. 28, no. 3, 2022, pp. 252-267.

"USA: Abortion Ban Laws Take Effect in Three States." CE Noticias Financieras, Aug 26,

2022. ProQuest,

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.hacc.edu/wire-feeds/usa-abortion-ban-laws-take-eff

ect-three-states/docview/2707317354/se-2.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "abortion". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Nov.

2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/abortion-pregnancy. Accessed 7 December

2022.

Others , For. “The Crisis .” For Others , 2021,

https://www.forothers.com/the-crisis/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkMGcBhCSARIsAIW6d0Ct28zya

D-LJ3_C63D8QyjUH6anuDThUngnkpAsl1_t3A4DrdvtnE4aAjFJEALw_wcB.