Rasim Crnica

Ms. Turner

English 1010

20 December 2022

Should abortion be outlawed in the United States?

Over the last few months, there has been much debate on the topic of abortion since the

supreme court overturned Roe v Wade earlier this year, which guaranteed a constitutional right

to abortion. One side argues that women should still have the right to do an abortion while the

other side argues that it is murder and should be made illegal. The practice of abortion should

still be available to the public and have it be so that it would be one’s own personal choice to

induct an abortion through legal procedures.

The first side of the argument is that abortion should remain legal, or pro-choice. This

view is shared mostly by liberals, who believe that a woman’s reproductive rights should not be

taken away from them, as it belongs to them. They also argue that in some scenarios, abortion

should be allowed, like a baby being conceived through rape or the baby possibly endangering

the mother’s life, or the baby would simply grow up in an unhealthy situation. They also argue

that pregnancy and parenting can have significant financial and social costs, and in some cases,

continuing a pregnancy may not be feasible for a person due to their economic or social

circumstances. In these cases, abortion can be an important option for protecting a person's

overall well-being and quality of life. They also argue that if abortion were to be made illegal, it

could be a window to make things such as birth control. Pro-choice arguers also make the

argument that making abortion illegal will just make desperate women go to dangerous lengths

to get an abortion, Author Michelle Goldberg wrote in An America without reproductive freedom
will be a dark place, “So abortion will probably soon be illegal in around half the states. Some

women will be forced to give birth against their will. Some will travel to states where abortion

remains legal; we can expect waiting times to increase as out-of-state patients pour in. Some will

have illegal abortions. Some women will end up in prison. Some, facing pregnancy

complications, will see necessary treatment postponed. Some will probably die.” Pro-choice

arguers believe that making abortion illegal will just cause endanger more lives than it will save,

and that making abortion illegal is a breach of women’s reproductive rights.

People who are against abortion, or pro-life, argue that abortion is murder and should not

be legal anywhere in the United States. One argument often raised by pro-life advocates is that

abortion ends the life of an unborn child and is therefore morally wrong. Pro-life advocates argue

that every human life is valuable and deserving of protection, including the lives of unborn

children. They may also argue that the right to life is a fundamental human right that should not

be denied to any individual, including those who have not yet been born. In The case against

abortion published by the New York Times, author Ross Douthat argues that he argues that

abortion is a form of killing, and that’s it’s hard to deny that, saying “There is no way to

seriously deny that abortion is a form of killing.” He talks about alternatives to abortion such as

holding men more responsible for a child. He also argues that this isn’t a matter of equality

between men and women but trying to get one group to stop killing babies. An argument that

pro-life people try to push is that a fetus is a human, and they should have the same rights as you

and me, therefore making it illegal to have an abortion without their consent. Author Kate

Zernike in Is a Fetus a Person? An Anti-Abortion Strategy Says Yes for the New York Times

reports that anti-abortion support groups are pushing to make laws declaring fetuses the same

rights as people. This way you cannot possibly get an abortion without the baby’s consent, which
is impossible, practically making abortion illegal. Kate Zernike says, “Even as roughly half the

states have moved to enact near-total bans on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe

v. Wade in June, anti-abortion activists are pushing for a long-held and more absolute goal: laws

that grant fetuses the same legal rights and protections as any person.” Pushing for fetuses to

have the same rights as normal people however does have a flaw, The issue with declaring a

fetus with the same rights as a person is that establishing fetal personhood inevitably strips away

the rights of a pregnant woman, her choices in a health care proxy, or about whether to have

surgery, would have to be weighed against another equal person’s.

People who are not pro-abortion, but pro-choice also exist. These people are personally

against abortion but believe that they should be the ones making that choice for themselves, as

well as other women, and should not be blocked from their reproductive rights. This anonymous

author for the article Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion: An argument for abortion rights

for the Pew Research Center, argues that women should still have the right to abortions and have

it be a woman’s decision whether to get one or not. She says, “Abortion is a very serious

decision, and each decision depends on circumstances. That’s why I tell people: I am not pro-

abortion, I am pro-choice. And that’s an important distinction.” This group of people values

personal freedom, they believe that individuals have a right to make their own decisions about

their own bodies and their own lives, and that this right should extend to the decision of whether

or not to have an abortion. They may personally believe that abortion is wrong, but they don't

believe that they have the right to tell others what they can and can't do with their own bodies.

In conclusion, abortion is a complex and controversial issue that involves a range of

moral, ethical, and legal considerations. While there are valid arguments on both sides of the

debate, it is ultimately up to each individual to make their own decision about whether or not to
have an abortion. It is important for all individuals to have access to accurate and unbiased

information about their reproductive health options so that they can make informed decisions

about their own bodies and lives.