Abortion Should be Legalized

Abortion has become a significant issue, and problem in contemporary society and the most affected are young people. In many cases, mistakes are made on the spur of the moment. So it needs to be fixed afterwards. There are also many times when the harm caused by the crimes of other people person is not what they want but what they are forced to do. If individuals are so reckless as to give birth to the child, the child will not be born with a blessing. Abortion should remain legal in the same way that it currently is in the United States. Once the fetus can live separate from the mother’s body, it becomes an individual human being and holds the rights associated with that status. Despite many people being against abortion, there several arguments that support abortion to remain legal in the United States.

The first reason is that most abortions the ages are between 15 to 21. At this age, they are basically in school. They do not have enough energy to take care of a child. Also, they do not have enough money to support a child to grow up. The female body does not fully mature until the age of 20. Before that, it is puberty. Early pregnancy can cause the baby to compete with the mother for nutrients (Weitz 87). They cannot thrive or suffer from malnutrition. The most dangerous thing is that there are all kinds of things that happen during labour. For example, Soft birth canal laceration is easy to occur during labour postpartum haemorrhage Placental abruption. The result is higher maternal and infant mortality. It is just more harmful to babies. Babies need a lot of nutrients when they grow — for example, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, inorganic salts, trace elements, and so on. But when babies and mothers compete for these nutrients, they may not get enough. This can lead to physical weakness or mental disability or physical deformity.

The second reason is that legalization of abortion reduces crime at the source. The most significant impact on the legalization of abortion has been on offence (Hess and Rueb 24). All rapists do not take precautions. This puts women at risk of unwanted pregnancy after a crime. Abortion is not allowed in some American states, such as South Dakota, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana, Georgia and Kentucky. This is because society thinks that abortion is the termination of life, but it is the increasing source of crime. Although there are all kinds’ debates going on about the legalization of abortion, the government must recognize and respect the rights of women to make their own decisions. Babies do not have the choices to parents. However, potential parents should be able to choose if they want to have babies or not.

Another point is that women who genuinely wish to do so will abort regardless of illegality. People can talk of the back alley abortions, but the fact is abortion goes back way farther than that (Stets and Leik 265). Women have known of herbs that would be likely to cause a miscarriage long before modern medicine. If there is a will, there is away. Furthermore, when the government outlaws abortion, it does not get a significant reduction in abortions. What it gets is a reduction in “safe” abortions and an increase in unsafe abortions. This ends up killing women while not saving any fetuses.
Abortion should remain legalized for the apparent need to enforce a law once enacted. In the contemporary United State, most people will agree that in those rare cases where a pregnancy occurs as a result of rape, there should be exceptions (Weitz 89). However, individuals also have to consider the consequences of saying that, in just this one case, it is okay. The cases of “rape” would skyrocket. This is unfair both to the women who are genuinely raped as well as to men who would be wrongfully accused of a heinous act. This is moral or right, but it is the reality of the situation. It would result in an overburdening of our court systems with fraudulent cases of rape.

Also, the cost of actually enforcing such legislation would be high. This means the morality of the issue or trying to put a price tag on the life of a child, but instead looking at the problem from a political view (Stets and Robert 277). From a governmental standpoint, there is a need to look at the cost of enforcement for any law passed. What is the point of law if it is not enforced? Many people state an unwillingness to pay for a woman to have an abortion and consider it a burden on societal finances. They also need to consider the cost of refusing to allow them a choice. It would cost more to enforce a complete ban on abortion than it does under our current situation.

Outlawing abortion especially hurts women from low-income households. The wealthy ones can afford to go abroad and have a safe abortion at a medical facility there, while poor women might have to resort to various dangerous methods (Weitz 91). Reproductive self-selection is essential for equal rights. Access to excellent and cheap contraceptives was hugely crucial for equal rights – because it meant women could now plan when they wanted children, and when not. Access to safe abortions is a benefit to equal rights for the same reason.

Even if people are in favour of a “right to live,” that applies even to unborn fetuses. There is not a right to live at the cost of another human being (Hess and Rueb 33). For example, a Siamese twin should be able to demand separation from their twin, even in cases where this separation will surely kill the twin. Furthermore, outlawing abortion will lead to somewhat more unwanted children being born. This is good neither for the parents nor for the child or society. Having an unwanted child (frequently at a young age) tends to increase the chances that individuals will never complete their education, and increases the likelihood that they will end up on welfare.

As much as abortion should remain legal due to many reasons, there are also arguments to support why it should be made an illegal practice. Practically, in the United States, for instance, at this point, it would be ridiculous to think the country is ready for a complete ban on abortion (Thomas, Norris and Gallo 357). However, millions of Americans have fought to abolish abortion now in as many situations as realistically possible. There are so many reasons why abortion is wrong. First, a fetus is a person. From the moment of conception, it is a human. This is because the zygote, the form every person takes upon understanding, has its own set of DNA and therefore, scientifically has its personhood. A common refutation to the first assertion is that the unborn are not human because they depend on the mother to survive (Weitz 93). Dependency does not determine personhood. Is an insulin-dependent diabetic a little less human because a piece of them (pancreas) does not work? Of course not. It is, therefore, reasonable to extend that logic to the unborn. The degree of dependency does not affect the degree of personhood. Ironically, the people who support abortion can only do so because they were not killed at the same stage of life.

Another argument is on the issue of the mother’s choice. The mother is the one carrying the child, but the “my body, my choice” argument is losing its potency (Stanhope et al. 873). This is because it would be ridiculous to say that a pregnant mother has two heads, four hands. The baby is growing inside her, while dependent, is a separate entity. In some states, if someone murders a woman who is pregnant, they are charged with double-homicide. This means that the fetus is recognized as a person in and of themselves under the law. However, that personhood is stripped away in the case of abortion. This logically means that personhood depends entirely on intent.

Before abortion was mostly and entirely made illegal, adoption agencies and programs would have to expand significantly. This is a good thing, however, because individuals think they would all at least have a shot at life than having an entire life is worth of potential robbed from them (Thomas, Norris and Gallo 364). The right of a whole life, that is, statistically speaking, 80 years worth of love, loss, laughter, sadness, knowledge, and wisdom, outweighs the right to “choose.” One last piece of anecdotal evidence: Ludwig van Beethoven’s mother seemed to have every reason to abort him, but did not. This was right, and society owes her a significant appreciation.

In summation, abortion should remain legal not based on any moral precept but instead based on the consequences of outlawing the practice and the amount of benefit that could reasonably be assumed to be derived from it. Innocent people would be harmed, the court system overburdened, the government spending increased, and abortions (though admittedly fewer) would still occur. However, there are several arguments against making abortion legal which include the child has the right to live, it crime to commit murder, it robs people the life they want. Although many people are against abortion, the reasons are valid enough to support the legalization of abortion.

Works Cited

Weitz, Tracy A. “Rethinking the mantra that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare”.” Reproduction and Society: Interdisciplinary Readings. Routledge, 2014. 87-94.

Hess, Jennifer A., and Justin D. Rueb. “Attitudes toward abortion, religion, and party affiliation among college students.” Current Psychology 24.1 (2005): 24-42.

Stets, Jan E., and Robert K. Leik. “Attitudes about abortion and varying attitude structures.” Social Science Research 22.3 (1993): 265-282.

Thomas, Rachel G., Alison H. Norris, and Maria F. Gallo. “Anti-legal attitude toward abortion among abortion patients in the United States.” Contraception 96.5 (2017): 357-364.

Stanhope, Kaitlyn, et al. “Physician opinions concerning legal abortion in Bogotá, Colombia.” Culture, health & sexuality 19.8 (2017): 873-887