In Texas Abortion is one of the most controversial issues of today’s society. Defined as, “the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus prior to viability’, abortion has sparked violent confrontations between two separate parties of opinion. The constant fight between pro-life and pro-choice supporters continues. The reason being, despite what several people may believe, abortion is neither right nor wrong. Through this controversial debate, the group I support is pro-choice.
Pro-choice believes that a woman should have the right to choose what hey do with their body. For example; a woman Is raped and becomes pregnant. She makes the decision to not keep the baby because it’s the baby of the guy that raped her. Pro-choice supporters have sympathy towards these women while she gets called a murderer by pro-life supporters. Anti-abortionist takes a “pre-life” position. Most of these supporters have a religious background and they do not believe In abortion and believe that It should be Illegal and that It Is an act of murder.
These anti-abortion supporters use violence, stalk, and kill women who have decided to have an abortion and even some times forcing the women to have the baby. Even though some pro-lifers use the excuse that religion seizes their opportunity to support abortion, It may be surprising to learn that catholic women are 29% more likely to get an abortion than Protestant women. (MIT Pro-choice, 8) In most religions such as Christianity, abortion has been considered homicide since Pope Sixths V declared it so, some believe it Is okay in some situations.
For example, Buddhist viewpoint Is “If the unborn child will be retarded or if the birth will create serious problems for the parent, these cases where there can be an exception. ” Judaism mint of view presents that an abortion can occur “if the mother’s life was in danger. ” Some Protestant denominations believe that abortions can be morally acceptable when the baby “Is suffering from a serious disability. ” So the argument that all religious groups prevent abortion to take place is invalid in certain circumstances. 14,000 women get abortions due to incest or rape.
It is estimated that 43% of women will have an abortion by the time they turn 45 years old. (MIT Pro-choice, 8). It is also estimated that a number of 43 million abortions occur each year. If abortions did not append with the current over flow of population that we have now, there would be even more issues with limitation in resources. In a way abortion is beneficial to the planet. Dating back before 1973, abortion has been popular in the American society; however It Just recently began gaining mainstream support. People who support legal abortion believe that this practice has always been accepted In America.
People who oppose abortion think that abortion is a recent practice, but it is not. The first known conviction for “intention to abort” was in Maryland in 1652. Four years later, a Oman was arrested for murder after getting an abortion, but the case was ended when she married the only witness, who then refused to testify. (Alaska, 1) Though I am not really fond of the idea of abortion, I do take the pro-choice beliefs and believe that abortion should be legal, but under certain circumstances such as: rape, if the I OFF illness.
In an article written by Carolyn Jones, she talks about the ban against abortion after the first 20 weeks of gestation in Texas, and women having to go past state boarder lines to go through with an abortion. The article talks about a Texas existent named Florence who suffers from a life-threatening genetic disease. After finding out about her pregnancy, her partner left her because he couldn’t handle her constant illness. When she learns that her fetus had inherited her disease and would never be healthy, she wanted to have an abortion before her child could suffer like she does.
By the time Florence made her decision to have an abortion it was already past the 20 weeks cut off for abortions in Texas, so she had to travel out of state to have the abortion Cones, 2). Women in these types of situations should be allowed to have an abortion, regardless of being past the cut off. If Florence didn’t go through with the abortion, she knew that her baby would not have a healthy life and that it would suffer, she had a good reason. Having to travel out of state makes it unsafe because you don’t know who you’re dealing with, and you don’t who to trust.
To help deal with situations such as this, Texas has put the “Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act” into effect (NRC, 3, 4). This act allows abortion after 20 weeks post- fertilization if the mother or the babies’ life is endangered, or in cases of rape and incest. In the state of Texas, lawmakers passed a legislation called the Texas Sonogram Abortion Bill. This requires doctors to perform a sonogram before conducting an abortion. The legislation requires doctors to conduct a sonogram twenty-four hours before an abortion, this gives woman the opportunity to see and listen to the fetal heartbeat.
The doctor is also required to describe what is shown on the sonogram. This is done to make sure the women understand what the abortion consist of. After this, the woman is then given time to decide whether or not she wants to continue on with the abortion or not. This law also helps in cases of incest, rape or fetal abnormality, if the woman chooses to, she does not have to hear a ascription of the fetus. (Huffing Post, 7). In cases of abortion, I do believe that the women should in some way know or get information from a doctor before going through with the procedure.
After hearing certain things about the fetus or what’s growing on inside of them, they might change their mind and this bill does that. Though I do believe that abortion should be allowed under certain circumstances such as; rape, fetal abnormality, etc. I also believe it should be allowed for financial reasons. Author Leslie Cannoned talks about her friend who never viewed the pro- hospice option as something she would choose, but she faced that problem thanks to a broken condom. She was unemployed, single, and living in a tiny studio apartment.
She had always planned for a family, but Just not at the moment. In her value system, it was important to have a partner to raise a family and have a steady income. She then admitted, “l don’t think I would be a great mother right now. “(Cannoned, 5) In her defense, she weighted her options and chose what she thought worked best and went on with the abortion. If a mother is not able to provide for her child financially ND is currently struggling to survive herself, abortion should be considered.
Pro-life supporters oppose this idea by the belief that every child has a right to live, even if the mother is not financially stable to support the child and the child would struggle along with their mother. This causes the children to be underprivileged and they from the previous paragraph, the famous Roe v. Wade case is somewhat similar. Jane Roe was a single woman who lived in Dallas County, Texas. She fought the Judgment that Texas criminal abortion statutes were “unconstitutional on their face and an injunction restraining the defendant from enforcing the statues. (Braid, Rosenberg, 6) Roe alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant and that she wished to terminate her pregnancy by abortion. She argued that she was unable to get a legal abortion in Texas because her life did not appear to be threatened by the continuation of the pregnancy; that she could not afford to travel under Jurisdiction in order to secure a legal abortion under safe conditions. (Braid, Rosenberg, 6) Roe did not want to keep the baby because she knew she would not be able to provide for it or give it the life that it needed.
Even though I have my own beliefs on abortion, I feel that it is important for individuals to have the freedom to choose what they want and get their own understanding of this topic. Who am I or you for that matter to tell someone else what to do with their own bodies? Even though I have not had this procedure and never will, I know of someone who has been through this. It wasn’t easy for them to do it but as of know they are at basic training for the Air Force. It may not have been easy but she did what she thought was best for her situation.
Considering the history of abortions, I feel that people in this age shouldn’t be atrophied for it either. Like I said before it has been practiced way before our time but Just handled differently. I understand there is a constant battle between pro- choice and pro-life, but why is the result always some sort of bicker? Why don’t we look at ways to convince those who do go through with abortions better alternatives? We could spread the word of adoptions; educate those with pregnancy prevention, and protection. Bottom line is that I do feel that everyone should have a choice of what to choose, and shouldn’t be Judged for their choice.
