Is abortion murder? Does a woman have the right to control what happens to her body? This is the current debate over abortion, but it is not the debate that should be going on. What people should really be debating is how to solve the major health dilemma,but this issue is largely ignored. The United Nations began to see the two sides of the pro-humanity debate during a conference on maternal mortality rates, but understanding that there is a dilemma and taking action to solve it are two different things. The United Nations needs to take action. Be eliminating abortion-related deaths, they can eliminate 13% of the maternal deaths each year. The UN can save the lives of more than 67,000 women a year. This is not a pro-life or pro-choice matter. This is a matter of pro-humanity. These women need access to contraceptives and safe abortions in order to save their lives. If the UNited Nations privides access to such medical necessities to women in impoverished countries, the lives of more than 67,000 women could be saved each year. This is a global health crisis affecting the lives of millions of women who are turning to unsafe abortions and something needs to be dine about it immediately.

Most North American and European countries have leglized abortions in almost every case, but in countries in South America, Africa, and the Middle East, abortions are illegal in most, if not all, cases, including cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother’s life. In the United States, abortion is legal, but laws vary from state to state. Some states allow abortions at any time for any reason, while others limit second term and later abortions to only those women whose life may be endangered by the pregnancy. Seventeen states cover most or all of the funds for abortions deemed medically necessary to preserve the mother’s health, and 32 states and the District of Columbia fund abortions to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest. This is a stark contrst to the stories of women in countries such as Brazil and Nigeria, where women must save half a month’s wages or more to have access to a safe abortion, or risk serious health consequences and even death by receiving an unsafe abortion. Americans battle over the moral dilemma of whether abortion is murder, but is it not just as much murder to do nothing and continue to let these women die as a result of abortions?