When people hear the word “abortion” today, most United States citizens take sides in the presently controversial matter. An abortion means ending a pregnancy before the fetus (the unborn child) can live independently outside the mother. Some Americans choose to be pro-choice while others choose to be pro-life. An individual who is pro-choice believes a woman who is pregnant should freely be able to have an abortion if she chooses to. On the other hand, a person who is pro-life does not believe in abortions under any conditions. According to the National Abortion Federation: “There are currently about 1.3 million abortions that take place after an unplanned pregnancy every year in the United States” (Dudley 1). Abortion has always been a controversial issue in the United States, but the debates that take place on the topic today are as heated as ever.

In the past, jurisdiction over abortion rested with the states rather than with the federal government. Until the second half of the 19th century, most states chose not to restrict abortion. However, by the end of the 19th century, the majority of states adopted laws that made it a crime to either perform or obtain an abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant woman. Then, in a court case of 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. This famous case became known as Roe v. Wade (after the people involved in it). Since the Roe v. Wade decision, abortion has become one of the most divisive political issues in the United States today. While citizens who are Pro-choice argue that

abortion is a freedom a woman should have because of her rights to privacy and the right to make her own decisions, citizens who are pro-life argue that abortion is an action that should be illegal in all cases because it kills a living fetus. In the United States today, the controversial topic is publicized by both sides by “[m]arches as large as tens of thousands of people, media articles, personal stories, and even in some doctor’s offices you can find the topic as a central discussion” (Ross 8). After analyzing both point of views, I conclude that my belief in the topic of abortion is pro-choice.

The pro-choice outlook on abortion takes a lot of consideration into the constitution, natural rights, and the Amendments. In the constitution, citizens are given the right to privacy. “What is more private then a person’s body?” (Dudley 3) An unborn child occupies a woman’s body. What happens to her body should be her choice and her choice only. A pro-life response to this argument can be that “[c]rimes on private property are still crimes and once a crime, such as murder, takes place it is no longer a private matter” (Ross 5). This is true; however, it is not realistic to prosecute even real crimes when it is not in the ability of the state to prove them. The rights to privacy deny the government to such capability to prosecute in many cases. It is therefore listed between-the-lines in the constitution that a woman has the natural right of privacy and option over her body.

Perhaps one of the most strongly debated arguments for the controversy over abortion lies within cases of rape and endangerment to the mother. “Even citizens who claim that they are pro-life believe that abortion should be allowed in these severe cases” (Ross 2). Nevertheless, keeping in mind the few people who are 100% pro-life,

it is important to recognize the unconstitutional ways of this. Denying a woman of an abortion after she has been raped is an outrageous thought. “What woman wants the burden of a very unfortunate incident to be plastered upon her until her baby is born?”

(Dudley 1) A woman who is raped and has to deal with an unwanted pregnancy because of her unfortunate incident is not being treated fairly. While considering outlawing abortion, it is also important to keep in mind a woman’s best wellbeing. A woman whose baby is putting her life in danger should certainly be given the option of an abortion to save her own life.

Another lingering question in the controversy involving abortion is religion. In the constitution, United States citizens are given the freedom to follow any religion that he or she pleases. “It is illegitimate to make laws about abortion, because opposition to abortion is based on religious belief mostly, and in the United States it is not acceptable to make laws based on religious belief” (Johanson 1). The Catholic faith, for example, is pro-life because this religion believes that abortion is murder to an unborn child. The Christian faith believes that a human soul becomes present as soon as conception occurs. This belief evolves from one of the Catholic Church’s Ten Commandments; Thy shou not kill. However, to outlaw abortion for the Catholic faith would be unjust. Declaring abortion illegal for the sake of the Catholic faith would be mixing politics and religion. “Politicians and political parties should not discuss abortion and there should be no laws restricting abortion, because abortion is a religious issue, and for politicians to get involved in it would be something that the constitution prohibits” (Johanson 1). While taking into account that all religions have their own separate beliefs on abortion, to

outlaw it in the United States would be mixing religion and politics which does not follow the important “freedom of religion” section in the constitution.

After analyzing both point of views, I conclude that my belief in the topic of abortion is pro-choice. Being pro-choice does not mean that a person believes in murder. Being pro-choice simply means that the person follows the rights stated in the constitution. Believing in a person’s privacy rights, the duty to keep a pregnant woman safe, and the rights given to practice one’s own religion, are reasons why abortion should

be kept as an option to a woman who feels she can not endure the labor that comes with having a baby. “In some of the women’s cases, where she has been raped, or her life is in danger, an abortion is the only reliable option for the sake of the unborn child and for her” (Dudley 2). The constitutional issue of abortion that exists should no longer be a question because of all the reasons as to why it should not be illicit.