Reproductive rights in the United States: Should abortion be legal or illegal?
Reproductive Rights
1. Against Argument:
1.1. Women should not be able to use abortion as a form on contraceptive. Women should use alternative forms of birth control and sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
1.1.1. Pro-life view: From the moment of conception, the unborn entity is a member of society. The fetus has a right to life.
1.1.1.1. Allowing abortion reduces the chance of adoption. "the number of US infant adoptions dropped from about 90,000 in 1971 to 18,329 in 2014. Around 2.6 million Americans are seeking to adopt children" (abortion.procon.org).
1.1.1.1.1. Abortion can cause future medical problems for women. Studies show that there is a link with miscarriages and cancer after an abortion has occurred (National Cancer Institute, 2003).
1.1.1.2. The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This includes an unborn fetus.
2. Pro Argument:
2.1. Access to safe and legal abortions results in less maternal death/injury, which can be caused by illegal/unsafe abortions.
2.1.1. Women have the right to terminate a pregnancy as long as it is within a certain number of gestational weeks (varies from state to state).
2.1.1.1. "The US Supreme Court has declared abortion to be a fundamental right guaranteed by the US Constitution" (abortion.procon.org).
2.1.1.1.1. Life begins after a fetus becomes "viable" (once the fetus can survive outside of the womb. "Embryos and fetuses are not independent, self-determining beings, and abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, not a baby. A person's age is calculated from birth date, not conception, and fetuses are not counted in the US Census" (abortion.procon.org).
2.1.1.2. This allows women to have control over their own bodies. "A peer-reviewed study comparing the mental health of women who received abortions to women denied abortions found that women who were denied abortions "felt more regret and anger" and "less relief and happiness" than women who had abortions. The same study also found that 95% of women who received abortions "felt it was the right decision"" (abortion.procon.org)