Brooke Rodriguez ENC 1101 Mrs.

McGriff 24 February 2014 Two Stands on Abortion The human race is made up of different people and those unique people are all made up of their very own opinions. People disagree on many varying ideas, whether they are big or small. It could be the decision between vanilla or chocolate, or the fight between Toyota and Ford. However, some topics have split not only the American public, but the world for years. The stance on abortion separates people into either Pro-choice or Pro-life, which the topic is argued about on a legal, medical, and personal point of view. A womens decision to get an abortion is by right her own and in a legal sense can be supported. This idea is stressed about in the side of Pro-Choice. Supporters use the court case Roe v. Wade in their favor. In this case the court ruled that they did not want to decide when life began (Anderson). The court was then in the middle where they didnt say it was okay, but they also did not say it was not an accepted decision. In the case Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, the court ruled that the parents do not need to sign a consent form before going through with an abortion (Markels). This supports the fact that it is the mothers decision what she wants to do. Medical facts can be used to bring down the act of abortion but sometimes this idea is medically the better thing to do. An example of this would be if the mother had developed cancer during her pregnancy. Going through with having a baby would not only be damaging to the

mother but can be harmful to the baby as well. The mother could possibly have a stroke, become infertile, or even die from the harsh birth. Supporters state that an abortion in this situation would then be an accepted choice and is helping the child. The chance of the baby developing birth defects can be detected early. Women try to protect the baby from this outcome by having an abortion (Marchick). There are a wide range of personal reasons why a woman would make this decision. The one mostly supported is the fact that they do not have enough money to pay for the expenses of having a baby. They dont want to get in the situation where they wont be able to feed their child. Living in a bad environment is often thrown out with not having enough money. More major reasons would be if a pregnancy was caused due to getting raped or having an affair with another man. The abortion would then easily be a quiet and quick decision. The people who support Pro-life, argue many points when trying to defend the human life; one of them being the legal prospective. In the area of abortion, the court case Roe v. Wade can be used to not only support abortion but also can be a means against it. However, in spite of the courts decision to not make a decision, they overturned the laws prohibiting the act of abortion in the United States. The fact that pulls at peoples heart strings is that due to this, nearly thirty million abortions had taken place. In addition to this, a human beings right of being innocent until proved guilty is taken away (Anderson). People who argue against abortion most all the time use medical reasoning to support their view. Looking at the topic medically, certain facts against abortion are brought to light. Genetically, a developing embryo is different from the mother. It is also separated from the sperm and the egg that created it. When medical tests were done the DNA of the embryo could

not be distinguished from the DNA of a human being. That means that the embryos DNA could be called that of a human being. Some Doctors use whether there are any heart waves to proceed with the abortion but this gave people who oppose some support because on the eighteenth day of the pregnancy, the heart is formed. From there they can go on to say that forty to forty-three days in, brain waves from the fetus are developed (Anderson). Along with the personal reasons women have to defend why they get an abortion, there are also personal arguments to why some think that this is the worst decision a woman can make. Many believe that the process of getting an abortion is a selfish act. Even though there is an explanation why women choose to not keep the baby, the Pro-life side states that most of the time its because they do not want to have to deal with having a baby and that it took them by surprise. Anywhere in the world there are going to be arguments about controversial topics where people separate in their choices. In the U.S., there is a list of issues people do not agree on. The idea of abortion is usually at the top of that list. Whether people decide to be Pro-choice or Pro-life is entirely up to them. Statistically America is split right down the middle because both sides have strong supporters. No matter how many court cases try to make a decision on the subject, this idea will continue to be talked about for years to come.

Works Cited Anderson, Kerby. Arguments Against Abortion. Probe Ministries. Probe Ministries International. n.d. Web. 25 February 2014. Marchick, Rose. Medical Reasons for Abortions. Livestrong.com. Demand Media, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 February 2014. Markels, Alex. Supreme Courts Evolving Ruling on Abortion. NPR. n.p. 30 November 2005. Web. 25 February 2014.