Abortion - Essay 14

The issue of abortion is not an issue to be taken lightly. Abortion is, and has been, one of the most controversial issues in the United States. But when it comes to abortion, the U.S. is passionately divided into pro-life and pro-choice supporters. Both the supporters of the pro-life and the pro-choice beliefs are able to present strong evidence as to why they believe that their view point is correct. However, the two opposing beliefs are not as black and white as they may seem. When a person is choosing a side, there are many minuscule details that the person must examine.   Everything from the age of the fetus, the reason for the abortion, and the type of procedure, along with many other details, make a difference. The mother often time is greatly affected by the abortion. It is a serious decision that the mother has to live with for the rest of her life.
The history of abortion goes a long way back. Laws against abortion began to appear in the early 1820’s. These laws put restrictions on the time frame in which a woman could have an abortion done, such as not allowing the procedure to be done after the fourth month of pregnancy. Because of these limitations, the number of illegal abortions increased. Many feminists opposed abortions because the procedures were still very dangerous to both the mother’s life and health. These women believed that abortion would not be needed if women gained more freedom and equality and focused a lot on prevention methods, such as safe, effective, successful birth control methods. They also believed that men, laws, and certain circumstances led to more abortions. By the 1965, all fifty states had outlawed abortion, with the exception of a few states who allowed it under the circumstances of saving the mother’s life, rape, incest, or having a deformed fetus. Different groups formed and worked hard to get rid of anti-abortion laws. In 1973, the monumental court case, Roe v. Wade, occurred. A pregnant single woman named Norma...