Running Head: A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE
A Woman’s Right to Choose
John Quick
ITT Technical Institute
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Abstract
The issue of abortion is a widely controversial debate, and has been for years. When is it
right, if ever, to take away a woman’s right to legal and safe, regulated abortions? The right to
choose continuing a pregnancy should lie firmly on the shoulders on the mother, herself, and no
one else. In this paper I will look at major points in the pro-life arguments, and argue scientific,
statistical and logical evidence against them.
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The decision of abortion and a woman’s ‘right to choose’ is one of the most controversial
discussions in America and the world today. Although the arguments centering on the morality
of the issue are widely stated, more practical and information driven arguments are not nearly as
prevalent in today’s conversations. When making a decision on your particular stance on the
subject, there is more to look at than simply the morality of the act of an abortion itself. While a
small number of our population is undecided, the vast majority of Americans identify with one of
the two sides of this debate, typically referred to as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”, both backed by a
significant number of people. The purpose of this argument is to address some of the major prolife arguments and present a reason why they may not be supported by scientific, or logical
evidence, as well as illustrate why access to safe and legal abortion may be essential to our
current way of life.
Where Does the Debate Start?
The term abortion, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the termination of a
pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of an embryo or
fetus. In today’s society there are many reasons a woman may choose this option instead of
childbirth including cases of rape or incest that result in pregnancy, the woman involved may not
be financially or mentally capable of handling the conceived burden of a child, or possible health
issues that may present themselves to either the mother or the fetus involved. In any of these
cases, who is right to decide what a woman does with her body, especially when it concerns her
own body. Most of our current laws on the matter stem from a prominent court case held in
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1973, Rowe v Wade, where it was argued that "A pregnancy to a woman is perhaps one of the
most determinative aspects of her life. It disrupts her body. It disrupts her education. It disrupts
her employment. And it often disrupts her entire family life. And we feel that, because of the
impact on the woman, this … is a matter which is of such fundamental and basic concern to the
woman involved that she should be allowed to make the choice as to whether to continue or to
terminate her pregnancy." (S. Weddington, Roe v Wade). Rowe v Wade was the most public
and prevalent case arguing laws set on abortions, yet there are still major issues from pro-life
protestors.
How Does This Affect our Society?
Abortion is legal to an extent in the US and many other countries worldwide. In fact,
according to data collected from the CDC, in 2001 there were 853,485 legal abortions in the US,
with 73.1% of these being performed within the first trimester; a staggering number, but still
much less than in earlier years (averaging over 1.3 million/year between 1977 and 1997). Now
think about those numbers for a second. Given that abortions in America make up just a small
percentage of the worldwide numbers, and that overpopulation is always a continuing concern in
our world with limited resources already, we can argue that having the capability of accessing
safe, regulated abortions helps to continue the quality of life for the entire human race.
By creating more strict laws in legal abortions, we may possibly be putting women at a
higher risk as those that may want abortions but can’t legally obtain them may find a way to
receive them elsewhere, in a possibly more unsafe environment, but should the government step
aside and let this decision rest solely on mother? My answer to this is no. There should be laws
set in place, however, we should allow a woman faced with the want or need for an abortion to
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have the ability to do so in the safest way possible. Even with this, the argument stands whose
rights are more important, the right to life of the mother, or the unborn fetus?
Main Pro-Life Arguments
There are many arguments against abortions presented by the pro-life side of this epic
debate, many of which have been restated again and again. These deal with the morality of the
act of abortion itself, as well as arguments concerning the safety of both the mother and proposed
unborn life.
Morality of Ending a Life
The first and most prevalent of these arguments is that abortion is immoral because life
begins at conception. Before we can ask if this is true, we must think about what constitutes
human life. If life ends when the heart stops, should it not begin with the same? A heart
develops enough to have a heartbeat at around 6 weeks (although this won’t be able to be seen or
heard in an ultrasound until typically week 8). If we conceive that even if there is a heartbeat,
there is still not a fully developed brain, or capability of active brain function until week 12 after
conception, should week 12 then be the standard for life given that there is a heartbeat and
developed brain? A current standard could also be what is called the ‘quickening’, or the first
movement of a fetus, which doesn’t occur until even later in a pregnancy, between weeks 13-18.
This is the current benchmark for the majority of the laws concerning abortions today.
Putting a Mothers Life in Danger
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The second most common argument is that abortion is an unsafe practice that puts the
mothers’ life in danger. This is simply untrue as there is no scientific or statistical evidence to
support this claim if we are discussing legal abortion. Obviously every medical procedure
comes with health related risks involved, the same as any surgery to any other part of your body,
but according to the Guttmacher Institute, "The risk of abortion complications is minimal: Fewer
than 0.3% of abortion patients experience a complication that requires hospitalization. Abortions
performed in the first trimester pose virtually no long-term risk of such problems as infertility,
ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) or birth defect, and little or no risk of
preterm or low-birth-weight deliveries. The risk of death associated with abortion increases with
the length of pregnancy, from one death for every one million abortions at or before eight weeks
to one per 29,000 at 16–20 weeks—and one per 11,000 at 21 or more weeks." Arguably,
abortions are less of a health risk than actual childbirth, since the mortality rate of having a child
is ten times higher than that of having an abortion at a legal provider.
Quality of Life
Should abortion options be made available in the event that the mother life would be at
serious risk during a pregnancy? Should she not also have the right to abort if evidence arose that
the fetus would have detrimental and unavoidable defects that could affect the length of, or the
quality of the life it may live? At this point whose rights are more worth protecting? If someone
can claim a right to live, shouldn't they have some sort of independent life of their own? A fetus
is only able to live because it is attached by the to the circulatory system of the mother by way of
the umbilical cord and womb; therefore, any claim to a "right" to live must necessarily be at the
expense of the woman. (A. Cline, n.d.) If the mothers wellbeing, either physically, mentally, or
financially will be in jeopardy if she were to continue with the pregnancy, she should be able to
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decide whether or not to terminate it. If she were mentally or financially unable to take care of a
child, the child would then suffer, causing the child to be in danger of neglect, thus affecting its
quality of life.
Conclusion
In conclusion there is much more going on behind these arguments than you may
imagine, which is possibly why this is such a deeply rooted controversial issue that will most
likely be around for decades to come. Most of the claims made by pro-life debaters cannot
completely be dismantled until our own scientific knowledge has advanced further, however, if
we continue to put more restrictions on abortions, or outlaw them all together, the women
seeking them, will continue to look for ways around these laws even if it is resorting to ‘back
ally’ providers. If this is the case the repercussions and mortality rate will most assuredly
increase, harming our society more than doing it good. When it comes to the rights we enforce,
a woman’s right to choose what he does with her own body, especially before a fetus has even
developed enough to have a heartbeat, or brain functionality, is not for anyone else but her to
decide.
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Annotative Bibliography
Various Authors. (2013). “Does human life begin at conception?” | Debate.org. Retrieved
from http://www.debate.org/opinions/does-human-life-begin-at-conception.
Various arguments are presented as the opinions of multiple people. Showing both sides of the
argument on when a human life is considered life at all. Authors bring ethical, moral, and
biblical arguments to the table, although, being a public debate forum, one must look past the
various fallacies in a few of the arguments where someone may make a point and then attack the
person who feels the opposite simply based on their stance directly, instead of disproving, or
making a counter point. However, the points made are valid and most hold substance.
Alters, S. M. (2008). “Abortion in the United States: A Statistical Study.” Abortion: An
Eternal Social and Moral Issue. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.proxy.itttech.edu/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&
prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&displayquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&u=itted&currPage=&disa
bleHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=O
VIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3011820104
Compiled statistical information compiled from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as well as
the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Guttmacher Institute, a privately
owned entity that polls abortion providers around the world. This statistical page holds a wealth
of information including why women have, where they may go for, as well as the availability of
abortion providers.
Mikula, M., & Mabunda, L. M. (1999). Roe v Wade. Great American Court Cases.
Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.proxy.itttech.edu/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&
prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&displayquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&u=itted&currPage=&disa
bleHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=O
VIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2303200554
An analytical look at the 1973 case Roe v Wade, in which a single woman, Norma McCorvey, as
a representative of all pregnant women under the alias of ‘Jane Roe’ helped to overturn Texas
state laws regarding abortions against Texas district attorney Henry B. Wade. With her help,
Texas lifted restrictions on first term abortions, as well as build solid regulations on second
trimester abortions as long as the pregnancy puts the mother’s own life at risk.
Jones, C. (2013). Women Seeking Abortions Should Not Be Forced to Undergo an
Ultrasound. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.proxy.itt-
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tech.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=
&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&displayquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=itt
ed&currPage=&source=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search
_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GA
LE%7CEJ3010869214
One woman’s firsthand traumatic experience of some Texas state mandated regulations. These
include mandatory sonograms with a description of the baby, lectures from her doctor, and a 24
hour waiting period, even after her and her husband had made an educated, yet still emotional,
decision as their child would have been born with massive health problems. This article
concludes with an explanation that she may not have had to go through the entire process given
her particular circumstances, but due to the complexity of the laws and regulations, and the haste
in which they were put into effect, there were no clear guidelines as to how the abortion
providers were to implement these changes.
Cline, A. (n.d.). When Does a Fetus Become a Person with Rights? Retrieved from
http://atheism.about.com/od/abortioncontraception/p/PersonhoodFetus.htm
A compelling argument for a woman’s right to choose abortion with consideration to the fetus
itself. The author shares his views on when exactly one might consider a fetus a life in and of
itself, as well as sturdy arguments against the legality of observing a woman’s right to control
her own body including letting another being, in this case a fetus, use hers to sustain life, and
other aspects of abortion debate.
Hinman, L. M. (2012, March 19). Ethics Updates - Abortion & Ethics. Retrieved from
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Applied/Abortion/index.asp#PageCite
This page includes a number of Gallop polls and Guttmacher Institute statistics. Also included
with all of this information is, in simple terms, various court rulings pertaining to abortion laws,
as well as a number of those laws themselves.