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Angell Wescott

S. Pritchard

AP Language

23 February 2011

Abortion Annotated Bibliographies

Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Abortion History." Women's History. About. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

Abortion History by Jone Johnson Lewis tells of how abortion laws have changed over time. Laws against abortion began appearing the 1820s, forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy. Abortions for the most part were all outlawed by the year

1900, though some illegal abortions were still taking place. All fifty states had banned abortion by 1965, with the only exceptions being in rape or incest cases and if the fetus was deformed. The case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973 decided that these laws against abortion were unconstitutional. It ruled out any laws against abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on the other restrictions. There are many people who oppose the “pro-choice” group and therefore there have been many protests, “Prolife” groups, and even bombings have occurred.

This article goes through the history of abortion, relating to my topic by showing how opinions and laws have changed over time. All of these changes and conflicts show just how controversial the whole thing is. This will help me because it shows how the opinion of the government has changed over time, even though I don’t agree with the current governmental choice. There is still much debate over these rules and many people are fighting to get these laws changed.

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Head, Tom. "Opinions and Views on Abortion." Civil Liberties. About, n.d. Web. 21 Feb

2011.

According to “The Three Most Common Views on Abortion” by Tom Head, most opinions on abortion fall into one of these three categories: Right to life, State Decision, or Pro-Choice. Those who support right to life think that the government should work to protect fetuses and embryos and women do not have the constitutional right to abortion.

Many of these people only see acceptable exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. There are also many people who believe that the federal government should have no influence over abortion rights. They believe that it should be up to the state whether or not abortions will be allowed. The final opinion is pro-choice, which is the belief that women have a constitutional right to get an abortion.

This fits with my topic because it explains the different views that people have on abortion. It also goes against my topic as it presents the opposing view to the issue. I agree with the opinion of Right to Life because I think that the government should work to protect fetuses and embryos except for in a few cases. I don’t think that the national or state government should allow any women to get an abortion.

Saad, Lydia. "More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time." Gallup, 15

005 2009. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

Lydia Saad wrote the article “More Americans “Pro-life” Than “Pro-Choice” for

First Time” to show that the opinion of Americans is changing. A poll taken in May 2010 showed that 51% of Americans called themselves “pro-life” while 42% called themselves

“pro-choice”. This is the first that the majority of people considered themselves “pro-life”

Wescott 3 since 1995. This poll showed a significant change in the results from only the year before. There are also more people who think that abortion should be illegal no matter what the circumstances than people who think that abortion should be legal anytime.

This article supports my opinion because it says that the majority of people in this country have the same opinion that I do. Though the majority opinion has changed from the past, people are now beginning to see that abortion is not the right choice for pregnant women. I guess people are beginning to see the negative effects of abortion and may now think of it as murder. No matter what the reason is for this change in opinion, I am glad that the opinion of the people is changing and I hope that it continues to change.

"I am Pro-Choice." AbortionFacts, 2006. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

In “I Am Pro-Choice” one person gives all the reasons why they think that abortions should be legal. They list all of their opinions and provide links that give more information about each topic. Because they feel that the fetus is not yet a human, only a mass of tissue, they think that aborting it will be acceptable. Other points that they make are that abortion is safe, will reduce the number of children who are abused, women should have control over their own body, and abortion should be available to all rape and incest cases. They also make the point that every child should be a wanted child.

This article disagrees with my topic because this gives all the reasons why abortion should be legal. This person says that they feel that a fetus is not yet a human so aborting this is acceptable. I disagree because I see a fetus as a living thing that will become a human. I do not think that the baby should be denied the right to live because the parents weren’t expecting it. The only reason point that I agree with in this article is

Wescott 4 that abortion should be available to those who have been raped. I don’t think it is right to make a woman pay the price for something that she had not control over.

"Pro-Life Arguments Against Abortion." ChristiaNet, n.d. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

The article “Pro-Life Arguments Against Abortion” regards abortion as murder and gives reasons why it should be illegal. It states that a woman who is considering an abortion should put herself in her baby’s place and consider the fact that if her mother had chosen abortion, she would not be alive. The article also goes through the stages of development which can deter some women from aborting a baby that begins developing immediately after the egg is fertilized. According to this article, abortion is the worst form of abuse and it also poses potential physical and emotional problems for the mother.

Once an egg is fertilized it begins developing into what will be a baby, meaning that it must be alive. Many people don’t view a baby in the early stages of development as a living person but I do. For this reason, I feel that abortions should not be available to any woman. I think that there are certain circumstances in which a woman should be able to have one but most of the time, I think that they should not. People say that abortions can reduce the number of abused kids but I agree that getting an abortion is the worst kind of abuse that there is.

"Possible Physical Side Affects." American Pregnancy Association, 09 2007. Web. 21

Feb 2011.

The side effects of abortion vary from woman to woman. Some common side effects are abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and spotting and bleeding.

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Some other more serious complications include heavy or persistent bleeding, infection or sepsis, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, perforation of the uterus, damage to other organs, and death. These risks are all rare but they do occur after some abortions.

This article provides even more support to my opinion on the abortion controversy. The fact that abortion has the potential to cause all of these problems is another reason that women should not be allowed to get one. I think that women should avoid abortions so that they can decrease the risk of having these negative effects. This article covered a lot of side effects of abortion yet it still didn’t cover all of them. There are several other possible effects that support my opinion even more.

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