Gutierrez 1
Minerva Gutierrez
UWP 1 Section 7
Melissa Wang
May 17, 2014
Word Count: 1219
Abortion
Even since before the legalization of abortion, many people have been trying to fight against it; the only reason they did not do anything before the legalization was because it didn’t affect pro-life advocates directly. Pro-life advocates have constantly been fighting against abortion mostly because of their religious and conservative views. According to the Vatican, which is the papal government, a child is the “supreme gift of marriage” (Vatican). The child also possess the “right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception” (Vatican).
Those who argue against abortion, do so because they believe that everything that has to do with abortion is morally wrong. The controversy of abortion is centered around the idea of the fetus having life or in other words also have a soul. Along with that, pro-life advocates believe that the fetuses, also considered as “children” will be the future of this country.
Those who believe abortion should be illegal also believe that abortion is murder because a human life begins at conception; therefore getting the procedure would be murderous. In fact, it is more of a religious belief that is only common in the Western religion (Left Lucy
Communication). The laws in the United States contradicts these beliefs. As long as the fetus is not violently killed—for example, if the women is trying to kill the fetus herself or someone who is trying to kill it for her—it is completely legal to have an abortion and therefore it is not considered murder. (National Conference of State Legislatures). As a matter of fact, “fetuses

Gutierrez 2 cannot feel pain until at least the 28th week of gestation because they haven't formed the necessary nerve pathways” (Kleeman); women are not allowed to get an abortion past the second trimester which is about 24 weeks (ProLife Action League). Why is it so wrong for women to have an abortion? These women have control over their body and there is no law that prevents them from doing what they wish with it.
When a fetus is conceived, many people to start to see the fetus as a child. Pro-life advocates believe this “child” has just as many rights as living human being. They claim the women receive abortions are irresponsible because they are not taking care of their “child”.
Irresponsible is defined as not having or showing maturity or good judgment. The women could be seen as irresponsible because of many reasons. One reason is that she did not use contraceptives, but studies have shown that most women who receive abortions were using some form of contraceptive (Victoria Family Planning). Along with that, many women have many valid reasons as to why they decide to have an abortion. Some of these reasons include not being financially stable to support a child or not having a stable household in to which they could bring a child in (Finer, Frohwirth and Dauphinee). Why should she be forced to bring a child into an unstable household? Why bring a child into the world that you know you will not be able to support? If these women were truly irresponsible like some people suggest, then these women would bring a child into this world knowing their situation.
Sex along with reproduction is not always voluntary. Women do not always choose when they get to have sex or whether or not they get to use some type of contraceptive. Some women who get abortions are forced to have sex with their partner or are raped by complete strangers.
Some of these women are also drugged so that they do not remember anything that happened.
Why should they automatically assume responsibility for something they did not do? Why

Gutierrez 3 should they bring an unwanted child into the world, knowing that it will not be loved? The answer is they should not. So many children spend most of their lives in foster care because their parents didn’t want them or because they were the product of a rape/abuse. Most of these children spend their whole lives in foster care; occasionally being kicked out because they are too much too handle and never getting to experience what a real family is like. A child should never have to go through that.
Everyone has the right to their own lifestyle choices. When it comes to family, they can decide whether or not they want to have children of their own. Many pro-life advocates believe if a women got pregnant and did not want to keep the baby, then she should just carry out the pregnancy to full term and then give the baby up for adoption. Of course there are people who do not wish to carry out their pregnancy to full term. There are many factors as to why abortion would be the best option. There are a lot of low income people who rely on state medical insurance and normally that does not cover all pregnancy costs. An average pregnancy costs about $2,000 and an uncomplicated birth costs between 9,600 to 15,800 (WebMD). Even if the adoptive parents decided to pay half of the costs, the woman would still need to pay the other half which would be complicated due to her financial situation. Therefore in some situations, having an abortion is the best option. The women would not have to worry about how she is going to pay for the medical bills or how she is going to care for herself throughout the pregnancy.
Pro-life advocates frame their beliefs on the idea that life begins at conception. This belief is prominent in the Western world but society and the circumstances of people are ever changing. There are organizations that are dedicated to making abortion illegal and others that are dedicated to making sure that it stays legal. Pro-life advocates believe that fetuses, later to

Gutierrez 4 become citizens of the country are the future of the country and so they argue so much against abortion. Once the child is born, they seem to completely forget about the child. Although prolife advocates seem to have the right intention, in the end they are trying to deny women of the right of her body. Women have been fighting for their rights for years even after they had been granted. They have the right to do what they want with their body. What they chose to do should not concern anyone else just like what men do does not concern anyone else as long as it isn’t hurting anyone physically. A man can simply walk away from a relationship and assume no responsibility of a child and he isn’t frowned upon, but if a women leaves her child and her relationship she is automatically said to be irresponsible. Why let this happen? If a women does not want to carry her child to full term to give it up for adoption then she should not be forced to do so. Like pro-choice advocates believe, the woman has the right to choose whether or not to continue with her pregnancy. Although the controversy stems around the idea of fetus life, by fighting against abortion and making it illegal will cause women who want an abortion to get one illegally. Then not only will the “baby” be dead, but in most cases the pregnant women would also die.

Gutierrez 5
Ertelt, Steven. "New Abortion Clinic Closures Means More Babies Will Be Saved From
Abortions." LifeNews.com. 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 May 2014
Finer, Lawrence B., et al. "Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantative and Qualitative
Perspectives." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (2005): 9.
Haddad, Lisa B., and Nour, Nawal M.. "Unsafe Abortion: Unnecessary Maternal Mortality."
Obstetric & Gynecology (2009): 122-26. Web. 17 May 2014.
Kleeman, Elise. "June 2014." Discover Magazine. 1 Dec. 2005. Web. 19 May 2014.
Left Lucy Communication. ProChoice Action Network . n.d. 19 April 2014.
National Conference of State Legislatures. Fetal Homicide Laws . February 2013. 19 April 2014.
ProLife Action League. About Abortion . 2014. 19 April 2014.
Vatican. "Catechism of the Catholic Church - The Sacrament of Matrimony." Catechism of the
Catholic Church . N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2014.
Victoria Family Planning. Better Health Channel . 2012. Document. 19 April 2014.
WebMD. Health and Pregnancy . 4 March 2013. 19 April 2014.