abortion should be legal Essay

Abortion Must Remain the Woman’s Choice Imagine this: A high school sophomore, 16 years old, is walking home from cheerleading practice. Suddenly a group of men grab her and throw her into their van where she is brutally raped by all six men. Luckily, she is alive when the police find her, but to her horror, she is pregnant. Not only does she have to live with the scars left by the brutal attack, but if opponents of abortion have their way, she will also have to carry, deliver, and care for the child. In most states, abortion remains legal, but many states, mostly Republican-led, are trying to make abortion in all cases illegal. The mother of the child is the person ultimately responsible for taking care of the child, so no one except her, including the government, should have the right to decide whether or not she can have an abortion. There are several reasons the pregnant mother should have the sole responsibility of deciding whether to have a baby. First of all, she is responsible for taking care of herself to the point that she is able to deliver a healthy child. What if she is on drugs or an alcoholic? Without abortions, her only choice is to have an addicted baby which can lead to a multitude of other problems, or to stop taking drugs which can lead to a multitude of side effects and is usually unsuccessful on the first try. In addition, victims of rape or incest not only have to deal with the trauma of the incident but they also will have to carry and deliver the child without legal abortion. Opponents of abortion ultimately give the pregnant woman less than nine months to “get over it” and get ready to take care of this unwanted baby. Finally, a woman who is poor or unhealthy, has no say so in whether or not she is ready or even able to have a child. If she is in school trying to improve her life, she will probably have to stop in order to take care of the baby. According to Carol Hornbeck, “Humans have free will and sometimes you have to acknowledge that one person's needs will come into conflict with another person's needs. We have the power to choose and sometimes that means a woman places her own physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being above the needs of a fertilized egg" (Bader). Opponents of legalized abortion state several reasons for their opposition to a woman’s right to choose. Most opponents of abortion point to religious or moral convictions. According to Judie Brown, president of the largest pro-life organization in America, “In regard to innocent human life, who should decide in matters of life and death? Certainly not man. The answer is God, Providence, Nature, etc. In other words, the death of the innocent should always be the result of "natural causes," not direct human intervention of destructive intent” (Brown & Evangelisto). Opponents of abortion also believe that aborting a fetus conceived by rape punishes the unborn child more harshly than the rapist. They believe that there is no justification for killing an unborn child because the fetus is already a human being. “Pro-Lifers” are very hypocritical. For example, most people who oppose abortion are Conservatives/Tea Partiers. Jim Yardley, in The Tea Party Movement stated, “abortion, repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the teaching of abstinence over contraception, and numerous other agenda items of importance to social and religious conservatives have been put forth as issues that the Tea Parties should embrace” (Yardley). Yet these same conservatives are the biggest proponents of gun-rights, “Stand Your Ground Laws” as well as hunting and the death penalty. In other words, the greatest opponents of “murdering” a fetus are the same proponents of “murdering” people who have committed capital crimes, or people who threaten their safety. They stand on the grounds that murder is always

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