Abortion Is The Act of Ending a Pregnancy

There are many different things that go into abortion, besides actually getting one done. There are many steps that it takes leading up to getting the procedure done. Abortion is the act of ending a pregnancy by removing a human fetus from the uterus before it is viable. Abortion is a very broad topic that includes much detail. The most common topics that people talk about, is what abortion really means and what are the laws behind it, the rights to a minor and abortion, late-term abortions, and what are the laws behind them.

To start off, abortion has a lot of background information that pertains to it. Starting in the early 13th century, people were arguing that when you get an abortion done it is considered a crime “During the 13th century, after you have been pregnant for as many as five weeks and you recieve an abortion, it is considered a homicide” (Rich 1). This is just showing that the problem with abortion is an outgoing issue that still has not been resolved. The baby that is growing inside of the mother is not just an appendage that is attached to the mother for nine long months. The baby has so much more potential and has so much more to offer than most people think; “The fetus has a separate unique chromosomal structure to it” (McConnell 10). A lot of people today think that the baby can ruin a person’s life, or that they are just something else that you have to worry about and have to take of. The evidence proves that the baby embryos have an advanced structure attached to them, making them be worth more than them having to be killed. Continuing into the 19th century, this topic is still in the works and is still in and out of the court systems. Some things have in fact changed from the early 13th centuries. The sentencing for getting an abortion is now longer and getting one is an even bigger deal with the feds now; “During the 19th century, when a woman is as far along in her pregnency as fifteen weeks, this is now considered a capital offense”(Rich 1). Without having this as a new law, many people who are pro-life would become more and more angry. With the progression of the laws that deal with abortion, there becomes more and more contraversy between the people. This causes society as we know it to become split based on opinions and views against one another.

Another popular topic that many people are not educated on is the real definition of abortion. So many people today get the wrong idea on what abortion really is, or they don’t really know what goes on during one. There are many different definitions that go along with abortion, but the most common one is “abortion is what happens when you become pregnant but remove the fetus or embryo before it is viable” (Rich 2). This statement is basically saying that when you become pregnant and at an early stage you decide that you no longer want to carry the baby to term and deliver it. Getting an abortion is removing the baby from a females uterus before it is able to live on its own and survive without any help from doctors. The process of getting an abortion is very gruesome and is not something every mother can handle. You have to be a very strong human being to be able to have the guts to go through getting a procedure like this done; “Abortion involves pulling the fetus feet first,from the uterus, through the cervix and into the vagina. Except for the head, using scissors or another surgical instrument to rapture the skull. Then they suction out the brain”(Taylor 31). With this being said, the process of removing a fetus from the mother is not an easy process. It is also not a cheap surgery to get done either. Parents have a lot to think about before they go through with this decision. This is definitely something that should take longer than a day to decide and it is a huge life changing thing to go through with.

The last topic that deals with the Roe v Wade cases. They have been going against each other in court since the early 70s, and they are still going at it today. Abortion is one of the most debated topics of the U.S. today. Abortion has been legal for over 47 years now;”In January 1973, the supreme court had a court ruling. Abortion has become legal with a vote of 7-2”(Rich 1). With this being said, before the 1970s people were doing abortion illegaly. Most people would rather do things that are not legal because they like the rush of doing things they aren’t supposed to be doing. When abortion became legal, this made less people want to get abortions done. After the law passed for the legality of abortions, this made more and more people debate on their views;”after the supreme court rulinng, the question of the legality and morality of abortion continues to be debated between people today”(Rich 2). If the supreme court ruling never would have passed abortion and the laws pertaining to it, many of the debates still going on today might not be happening today.

No matter what the supreme court ruling would have been, people would never be able to agree on the topic and the views of other people, regardless of the ruling in the courts. Not every state agrees with abortion; “In 2014 only 42 of the 50 states have banned the late-term abortion act. In 2003 they had another court meeting, banning the partial-birth abortion act in 42 of the states”)Rich 2). Many of the states in the U.S., do not like the idea of mothers getting an abortion after the fetus has already passed before being delivered. Many of the states decided that they think it is better if the mother’s body just naturally passes the baby instead of having it surgically removed. This makes it easier on the mother and a lot less health risks that pertain to going under during surgery.

The second final topic thats the most debateable in the world today, is minors and their rights for getting abortions. There have been many acts passed through the court systems related to the notification of the parents;”In December 2003, a federal court ruled that the parental notification prior to the abortion act,unconstitutional”(Mullen 8). The court systems believe that even a minor should have a rule on what she does with her body. They cannot let a grown woman go out and get an abortion and tell a teenage girl that she can’t do the same. This is why the act of parental consent was ruled unconstitutional. That same year, many other states had other views on the act as well; “In 2003, New Hampshire passed a parental notification prior to abortion act”(Mullen 8). With New Hampshire passing this law, this makes it illegal for minors to get this surgery done. The doctors have to wait at least 48 hours for one or both of the daughters parents to be notified about the abortion taking place.

Many people do not agree with this law that was put into place. On the other hand, this act makes both pro-life and pro-choice sides meet somewhere in the middle. If pro-life people want there to be no abortions what so ever, this act limits some of the numbers of abortions. If the children do not have parental consent this makes it extremely hard to get the procedure done. With most parents not agreeing with abortion, this helps the pro-life side completly. With the pro-choice side, this makes it a little bit harder for them. This act also makes some pro-choice people very upset. With most parents not agreeing to abortions and most girls’ want to get rid of their baby all together, this is not letting the girls do whst they want with their child. When teenagers don’t get the same treatment that older woman do, this makes a upset in the pro-choice field.

Furthermore, there are two different sides to the laws against abortion. There are advocates, who agree with most if not all laws and acts for abortion. There are also opponents, who disagree with almost every single law out there that does not please them. The parental notification act falls into this catagory as well; “Advocated argue that the nitification laws do in fact make family communication better, they also affect the health and the best interests of minors and abortion”(Ballaro 1). The advocates think that the courts take into account the positive impacts on the law for parental consent. Without the law passing, supporters of the law do not think the health of the minor would in fact become healthier. The mental and physical health of a minor with the passing of this act, would go down drastically. The opponents, think the complete opposite; “ On the other hand the opponents of the notification laws argue that there is little clinical evidence that the parents getting notification decreases the likelihood of the absence of sexual behavior”(Ballaro 1). This piece of evidence is saying the complete opposite of what the other evidence says. It is going against everything that the advocates are telling people.

They don’t know of any evidence that shows where the act can be beneficial to teens. There are also other laws that help minors and abortion; “Another one of the major issues on minors and abortion is that laws should require the minor to contact the girls’ parents before even thinking about getting an abortion perfmormed”(Ballaro1 ). This is like the other laws and acts that have been passed in the past, but a little different at the same time. This new act is telling teenage girls that when they in fact do get pregnant and they do know about it, they have to tell the parents right away. Whether they want to get an abortion or not, they have to be notified of the pregnancy

At the same time, there is one final topic that has a big debate going on. That is late-term abortions. There are many laws and regulations against women getting an abortion farther into the pregnency; “The legislative and executive branches have had many years of struggling against partial-birth abortions”(Chitton 2). Again, the partial-birth abortion acts have a lot of controversy behind them. Causing an even bigger split between pro-life and pro-choice. The supreme court eventually did change their mind on this act; “The partial-birth abortion act was in fact passed in congress in March of 2003.”(Chitton 2). With the passing of this act, it made it very clear on whether people were pro-life or pro-choice.

Finally, there is a specific time period for late-term abortions. There are many definitions for this specific kind of abortion as well, there is a very simplified version; “Late-term abortion refers to getting an abortion during its more advanced stages of the pregnency”(Ballaro 1). Unlike a regular abortion, a late-term abortion cannot be classified as one when you are 5-12 weeks in. you have to be much much later in the pregnancy; “During the 27th week,which is when most pregnancies are viable, this in fact marks the begining of the pregnancy’s late term”(Ballaro 1). In order for the fetus to be viable, it has to be able to breathe on its own. Towards the late-term abortion mark, if you were to give birth to your child it would be able to survive. If a woman were to deliver a baby any earlier than that, it would not be able to breathe or eat on its own and it would eventually die, causing that pregnancy to not be viable. There are many ways to performing a late-term abortion; “The most common methods for permorming one of these late-term abortions,is dialation and or the evacuation of the baby. This procedure may require the use of forceps to dismember the fetus and then extracting the baby in pieces”(Ballro 4). Since the baby is much bigger during the more advenced stages of a pregnency, this makes the abortion surgery to become more complex. This makes it harder on the mother and the baby as well. It will take a while longer for the baby to die in the mother since it is much larger than during the early stages of the pregnancy. This also makes it harder on the mom because the mother really gets to see what her child could have looked like if she never would have gotten an abortion.

In conclusion, abortion is a very debateable topic. Many people do not know many things about abortion in the first place to even begin to think about taking a side on it. Many more people need to be educated on the topic, and be aware of the dangers. Abortion is a very broad topic that includes much detail that petains to it. The most common topics that peopple talk about is what abortion really is, and what laws are behind it. The last two things that many people find interesting about abortion would be the rights to the minors and abortion and also getting a lte-term abortion.

Works Cited

1. Alcorn,Randy.”Teen pregnancy and parenting.” Should parental consent be a requirement? Edited by Lisa Krueger,Greenhaven Press,2011,130-157.
2. Ballaro,Beverly,and Geraldine wagner.”Abortion and minors:an overview.” points of view:abortion and minors,march 2019,p.1.
3. Chitton,Lynn-nore,and Heather Newton.”point:the vban on late-term abortions is justified.”points of view:late0term abortion,Jan.2017,p.2.
4. Rich, Alex K.,Geraldine Wagner. “Abortion overview.”
5. McConnell,Michael. “Abortion should be restricted.” should abortion rights be restricted,edited by Auriana Ojeda,Greenhaven Press,2003,9-13.
6. Mullen,Daniel J.,”Is New Hampshire’s parental nitification prior to abortion act constitutional?” supreme court debates,vol.9,no.1,Jan.2006,p.8.

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