Many different reasons exist for the need to have an abortion. For example, rape, a young pregnant teen who can't even take care of herself, a single mother who is financially unstable, or even a couple who is pregnant but their child has serious deformities or disease. These are all very imperative reasons that we must keep abortion legal. Some people are against abortion, and are trying to make it illegal to have one, but a life is a major deal and every woman should have the right to choose whether or not to have their baby when special circumstances occur.
A major issue that every woman faces today is whether she is pro-life or pro-choice. Pro-life means that she does not believe in abortions, as with pro-choice she can make the option to have a baby or abort it. All over the world people face this important choice everyday. Right now abortion is legal in the United States, but some people are trying to change that. As a nation we would be far worse off if we made abortion illegal, because we would have all these “unwanted” babies (for whatever reason), who are not getting the proper love and care that they deserve.
Abortion only started to become legal just over thirty years ago. “In 1967 Colorado and California legalized abortion. By June, 1970, when the State of New York passed the first Abortion on Demand Law (24-week limit), it be-came the 16th state to allow abortion. Due to an extremely loose interpretation of "mental health," California also had an abortion-on-demand. Alaska and Hawaii had liberal laws. Laws in the other 12 states, which included Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia, were very restrictive, typically allowing abortion only for pregnancies due to assault rape, incest and life of the mother as well as for severe fetal handicap” (Hull, 282). As the years went on people challenged these abortion laws and even still challenge the legal abortion law that is now in effect. For many reasons this law needs to stay intact.
Rape is one of the main reasons to have an abortion. “A recent Justice Dept. report, using a study designed differently with more direct questions (towards rape victims), returned a result of 170,000 completed rapes plus 140,000 attempted rapes a year” (Arkes, 67). Studies have shown that only one or two rapes out of one thousand result in pregnancy. “1 or 2 for each 1000. Using the 170,000 figure, this translates into an overall total of 170 to 340 assault rape pregnancies a year in the entire United States” (Arkes, 69). Now those numbers are not huge- but that is still around two hundred babies that were unwanted. The very conception of them was a violent, forced, unforgettable, and traumatic act. If a woman was to go through with the pregnancy the child would be a constant reminder of a very hurtful experience. This very experience could bring about feelings of rejection towards the child which can result in a very unhappy and abusive upbringing.
Rape is not the only reason to get an abortion. Some children develop deformities in the womb; some are life threatening to the child and the mother. Sometimes a mother must make the decision based on her own health, because having the baby could put her at a huge risk. Some children who develop deformities will not live past the age of three. If the child was to be born not only would it be a huge emotional burden on the mother and father but also on the child itself. "Maternity or additional offspring may force upon the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be imminent. Mental and physical health may be taxed by childcare. There is also the distress for all concerned associated with the unwanted child, and there is the problem of bringing a child into a family already unable, psychologically or otherwise, to care for it" (Maguire, 153). Also the cost of medical bills to fit to the child's needs for whatever ailment is going to be tremendous. It is un-ethical to bring a baby into the world unwanted, or if you can not take care of it properly.
Young teenagers who get pregnant on accident as well as mothers who are unfit to care for a child are also good reasons to consider an abortion. Although using abortions as a form as birth control is strictly wrong and unjust. It is every man and woman's job to try and take the precautions and protect themselves from getting pregnant. It is people who use abortion as a form of contraception that make a bad case for pro-choice believers.
