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Alina Somoundjian
English 28
Professor Batty
8 November 2016

Reproductive Rights in the United States:

The Value of a Life
According to the 2010 Census Bureau, women make up 50.8% of the population in the
United States. In 2012, 699,202 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting
areas. The abortion rate for 2012 was 13.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 1544 years, and the
abortion ratio was 210 abortions per 1,000 live births. Abortion has always been a very
controversial topic in American politics and worldwide. Although the Supreme Court ruled in
favor of the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, many people want it overturned and think abortion should
be illegal. A womans body belongs to her, but no one has the right to decide to take someone
elses life away, even if it is a 3 month fetus, it has full potential of becoming a human.
Many different methods of abortions are legally available to women. Suction abortion is
the most common out of all of them. It is the process of inserting a suction curette into the uterus
after the dilation of the cervix. The powerful suction tears the babys body apart and sucks it
through the hose into a container. This method is especially common in the first twelve weeks of
pregnancy. There are also many risks that come with getting an abortion, as well as medical and
emotional complications to consider. Infections, scarring of the uterine lining, endometritis, and
much more are medical factors. Eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, and depression are just a
few emotional factors. Getting an abortion also puts you at a much higher risk of getting breast

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cancer, placenta previa, and ectopic pregnancy. 51% of abortions are being performed on women
25 years of age or younger. Approximately one out of three women have had an abortion by the
age of 45.
Due to the fact that abortion is such a controversial topic it is hard to have conversations
about it. Many people are pro-choice and many others, pro-life. I personally don't think any
childs life is to be taken away for someone elses mistake, whether it be; rape, unprotected sex,
or any other misfortunate occurrence. Many people think it is completely the womans choice to
decide if they would like to keep the child since its their body, but I beg to differ. The pro-choice
argument is that most women are getting abortions early on and the fetus is not developed. This
disgusts me, because no matter how developed or undeveloped the fetus may be, it still has
maximum potential of becoming a human in the matter of a few months. Many women take the
right to abort a child for granted. Everyone, whether it be a fetus of a few weeks being not yet
developed or a nine month fetus fully developed, deserves a chance at life. I can understand in
situations where someone may get raped at a young age and not want a child, but it is still no
excuse to take a life away.
When women choose to get abortions they can do so without letting the father of the
child know. Although it is the womans body, she did not create that child on her own, therefore
it is definitely not her choice to make whether she would like to keep the child or not. Abortion is
mainly categorized into the points of religion, human rights, and birth control issues. I think if
more people were educated about safe sex and all the forms of birth control, abortion would be
slightly less of an issue.
There are many alternatives besides aborting the child, adoption for example. There are
many couples out there looking to adopt children for many different reasons. People always

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argue that foster kids or adopted kids don't always have the best lives, but at least they have one,
at least they get the chance to experience life first hand for themselves. The only time i think
abortion is ever acceptable is if the woman carrying the baby is at risk of death or being harmed
in any way, otherwise there are absolutely no excuses in my opinion. As long as you are fully
capable of having the child, you should.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, it is ensured that every woman
considering an abortion receive complete information on her alternatives and that every woman
submitting to an abortion do so only after giving her voluntary and informed consent to the
abortion procedure. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot writes, I am entirely
sympathetic to your reasons for withholding the name of the patient and thus prevent a
possible invasion of privacy. However, I do believe that in the kind of article I am
projecting there would be complete protection of the rights of all individuals. Berg didnt
explain how releasing Henriettas name to the public would have protected the privacy or
rights of her family. In fact, doing so would have forever connected Henrietta and her
family with the cells and any medical information eventually derived from their DNA. That
wouldnt have protected the Lackses privacy, but it certainly would have changed the
course of their lives. They would have learned that Henriettas cells were still alive, that
theyd been taken, bought, sold, and used in research without her knowledge or theirs. In
the book, Henrietta is not informed about what she is giving her consent to, but gives it
regardless because as a black patient she doesnt know any better. However, women getting
abortions nowadays must receive complete information on all her options and the procedure
itself before actually going through it.

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Everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion, but I stand strong in my belief that
abortions should be illegal. As long as women are taking advantage of these procedures, I dont
think it is a right that should just be granted to everyone. It falls under the category of a persons
morals. The more people begin to understand the complexity of abortions, the more they will
realize how anti-life and anti-human it is.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Data and Statistics." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown, 2010. Print.

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"Abortion Facts | Department of Health | State of Louisiana." Abortion Facts | Department of
Health | State of Louisiana. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

"Abortion Facts." Students for Life. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

America, NARAL Pro-Choice. "Who Decides? The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights
in the United States." NARAL Pro-Choice America. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.