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Kyle Goodin
Professor Holly Batty
English 28
2 May 2017
Who Wears the Pants in Abortion: A Womans Choice
Abortion is the removal of a human embryo or fetus from a pregnant woman

before her pregnancy is done. Abortion has been around since the early thirteenth

century and at the time it was a capital offense until well into the nineteenth century. It

wasnt until the 1960s and 1970s women can get an abortion if they were raped, incest

occurred, or if their health was in danger. In January 22, 1973 abortion became legal in

the United States because of the court case Roe v. Wade. Throughout history, women

could only have an abortion if they had a valid medical reason, and it wasnt until

recently that women were able to get an abortion if they wanted to. Although all life is

precious, abortion should always be the mothers choice.

Foremost, before women even make the decision to have an abortion, a safe

medical facility shouldnt even be a question. Women deserve the right to choose, as

well as a safe environment to conduct an abortion. To have an abortion women need to

have the abortion clinic staffed with the necessary skills, be a safe environment, and

have high medical standards. Without these essential elements, the rate of unsafe

abortions will go up, and if that rate goes up the more deaths may occur during an
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abortion. As you can see in this article Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion

Regulations; Texas Bill Found Unconstitutional, the author Melissa Kraus writes about

a bill in Texas that was passed, stating that abortion clinics dont need any safety

protocols, even when medical emergencies occur. Women already face large social

oppression when deciding to have an abortion, and unsafe and improper medical

facilities should not add to their stress and worries.

There are numerous different reasons why women need and/or want to receive

abortions. Before 1973, the only way a woman can get an abortion is if the woman was

faced with medical complications such as cancer, heart disease, HIV, or AIDS. As we

see in the article "Abortion Medical," published by the University of Marylands Medical

Center, women get abortion in this modern day due to many other reasons, such as

birth defects, genetic problems, the pregnancy being a result of a traumatic event like

rape or incest, or the woman simply may not want to be pregnant. These are all valid

reasons as to why women can get an abortion, and one reason should not be more

justified than another.

Although, some people see major differences between these reasons, and this is

where controversy is produced. Abortion has been, and still is a very controversial topic.
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As shown to us in Bioethics and Disagreement: Organ Markets, Abortion, Cognitive

Enhancement, Double Effect, and Other Key Issues in Bioethics by Victor Saenz,

people who believed that abortion should be illegal are considered pro-life. Pro-life

supporters believe that abortion is immoral and that its an act of murder. On the other

hand, Saenz also tells us people who want abortion to be legal are considered pro-

choice. Pro-choice supporters believe and advocate for women being able to take

control of their body. In a poll taken by University of Texas, you can see that theres an

almost even split between the two sides. Both sides are shown at forty percent, while

the remaining twenty percent dont know and/or dont care where they stand on the

issue. These results show the extremely even split between pro-life and pro-choice

believers, and this close split is one of the main reasons why little action is made

surrounding abortion.
Regardless of medical reasons, having a kid should be something both parents

decide on to bringing into this world. For parents who dont have the proper financial,

social, or mental capacity to raise a child, abortions can be a great alternative in

removing unwanted pregnancies. For a child to flourish and grow well in this world they
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need the right environment and parents who love their child unconditionally. If the

mother and or father knows that the environment or financial climate for the child isnt

ideal, they should have the right to come to the conclusion to either the mother giving

birth or to have an abortion. Having the right to choose not only gives these women

freedom, but it prevents the increase of children being born and not having the proper

care and love necessary.

Women should be able to determine if they want an abortion in whatever the

situation theyre in. In the book, Surrogate Motherhood and Abortion for Fetal

Abnormality the authors Ruth Walker and Zyl Liezl, talk about the topic of surrogate

mothers and abortion. They discuss who gets the right to speak for the child when a

mother agrees to becoming a surrogate mother. The book reveals a court case in

Connecticut involving parents using a surrogate mother in order to have a child. In this

case, the intended parents saw that their baby had serious abnormities and wanted the

surrogate mother to get an abortion, while the surrogate mother who was bearing the

child didnt want to. The controversy in this case lied in who had the right to make a

decision about an abortion: the surrogate mother or the intended parents. I believe the
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surrogate mother, who was physically carrying the baby, should have the right to choose

if she wants the abortion or not, no matter the situation. Yes, the intended parents paid

the mother to have a baby, but at the end of the day its not their body. The person

bearing the child should be able to decide whether she wants to get an abortion. This

case, although very disputable due to the emotional connections involved, shows the

controversial opinions people have surrounding abortion.

In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author Rebecca Skloot

reveals to the world that Henriettas cells were taken from her without her knowledge,

but shows us that they were used for the greater good. This book shows the

mistreatment and struggle women have faced, due to this, throughout the years. In an

article, Roe V. Wade 1973, written by Alex McBride, he speaks about the Supreme

Court case that made abortions legal from 1970 to modern day. Roe wanted to get an

abortion but at the time abortion was illegal, unless there were valid medical reasons as

to why the mother couldnt birth the child. In this influential court case, as well as the

book, Henrietta Lacks and Roe were both women who didnt have the right to choose
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what to do with their own body. This not only symbolized the struggle of receiving an

abortion, but it also shows the overall struggle women face in receiving overall rights.
There are always two sides to an argument, and in this case, the counter

argument is pro-life. Most people who side with the pro-life beliefs argue that all life is

precious and abortions strip away the chances of more precious life. They connect this

to abortions by claiming that the second an embryo is formed, life is created. According

to the court ruling for Roe v. Wade, the human fetus might be viable (capable of

meaningful life) outside the mothers womb after six months (McBride). This says that

the embryo isnt considered a life because if it was taken out of the mothers womb, it

wouldnt be able to grow. It does have the DNA structure of a human, but it cannot

survive in the outside world. Pro-life supporters tend to typically disregard the negative

outcomes from unwanted pregnancies, and tend to disregard the problems these

children will face not having the proper means of living.

This leads to the main idea that pro-life supporters believe in, which is not

knowing if the child is going to grow up to be a person of significance. Although I see

and recognize this argument you could say the same thing but on the other side of the

spectrum. The child could grow up to be a terrible influence, negating the pro-life
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supporters beliefs. We dont know who the child will grow up to be, thus making it more

important to focus on the well-being and safety of the mother who is accountable for this

child.
With all of this in mind, we should know that the only person who should have a

say in whether the mother should have an abortion, is the mother herself. Unplanned

and unwanted pregnancies can easily be avoided with an abortion, if thats what a

woman chooses to do. If the mother doesnt have that right to have an abortion or not,

their rights are simply being stripped away from them. We are out of the ages where

women couldnt vote, and when men only saw women as mothers and housewives.

Women deserve equal rights in all aspects of life, especially rights surrounding their

own body. The right to choose, as well as proper medical facilities and no social

oppression surrounding her decision, is essential for a woman.

Works Cited

"Abortion - Medical." University of Maryland Medical Center. University of Maryland

Medical Center, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

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Kraus, Melissa. "Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Regulations; Texas Bill Found

Unconstitutional." American Journal of Law & Medicine, vol. 42, no. 4, Nov. 2016,

pp. 859-861. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0098858817701963.

McBride, Alex. "Roe v. Wade 1973." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, Dec. 2006.

Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

"Pro-Life, Pro-Choice Identification (June 2016)." The Texas Politics Project. College of

Liberal Arts, 28 Oct. 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

Saenz, Victor. "Bioethics and Disagreement: Organ Markets, Abortion, Cognitive

Enhancement, Double Effect, and Other Key Issues in Bioethics." Journal of

Medicine & Philosophy, vol. 39, no. 3, June 2014, pp. 207-216. EBSCOhost,

doi:jmp/jhu019.

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway, 2017.

Print.
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Walker, Ruth and Liezl Zyl. "Surrogate Motherhood and Abortion for Fetal

Abnormality." Bioethics, vol. 29, no. 8, Oct. 2015, pp. 529-535. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1111/bioe.12157.