Abortion, a Right or a Crime?

By definition, abortion is the removal or expulsion of a fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. In the U.S., abortion was common among Native Americans, and it was legal from colonial times to the middle of the 19th century. However unclean, primitive medical practices made it very dangerous to perform, woman could even die from an abortion, that is why it was illegal. To protect women’s lives, laws against abortion began to be passed during the mid-1800s. Eventually by the middle of the 20th century, cleaner, more advanced medical procedures made safe abortion possible. However controversies started to arouse from the now "safe" procedure. Some people specially the religious type believed abortion was murder and should nevr be allowed. To this day people around the world debate on whether abortion should be legal or illegal. Some people believe abortion is a synonym for murder, because a person's life starts the day of conception. Others think it is the woman's right over her body and she can decide whether she wants the fetus or not. This is a social issue that always gets my attention everytime it appears on the news or in newspapers. I believe there are certain limits and regulations that should be made and apply to abortion but i also believe it is in every single woman to make such an important decision that is going to affect them for the rest of their lives.

Pro-lifers feel that abortion access should be restricted to special cases, or prohibited completely. Many are motivated by a belief that human personhood begins at conception. Thus, an abortion murders a baby. Pro-choicers believe that each woman should be relatively free to follow their own ethical beliefs concerning the termination or continuation of a pregnancy.

This two groups have different views on the same issue, but one similarity, they would like abortion rates to decrease.It has been estimated that approximately 46 million abortions are performed worldwide every year. Of these, 26 million are said to occur in places where abortion is legal; the other 20 million happen where the procedure is illegal."

In my opinion, abortion is not an easy decision and every woman has a reason for doing it. I dont think its murder because in my opinion life starts the day you are born, not the day you are conceived. I dont easily agree with abortion but i dont completely disagree because i have seen many cases where the woman has been raped and gotten pregnant, she has two choices, keeping the baby or having an abortion. If she keeps the baby, it could happen that the baby reminds her of the horrible experience she had to go through and the baby wouldnt have a father. If she has an abortion, she has a better chance of recovering and forgetting. In this kind of cases i approve abortion.

Here is an article by Mark K. Sprengel on the issue of abortion.