Dear Future President:

Hello, my name is Kaitlyn and I wrote the following letter about my concerns for the future of the termination of pregnancies, also referred to as abortion. Yes, abortion is legal within the United States; however, it should not have the option to me limited by the state that you reside in. The state should not have the power to determine if a child makes it into this world because if the mother can potentially be harmed with the continuation of the pregnancy or if after birth the child could have serious health defects the mother should have the option of not carrying her child to a complete term.

With every pregnancy there can be serious health issues if carrying the baby to term can harm the mother in any way she should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy. Pregnancies that can cause harm to the mother and/or the potential fetus can be called “high risk pregnancies”. High risk pregnancies can be a result of high blood pressure or diabetes. According to the NIH, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “Uncontrolled high blood pressure, however, can lead to damage to the mother’s kidneys and increases the risk for low birth weight or preeclampsia. Because of the mother's high blood pressure, in preeclampsia the blood supply to the growing fetus is reduced, and the fetus may get less oxygen and fewer nutrients. Eclampsia, a related disorder as a result of high blood pressure, is when pregnant women with preeclampsia develop seizures or coma.” If the mother is in complete danger with the seizures or coma the doctor can find it necessary that she terminate her pregnancy, in order to save her life. In some cases the mother can also be faced with the difficult decision of whether to save her life or her fetus’s. The mother can be comforted by the idea that she can still live her life even at the cost of the unborn child.

An abortion can be necessary if once the child is born the quality of life can be questioned because the child would spend the rest of its life hooked up to monitors, connected to wires, and in and out of hospitals. There are various diseases or birth defects that can lead to a mother wanting to terminate her pregnancy. One of the most common fatal birth defects is Anencephaly. According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, website, “Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. Almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth.” Anencephaly can be seen through scans prior to the birth of the fetus, if the scans are not taken it is immediately seen after birth. If the mother is told prior to birth that the fetus has a fatal birth defect like Anencephaly it is up to her to make the decision whether or not she carries the baby to term. She can see it as unnecessary pain and harm not only herself, but to her child. Then she can decide to stop the pregnancy. 

Many people can argue that any human being has the right to life because an abortion can be seen as “murder”. An abortion is not murder. At this point in the baby is not a baby, it is a fetus. A fetus is completely dependent on its mother. A 2016 Presidential Candidate, stated that, “In the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.” There is such thing as a third trimester abortion or “late term abortion”; however, most of these abortions do not take place during the final month of the pregnancy. Chances are if the baby has the smallest chance of making it out alive in the final month the mother will try her harderst to carry the baby to term. Most people who are against abortion use the month/stage of the pregnancy as a way to play with people’s emotions as to thinking that it is murder.

No government has the right as to tell a woman that she must have her baby. The mother and the fetus could potentially both be harmed and she should not be forced to have the baby. Abortion is not murder because the pregnant woman has control over her body which no other person has. So please help all women out there by making abortion their choice, not the states.

"High-Risk Pregnancy: Condition Information." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

"Preeclampsia and Eclampsia: Overview." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Millstein, Seth. "How To Argue Pro Choice: 11 Arguments Against Abortion Access, Debunked." How To Argue Pro Choice: 11 Arguments Against Abortion Access, Debunked. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

"Facts about Anencephaly." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.