Dear Future President,

As a topic of women’s rights, abortion should not be proscribed. Abortions should remain legal and available to any woman seeking one. Today, abortion is one of the most controversial topics of today’s society.

According to the National Abortion Federation, one in three women in the United States have an abortion by the age of 45. Approximately 1.3 million abortions are performed every year in the US, and 88% of those are during the first trimester. Depending on the time in gestation, either a medical or surgical abortion can be performed. Limited to the first nine weeks, the medical abortion procedure consists of taking two medications. The first causes a weakened uterine connection and the second medication causes the uterus to cramp and bleeding to end the pregnancy. Surgical abortions within the next three weeks usually is done with vacuum aspiration, or a suction removal. In the second trimester, a D&C (up to 16 weeks), D&E (after 16 weeks), or induction abortions are options. Most states have laws against late term abortions, or abortions after 24 weeks gestation, but if it occurs a D&E or Induction abortion is performed.

When America first came about, abortions were legal up until the mid to late 1800’s. However, the outlawing of abortions did not prevent abortions from occurring. “Back-alley” abortions were performed illegally to women in search of an abortion and were extremely perilous, oftentimes deadly procedures. By 1910, all states but one had criminalized abortion except when a doctor’s judgement deemed it necessary to save the woman’s life. Between 1967 and 1973, one third of the states lifted their prohibition on abortion. In 1973, the ruling of Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade came out legalizing abortion under the civil rights amendment. This led to a significant decrease in pregnancy-related injuries and deaths. Prior to this case, approximately 1.2 million illegal abortions were performed per year.  As there is an open seat in the Supreme Court, appointing a pro-choice judge could help abortions remain legal.

Today, some states still have laws restricting abortions. An Ohio woman was forced to travel 300 miles to Chicago abort her dying fetus since no Ohio abortion clinic would perform the procedure. The woman’s baby would’ve been born stillborn due to being diagnosed with a fatal spinal abnormality at 22 weeks gestation. Cutoffs in Ohio were at 22 weeks, therefore would not do the abortion. Abortions are rarely performed that late in the pregnancy, and usually only are if the mother or fetus is in danger.

Abortions occur when a woman does not want to be pregnant, but is. Unwanted pregnancies can happen in many different ways, whether just purely accidental or if the woman became pregnant after being raped. Methods of birth control can be used, and are used in most cases, but no method is 100% effective besides abstinence. Many arguments come about saying “If you don’t want to be pregnant, don’t have sex”, and many people don’t want to remain abstinent until they want to have a child. Access to free contraceptives can be a way to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, but again, are not 100% effective. Arguments of adoption are made, saying that rather than abortion, adoption is always an option. According to Adopt America Network’s website, there are 102,000 children awaiting adoption in the US; therefore if the woman was to give her child up for adoption, it is not guaranteed a home.

There are varying perspectives on this issue, pro-choice and right to life, or pro-life. Pro-choice arguments protect the right to abortion, seeing it as a constitutional liberty. They oppose efforts against abortion since it is strictly a personal decision on what happens in the woman’s pregnancy. This doesn’t mean abortion should be used as the primary form of birth control, but they believe abortions should be legally available safely. Pro-life argues that an unborn child has the same rights as those living, therefore the Constitutional right of life stated in the Preamble. They also believe the 14th amendment of civil rights includes unborn children.

By federal law protecting this right, in all states, for any reason, women will be able to get a safe abortion if they need or want one. The result of the Roe v. Wade case should remain as a legal inclusion of civil rights. In conclusion, abortions should remain safe and legal in the United States.

Sincerely,

Bailey