Mikayla New York

Abortion Should Be Legal

Women have to have the right to abortions. The alternative to safe abortion is something women should not have to resort to. Roe v. Wade changed this country for the better and resorting to before the case would hurt this nation more than it would help.

Dear Future President,

There has been controversy over abortion for a long time now, therefore, some people believe that it should be banned, while others believe that women should have the choice to get an abortion if they want one. Pro-life activists say that women shouldn’t be able to get an abortion, but I believe women should have the right to an abortion if they choose to get one. The government should not decide what women can or cannot do with their bodies. Abortion does not need to be banned.

Abortion has been in debate for decades. The court case, Roe V. Wade, changed the fate of illegal abortion in 1973. The Supreme Court ruled that laws banning abortion during the first trimester are unconstitutional and that abortion involves physical, psychological, and economic stresses a pregnant woman must face. This means that when people who are pro-life harass these women, that is just extra stress for the pregnant woman. This matters because women are now allowed to get abortions due to the Roe V. Wade case. Women everywhere in the United States can legally get an abortion and it can be safer than the ways they used to get one.

There are many causes of abortion. Citing WebMD, the causes of abortion are inability to support a child, pregnancy from rape or incest, birth control failure, or just wanting to end the pregnancy. Before Roe V. Wade, women who wanted an abortion had to resort to unsafe means of ending their pregnancy. According to the National Abortion Federation, in countries where abortion is illegal, abortion remains a leading cause in maternal death. An estimated 68,000 women worldwide die from unsafe abortion. This means that women who want to terminate their pregnancy go to unsafe methods and end up harming themselves. This matters because if abortion were legal, many deaths could have been avoided due to safe procedures.

Women everywhere are affected by abortion. If a law was passed saying that abortion was illegal, women would lose the choice to be able to get an abortion. National Abortion Federation illustrates that women have a hard time getting abortions even though it is not illegal. There are shortages of abortion providers. Only 34% of OB-GYN residency programs offer training in safe abortion procedures as an elective, and 7% don’t offer a way to learn safe abortion procedures at all. Due to this, women everywhere are lacking the resources they need to get an abortion. This matters because without as much access as women need for abortion, some women can’t get them. Abortion affects all women, pregnant or not. People have come a long way since Roe V. Wade, and there is still a fight to keep abortion legal.

People, like Donald Trump, believe abortion should be illegal. According to a USA Today article, he plans to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, defund Planned Parenthood, and make the Hyde Amendment permanent. The Hyde Amendment withholds certain federal funds from being used for abortion. This means that he wants to make abortion illegal and strip women of the right to abortion. This matters because if Donald Trump does this, women everywhere will lose the choice of safe abortion. He believes that banning abortion will help the country, when it actually will do harm. Women when they can’t get a safe abortion turn to harmful methods. This can lead to perforations of the uterus, retained placentas, severe bleeding, cervical wounds, rampant infections, poisoning, shock, and gangrene. Also, people believe that getting an abortion can lead to an increased chance of breast cancer.

In 2003, the National Cancer Institute evaluated and assessed whether a link between abortion and breast cancer exists. They found that abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk. This means that abortion does not cause breast cancer or increase the chances, debunking the myth. Also, pro-life activists say that abortion procedures are unsafe. According to the National Abortion Federation, medical abortions have a high safety rate, with serious complications occurring in less than 0.5% of cases. Legal abortion is safe and could save lives.

Abortion should be legal because women deserve to be given a choice. I believe that laws should be put into action that protect women who choose abortion from harassment and being shamed, lied to, and deceived. Crisis Pregnancy Centers should not be allowed to misinform or dissuade women from abortion. Also, I believe that the cost of abortion should be something everyone can afford. People shouldn’t have to worry about getting together a large sum of money to get an abortion. As a woman, if I ever needed an abortion, I couldn’t afford it due to the high prices and lack of access. This doesn’t affect just me, but women everywhere. Doctors should be trained to give abortions so that there is more access to one if a woman chooses, or needs, to get an abortion. It should not be an “elective.” Abortion should be affordable, legal, and accessible.

Women should be allowed to get an abortion if they choose to do so. The government should not have a say in whether a woman can get an abortion or not. Many cases show that abortion is safe and that it does not cause an increased risk of breast cancer. Pro-life activists say that abortion should be banned. You don’t let the government tell you that you can’t get a kidney transplant, so why would you let them tell you that you can’t get an abortion?

Sincerely,
Women Everywhere