Dear next President,

Imagine being stuck in a situation where you don't have the money or resources to raise a child but you find out that you are pregnant. Most people would probably say that the smart choice would be to get an abortion. Abortion should be a choice. The government should not be making that choice for a woman. We need to keep abortion safe abortion legal and legalize it in places where it is illegal to protect women's rights.

I believe this because people shouldn’t have to be punished for making a mistake. Some people say it shouldn't be a choice and that they should have to face the consequences of being irresponsible, but pregnancy isn't always caused by being irresponsible, and even when it is, we are humans and humans make mistakes. It is not fair to punish someone for the rest of their lives with an unwanted baby. It would also often be a punishment for the child. Since the baby was unwanted, it could be neglected or unloved and live a horrible life. Although adoption could be a choice, it would cause way too many babies to be put up for adoption and in orphanages, since a lot of the children end up not getting adopted, they sometimes get put into foster families. Sometimes these families do not treat the kids well, which can impact the kids mentally and physically. 

Many children who are unwanted, live a rough childhood and end up as criminals. Studies have shown that in 1991, about 20 years after abortion was legalized in the U.S, crime had suddenly decreased and in 1998, one third of homicidal rates had dropped. Property crime had also decreased by one fourth (Barro). Some people believed that the increase of police (as they had in New York) played a part in the decline of crime. That may have been a component but the decreasing crime rates were the same in LA, where they had not improved safety. The only logical explanation for this would be the legalization of abortion. Many unwanted children grow up in poverty and are raised by young, uneducated parents, who are anything but a good role model. Because of this they grow up thinking that it's acceptable to be like their parents and they become criminals. 

Anti-Abortionists argue that conception is life and that abortion is murder and we are violating the fetus’ rights. The fetus actually does not have any constitutional rights until the third trimester (Luhrmann) of the pregnancy (24-28 weeks). So no one is violating their rights. In Tanya Luhrmann’s article against pro-life, she makes a very good point when she says, “suppose you were to return home one day and find a stranger camped out in your living room and peacefully eating the ham sandwich you saved for dinner. You would be tempted to throw him out in the street. Almost everyone could agree that you had the right to eject him.’’ I agree with this, it is a metaphor for an abortion. I told myself that it wasn't enough to just compare an abortion to a stranger eating a ham sandwich in your house, but I read more and Luhrmann added that you can imagine if your food had to be rationed and you only had enough for one person. If you were forced into keeping the man in your house, it would be a huge responsibility and it would be dangerous for you. You would have to end up kicking him out. “Again, most people would agree you were within your rights to do so" (luhrmann). This is an accurate representation of an abortion, it can be seriously dangerous to some people to keep a child, if they do not have the means.

When teens get pregnant they usually drop out of school. If they get an abortion they can continue their education. In conclusion, I think that abortion laws should stay the same, they shouldn’t be removed or changed, we have to keep abortion legal and safe to protect women's rights to be in control of their own bodies. We can't have the government making that choice for us. Keeping these laws in place will help our society with lower the rates of crime and poverty and to protect our rights.