A Women’s Right to Chose

During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of the most popular subjects of controversy in the United States. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemma that challenges the way many of us think and feel. There are many points of view toward abortion but the only two fine distinctions are "pro-choice" and "pro-life". A pro-choicer would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers and the state has no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is person. This life imposes on us a moral obligation to preserve it and that abortion is tantamount to murder. As with all arguments, there are strengths and weaknesses to both sides. I personally feel that since I have never been in the position to make the decision of whether or not to have an abortion, I cannot take one side or the other. I do however feel that abortion should remain legal because the consequences of it becoming illegal far outweigh the benefits.

The traditional argument against abortion basically says that killing an innocent person is wrong. And I agree with that. But it also says that abortion is the same as murder. Therefore making abortion is wrong too. But the weakness in this argument is that we do not have a clear definition of a person. No scientific proof has been established that says that a fetus in the womb is an actual person. So we cannot compare abortion to murder if we can’t even define it.

More modern arguments for abortion say that it doesn’t matter if the fetus is a person or not. Judith Thompson says that if the man and woman have taken all precautions against pregnancy and a pregnancy still results, than that women is not responsible for the pregnancy and may abort if she so chooses. Under the 14th Amendment, women are given the right to receive an abortion. The 14th Amendment's concept of "personal liberty" restrictions on state action is enough to allow a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The right to choose to have an abortion is so personal and essential to women's lives that without this right, women cannot exercise other fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution

In 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision recognized abortion as a fundamental constitution right and made it legal in all states. The law now permits abortion at the request of the women without any restrictions in the first trimester and some restrictions in the second trimester to protect the women's health. Many countries have followed our decision on the abortion issue. These include Canada, England, and France. Other countries still believe abortion should be illegal, they include Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand. The National Abortion Right Act League argues that without legalized abortion, women would be denied their constitutional right of privacy and liberty. The women's right to her own body