Abortion Should Be Legal According to the Different Articles
Abortion is a women’s right. Regardless of circumstance, be it unsteady finances, rape, or not being able to care for a child, no woman should be forced to go through an unwanted pregnancy and to give birth to an unwanted child. Abortion should be legal, regardless of circumstance.
Many articles of why abortion should be legal and easily accessible. Such as the article, “Abortion: Every Woman’s Right.” by Sharon Smith. This article was written in 1992 regarding the fact abortion is a woman’s right, leading up to a large protest in Washington D.C. when women’s abortion rights were about to be severely restricted by supreme court ruling. Another article is titled, “Is Abortion a Human Right?” and is by Susan Milligan. This article covers that in the fight for legal abortions in Ireland, human rights is attached as to why it should be legal. The final article is, “Becoming a Mother Made Me Even More Pro-Choice,” by Maureen Shaw. Shaw discusses her personal experience with being a mother and why abortion should be legal to every woman due to do motherhood being a huge responsibility.
Sharon Smith wrote the article after being inspired by the current laws regarding women’s rights to abortion. “For more than a decade, the right to abortion has been steadily eroded, so that now the debate is over who should be able to pre-empt a woman’s choice to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, laws now exist which allow parents, husbands or state governments to prevent pregnant women from having abortions” (1). Smith stated. A woman would not have had a choice like she would deserve because everything would be decided by someone else, meaning the right was stolen from her. “Thirty-five states have laws requiring women under the age of 18 to notify or obtain the consent of a parent before they can have an abortion” (1) Smith informed. Parents at the time, be it religious or person reasons, would deny
the young woman an abortion. The idea of abortion is that it is the woman’s choice, not anyone else’s. Smith also brought up the abortion can be, and is, a class issues. “Social class has always been the deciding factor in the right to choose an abortion” (1). Women who have stable finances are far more likely to keep the child and continue with the pregnancy, whereas women with financial issues are more likely to get an abortion. In fact, not being able to support a child financially is the number one reason women get abortions. This is even more reason abortion should be legal and easily accessible.
Susan Milligan discussed the laws of abortion and what they are like in Northern Ireland, where the laws are the strictest in Europe. A new spin has been put on it there, in an interview with Tarah Demant. “It’s a sad statement that human rights have not become extremely politicized,’ with both political parties in the U.S. working to advance human rights around the world. Instead, ‘women’s rights have been politicized. That’s an indictment of our political climate here,’ she says” (1).
In Northern Ireland, the question there is not is abortion a woman’s right, but a rather is it a human’s right. “Until the decision this week by a Belfast judge, abortion in Northern Ireland was legal only to save the life and health (including the mental health) of the pregnant woman or girl. Those who perform illegal abortions face up to life in prison, while the patients can be sentenced to 14 years behind bars” (1). Until very recently, abortion was not only not a human right, but instead a crime that is quite punishable there whereas throughout the rest of the United Kingdom it was legal.
Milligan goes on to say, “That has led at least 163,514 women and girls, between January 1980 and December 2014, to travel to another country to get an abortion, according to the Irish Family Planning Association” (1). This is a sad fact, considering that women are so desperate for a basic human right they are willing to leave their country for it and that they will also risk prison time. Women also risk getting abortions that are not only illegal, but also dangerous because they might not be done under proper conditions which can lead to serious injury or worse. This is more of a reason for abortion to be legal, to prevent unnecessary injury.
Contrary to popular belief, those having abortions are not all irresponsible. Rather, those who get abortions are very responsible, knowing that the decision is a better option than raising a child in unsteady circumstances. Shaw, who had always been pro-choice, became even more supportive and understanding of the movement. Going off that, Shaw said, “Raising a child is an all-encompassing phenomenon, something you can never understand until you’re in the thick of it-and definitely something you should bypass until you’re ready” (1).
Raising a child is a lot of work and requires a lot of dedication and time. Some women are not ready for the responsibility, let alone the fact some may have to raise a child alone. “To hear right-wingers tell it, the person who gets an abortion is usually a thoughtless teenager or a young woman who uses abortion as birth control…these individuals are lining up around the block to carelessly do away with unwanted pregnancies instead of facing responsibility for not keeping their legs closed” (1). Shaw says.
This is what has been a common thought by those who are anti-abortion. There are women, be it a few, that use it as a birth control method, but those do not represent all women who have abortions. “Women who obtain abortions should be not skewered or shamed. They acknowledge that they’re unwilling or unable to parent (at that particular time or possibly ever), and they know children deserve to be loved and cherished” (1). Shaw is right in every way. Women who have an abortion are more responsible than those who keep a pregnancy and a child that they know they cannot raise.
Overall, abortion is a basic human right. Only the woman and perhaps her partner, have any say in what a woman does with her body. Every woman has a right to have an abortion. Regardless of the reason, an abortion is something that should not only be legal, but also supported. Women deserve to have a choice. In conclusion, abortion is no one’s business except for a woman getting an abortion. Her body, her choice.
Work Cited
- Smith, Sharon. “Abortion: Every Woman’s Right.” Socialist Worker.org. N.p., 1970. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.
- Milligan, Susan. “Is Abortion a Human Right?” U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 2 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
- Shaw, Maureen. “Becoming a Mother Made Me Even More Pro-Choice – Rewire.” Rewire. N.p., 2 May 2016. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
