Abortion is an issue that has been debated for many years by both Republicans and Democrats. The argument that is present when the topic of abortion comes up is if the act of the abortion is considered murder or not. Another argument that is made is if the decision to have an abortion should be left with the mother alone. Many people believe that since it is the woman’s body that the fetus is growing in, that it should be her decision to have an abortion or not, while others believe that you are taking away the rights of another human being by aborting it. This is a topic that has been involved in many political debates since the 1970's, and it is still heavily debated in present day politics. The issue of abortion became very popular after the U.S. Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade, where the supreme court decided that telling a woman she could not have an abortion was a violation of her constitutional rights. While this case ruling was stated back in 1973, many activists have fought to make abortion illegal once again since the case, and many still fight for this law to take action in present day.

There are many reasons why people believe that women should have the right to decide if they want to have an abortion or not. One major reason that is proposed by people that are “pro-choice” is that women should have the say as to what happens to their body, especially in the situation where they were raped, and became pregnant. American philosopher, Judith Thomson offers a scenario in her writing, “A Defense of Abortion” that makes readers think about the possibility of having to end the life of someone if it effected your everyday living situation.

Thomson asks her readers to imagine waking up one day, and seeing you have a famous violinist attached to your body. You have your circulatory system connected with this violinist to keep him alive, and if you detach yourself from the violinist at any point in the first nine months of being attached, he will die. Thomson proposes the idea and says that even though you were kidnapped, and this violinist was attached to you against your will, are you still expected to keep him alive? This scenario is meant to be related to the situation of a woman being raped, and the rape resulting in a pregnancy. Thomson makes the argument that most people would think if you were attached to this violinist against your will, it would be okay to detach from him. If it is okay to detach from this random violinist, why wouldn’t it be okay to abort a fetus who was created against the mother’s will?

Thomson makes another argument defending a woman’s right to abortion, and critiquing the “pro-life’s” view. One major pro-life argument that is made is that all humans have the right to life. Thomson challenges this statement, stating “Suppose a woman has become pregnant, and now learns that she has a cardiac condition such that she will die if she carries the baby to term. What may be done for her? The fetus, being to life, but as the mother is a person too, so has she a right to life. Presumably they have an equal right to life.” The point made here states that if a woman knows she will die if she carries a baby to full term, she should have the right to choose to abort the fetus or not. The pro-life argument would be that the fetus is a being, and it should not be murdered no matter what. However, Thomson attempts to show that if life is what people who are against abortion are truly concerned about, then they would be concerned for the life of the mother as well. Based on Thomson’s expert opinion, the idea that all humans have a right to life can be looked at as contradictory when no matter what, a life will be lost in the scenario presented. By saying abortion is never okay, it is implied that the fetus’ being is more important than the mother’s being.

While being raped, or having your life in danger may be two huge reasons a mother decides to get an abortion, they are not the only reasons. Lawrence Finer, Lori Frohwirth, Lindsay Dauphinee, Susheela Singhand, and Ann Moore are all researchers at the Guttmacher Institute in New York, and they conducted a study to find out why woman have abortions. They surveyed 1,209 abortion patients at 11 large providers, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 38 women as well. Nearly three quarters of the women who had received an abortion all stated that their life would be changed dramatically if they had the child. Out of these women, 38% of them said that they got an abortion because they believed having a child would interfere with their education, or career. While there could be plenty of reasons a woman has an abortion, people who are “pro-choice” believe that any reason is good enough to go through with the abortion. They believe the mother has the right to decide what happens with her body, but not everyone agrees with the idea of a woman having a choice as to whether she can get an abortion or not.

While there are many people who believe women should have the right to get an abortion, there are just as many people who believe that abortion should be illegal. Just like there are many reasons that people believe abortion should be left to the choice of the woman, there are also many reasons that are stated by people who are “pro-life” that explain why abortion should be considered murder.

Laura Peredo, a writer for Live Action News, states the reasons as to why abortion is wrong. The first thing Peredo states is that preborn fetuses are actually people. The debate of whether a fetus is considered a person at conception, or at birth is an issue that has been controversial for years. Peredo states, “We know from pure biology that from the very first moment of fertilization, the new being is neither the father nor the mother. She has her very own DNA, from the first moment of her creation.” She goes on to explain that a heartbeat can be seen in an ultrasound as early as 16 days after conception, and that if a baby can be born possibly months before their due date, and still survive it should be considered a human. Peredo also states that we know for a fact that babies in the womb can hear and recognize music, and we can also see human body parts forming very early in the pregnancy. Her whole argument is, if fetuses in the womb have all of these qualities that actual beings have, why are they still not considered human yet? Another reason Peredo brings up that supports the opinion of the “Pro-lifers” is that it is always wrong to kill innocent people. She states, “Throughout history, we’ve fought to protect the innocent because we know that nobody deserves to be killed. And we’re especially repulsed by stories of specific groups of people being targeted and killed.” Peredo is referring to unborn fetuses as a “specific group of people being targeted and killed”. Her whole point is stating that, just like how it shouldn’t matter if you are black or white, male or female, rich or poor, it shouldn’t matter if you are an unborn human or born. Unborn beings should be treated with the same rights as people who have been given birth to, and unborn beings that are aborted should be considered murdered. Peredo, and many other people who are considered “pro-life” truly believe that abortion is murdering innocent people. Peredo concludes her article by stating, “If we agree that the preborn are people, and we know that killing innocent people is wrong, then abortion is clearly wrong.”

Just like the average American citizen, politicians are very open on their opinions on abortion as well. Current Vice President, Mike Pence has commented on the issue of abortion, and is open about the fact that he is “pro-life”. During his first major speech as Vice President, Pence visited the topic of abortion, stating that, “the court had "abandoned" ideals in the first amendment but now things were turning around with the new administration.” Pence is referring to the Roe vs. Wade case, where the decision to make abortion legal was made. When many citizens make the decision to vote for President, their mind could be made up based on only one issue, like abortion. President Trump and Vice President Pence had made it clear through their entire campaign that they are “pro-life”, and that could have won over many of the votes they received in the 2016 election. Elizabeth Landers, journalist for CNN, reports that, “He (Pence) also frequently referenced his anti-abortion rights initiatives as governor of Indiana, pointing to millions of dollars of additional funding that he provided to crisis pregnancy centers so that ‘women facing crisis pregnancy have more choices before them and can choose life.’” While there are many politicians that are “pro-choice”, there are just as many that are “pro-life”, and they have used this view as an advantage to further themselves in an election, as they know it is a heavily debated topic.

Abortion is, and will continue to be a topic that is discussed and debated throughout the history of the United States. While there are varying opinions on the issue, I believe that a woman should have the right to decide what is done with her body. A woman knows if it is the right time in her life to have a baby, and if she makes the decision not to then we as a society should trust her judgement. I believe abortion can be the right thing, especially if the baby in question will have a damaged life if given birth to. No matter what decision is made when it comes to abortion, there will always be one group who is unpleased with the results, which makes it one of the biggest national issues in this country’s history.