Abortion Should Be Legal

Improved Essays
“In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth of all pregnancy – and childbirth – related deaths” (“Abortion Access”). This justifies that if abortion isn’t legal, then those who want to get rid of the fetus will perform illegal abortions such as self-abortion. As a result, those who perform self-abortion will end up harming themselves. Although many are against abortion because they consider it evil/inhumane, it should be legal because the mother could have been raped, have a disabled fetus, or have an unwanted pregnancy.
In the United States, abortion had been practiced until the 1880’s. During this time, they banned the practice of abortion except when saving the life of a woman. However, banning abortions did not stop women from turning
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Although many believe that just because the fetus is not fully developed it won’t feel pain, it has been proven that, “At 20 weeks the fetal brain has the full complements of brain cells and surgeons entering a womb have seen the fetus flinch, jerk, and recoil” proving that unborn babies can feel pain (“Unborn Babies”). According to Simon, every fetus produced by human parents is considered a human being and a part of the human species. Therefore, if a fetus is considered a part of the human species, it must be given the right to live just like how post-born humans are given the right to live. Moreover, he explains how abortion should be illegal due to the fact that, since every fetus is a part of the human species, getting an abortion will be similar to committing a murder …show more content…
“Trauma represents just one category of mental states causing significant emotional harm to individuals” (Cohen). So if a woman gets pregnant from rape or incest and develops a trauma, an abortion will help remove the trauma and improve the mother’s emotional health. Moreover, “[If a woman] prefers to end her pregnancy, raising a profoundly disabled child might be thought to also impose significant [emotional] suffering” (Cohen). If a mother knows that her unborn child will be disabled, the mother will be depressed, but if she gets an abortion before the baby is born, this could improve the mother’s emotional health. Furthermore, “The rape case, the trauma, and the pregnancy have the same “cause” and are inextricably linked such that one cannot end one without the other” (Cohen). He is implying that the mother must get an abortion to be free of her trauma because these factors have an unbreakable

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