Abortion: Harmful Or Inhumane?

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Abortions have been around since as long as civilization has existed, but they have not always been legal or accepted. Even today the idea of abortions can be a touchy subject and there is a lot of debate over what is humane or not. The decision to support or oppose abortions is decided by many different factors; one of those being when a child is officially “alive.” Many people believe that a child is not alive until they are born or are in late-terms of the pregnancy; however, just as many people believe that a child is alive after conception. These scientific gray areas, combined with religious, moral, and situational dilemmas surrounding the subject, make abortion a topic that has existed throughout the entire history of the United States, …show more content…
Before the 1880’s, abortions were commonplace. The connotation with them was negative, but they were still possible to receive. However, abortions were made illegal by 1880, because midwives who performed abortions were taking jobs away from white males and the frequency of abortions were decreasing white population, a phenomena called “race suicide” (“History of Abortion in the U.S.”). There was a rampant fear that white men would lose their jobs to women and the black population would gain power over the white population through their growing numbers. Although making abortions illegal decreased the numbers of women getting abortions, it did not stop it entirely. Women would get illegal abortions from questionable employers or they would attempt to give themselves an abortion by sticking knitting needles or coat hangers in their vaginas (“History of Abortion in the U.S.). The lack of medical advancement and the lack of professionality of these abortions created an increase of women in hospitals from abortions gone wrong and infection. The scientific advancement of the time allowed for affective abortions, but they were not accessible to women. Despite the danger and illegality, abortions …show more content…
Wade in 1973, a court case which disallowed laws illegalizing abortions. Previous to this Supreme Court decision, the decision of the legal standing of abortions was up to the state, and the feminist movement had encouraged some states to legalize abortions (“History of Abortion”). With the national legalization of abortion, they became more common for women and new medicine to prevent infection and to have safe procedures decreased the danger of the abortions significantly. Abortion became established as part of a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, so it was not as taboo to be “pro-choice” and in support of

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