14 Dec Americans on Abortion – Pro-Life or Pro-Choice
U.S Constitution considers abortion as legal following the landmark decision by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
Roe v. Wade initiated a national debate that continues to linger today about issues including whether, and to what extent, abortion should be legal. It sparked a discussion around the legality of abortion and methods at the disposal of Supreme court while determining a constitutional adjudication. Religious and moral views also started to pour in. Roe v. Wade transformed the national political sphere, dividing much of the United States into pro-life and pro-choice camps while initiating grassroots movements on both sides.
Pro-life movements advocate against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion campaigns began as counter movements in response to the legalization of voluntary abortions.
Abortion opponents believe that human life should be valued either from fertilization or implantation until natural death. Traditional Christian beliefs also influence the modern anti-abortion movement in the United States. It considers that murder of an embryo or fetus is equivalent to murdering a person. Any deliberate destruction of human life is considered ethically or morally wrong and is not supposed to be alleviated by any benefits to others.
The United States abortion-rights movement (Pro-choice) supports the viewpoint that a woman should have the legal right to an elective abortion. She can choose to terminate her pregnancy at her preference.
Abortion-rights advocates argue that whether a pregnant woman continues with a pregnancy should be her personal choice, as it involves her body, health, and future. They prefer the availability of legal abortions as it diminishes the exposure of women to the risks associated with illegal abortions.
Abortion-rights individuals do not consider themselves “pro-abortion. They regard termination of a pregnancy as a bodily autonomy issue and find forced abortion to be as legally and morally indefensible as the outlawing of abortion. Indeed, some who support abortion rights consider themselves opposed to some or all abortions on a moral basis but believe that abortions would happen in any case and that legal abortion under medically controlled conditions is preferable to illegal back-alley abortion without proper medical supervision. Such people think the death rate of women would rise if abortions are only available outside of the medical establishment.
Mostly every institution recognizes that in extreme situations terminating a pregnancy is justified – such as safeguarding the life of a mother or in cases of sexual assault.
In 2015, 638,169 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. The abortion rate for 2015 was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 188 abortions per 1,000 live births.
As per Guttmacher Institute the three most common reasons for abortions—each cited by three-fourths of patients—were the concern for or liability to other individuals; the inability to afford to raise a child; and the belief that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents. Half said they did not want to be a single parent or were having problems with their husband or partner.
Abortion remains, a controversial issue in our culture and politics. We would like to know your stance on abortion. Are you pro-life or pro-choice?
People have the power to influence laws and push for legislative changes as and when deemed required. Your voice matters! Now is the time to drive a positive difference using your opinion. Your opinion counts!
Today is the day. Now is the moment. Vote for change.