Abortion
The controversy of abortion in the United States is unique because there seems to be no grounds of compromise between two completely polar sides. That is mostly because either a living human is or isn't being killed. This is a case between life and liberty, but the ambivalence of the complexities of abortion make it hard to settle the two sides. There is much debate whether this is an action of life or death, and the difference is rather large. Yet both sides to the abortion dispute share a common goal: that abortions should become safer, and the number of abortions should decrease.
Abortion is defined as the inducing of premature delivery in order to destroy offspring. It is a chosen miscarriage. Within abortion there are many different questions. Does the constitution defend an individual's right to abortion? Does this include confidentiality? Is a developing fetus a being? Should the law allow abortions for rape or incest cases?
The constitution does allow abortion. The right to privacy and reproductive rights, although not directly mentioned in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, is an enumerated right. The Supreme Court Decision in 1973, Roe vs. Wade, legalized abortion in the first trimester. Since then, over 35 Million women have had legal abortions (Cozic/Tipp 53). In America, 24% of pregnancies end in abortion, and 41% of that is on teenagers. 88% of abortions are performed during the first trimester.
When a fetus is actually living is hard to define. Factually, the heart begins to beat after 18-25 days, but the brain function after 40 days. Some people claim you are a person directly after conception, while others believe that a grouping of 46 chromosomes does not make you a human, but a potential life. Whether or not they are a living human being depends on whether they are protected by the right to life.
Abortions for rape or incest victims is another controversial topic. Babies born of...
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