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Has abortion become a modern life casualty? There may be many "yes" and equal number of "no", voicing their opinion over this, thus strengthening the arguments revolving around this issue. The fact of the matter is that most of the statistics concerning abortion do not depict a satisfactory picture. In fact, abortion has always been a heated subject amongst the masses as people have their own school of thoughts regarding it.

That being said, there are many laws governing the legality of this issue. While in as much as 30 countries, abortion is legalized, remaining countries have partial restrictions or complete ban on abortion, unless life of the mother is at stake. You would be surprised to know that abortion caused due to rape and other health complications account to nearly 7%, while the remaining cases of abortion are primarily a result of personal and social issues. It's interesting to learn the pros and cons of abortion as it offers us a great insight about this issue. Let's move on to the pros and cons of abortion.

Abortion Cons

-By all accounts, abortion appears like an awful crime. After all, abortion implies denying someone a well-deserved life. Just because the odds are not in our favor, can we deprive someone the chance to live?

-By terminating a life, can we justify our acts? A baby is often considered as a God's gift, and it's believed that every living being has a purpose behind his/her birth. By tampering with a life, aren't we acting against the creator of the world?

-Having an abortion done always carries the risk of not being able to become pregnant ever again in life.

-Abortion can also lead to serious health complications, and in some cases the worst case scenario can be death.

-It often leads to unwanted memories, which can result into great stress and depression. Some women experience a feeling of guilt, which lasts for their whole lifetime. In short, abortion can turn out to be a lifetime worth of burden.

Abortion Pros

-Sometimes life can be really harsh on us. There are times when abortion may appear as the only option for the betterment. Although a mother may have a hard time opting for this option, she may eventually consider this soul-killing decision, keeping in mind all the pros and cons of this decision.

-At the end of the day, a mother has to go through the actual labor pain and other issues involved with parenting and juggling responsibilities. Others can't precisely gauge or understand the level of trauma that a woman may be experiencing in her personal life. She is the only person who knows best, if she would be able to take care of the unplanned child or not. We all know that it's merely impossible to raise a child without family support and finance in hand. To a great extent, the life of the baby depends upon the mother's health.

-In some cases, medical emergencies compel a woman to resort to this action. There is a possibility that her own life might be at risk, if she delivers the child.

-Some of the rape victims can be minors. They wouldn't be mentally or physically prepared to take care of the newborn baby. Why should such victims go through the ordeal of bearing a child, which is a product of some unfortunate incident of their life?

-Technologies have enabled disease detection amongst unborn babies. Giving life to an unhealthy baby and watching it suffer all day and night can be highly jeopardizing for the family as well as the newborn child.

-Can a woman be forced to produce a life? Giving life to an unwanted child might invite world of troubles for both mother and the child. So, are we being fair to the child?

Whether you agree or not, abortion will always play an active role in our society. In the US itself, more than 4000 cases of abortion are reported on daily basis. While for one, abortion can be a highly miserable experience, to the other, having a forced child can be a highly miserable experience. It's impossible to go by a rule book, when it comes to dealing with an issue, where human lives are at stake. At the end of the day, a mother has every right to decide the next move of her life!

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Has abortion become a modern life casualty? There may be many "yes" and equal number of "no", voicing their opinion over this, thus strengthening the arguments revolving around this issue. The fact of the matter is that most of the statistics concerning abortion do not depict a satisfactory picture.

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The debate over whether abortion should be a legal option has long divided people around the world. Split into two groups, pro-choice and pro-life, the two sides frequently clash in protests.

Proponents of legal abortion believe abortion is a safe medical procedure that protects lives, while abortion bans endanger pregnant people not seeking abortions, and deny bodily autonomy, creating wide-ranging repercussions.

Opponents of legal abortion believe abortion is murder because life begins at conception, that abortion creates a culture in which life is disposable, and that increased access to birth control, health insurance, and sexual education would make abortion unnecessary. Read more background...

Pro & Con Arguments

Pro 1

Abortion is a safe medical procedure that protects lives.

The death rate for legal abortions is 0.7 deaths for every 100,000 abortions. By contrast, there are one to two deaths per 100,000 plastic surgery procedures, three deaths for every 100,000 colonoscopies, and three to six deaths per 100,000 tonsillectomies. Childbirth has nine deaths per 100,000 deliveries.

Pregnancy-related maternal deaths could increase 20% in US states with abortion bans. Amanda Stevenson, Sociology Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, explained, "People with resources are more likely to make it out of state or find out about medication abortions. People who can't are more likely to have health issues, to live in poverty and have less access to resources." People of color are especially likely to be in the latter category and, thus, negatively impacted by abortion bans.

The predicted 20% maternal death rate does not include those who will die from "back alley" or illegal abortions because legal options were not available.

Globally 45% of abortions are unsafe, 97% of which take place in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Evidence shows that restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions; however, it does affect whether the abortions that women and girls attain are safe and dignified. The proportion of unsafe abortions are significantly higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in countries with less restrictive laws."
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Pro 2

Abortion bans endanger healthcare for those not seeking abortions.

Medical treatment for nonviable pregnancies is often exactly the same as an abortion.

Ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterine cavity. About one in 50 pregnancies are ectopic, and they are nonviable. Bleeding from ectopic pregnancies caused 10% of all pregnancy-related deaths, and ectopic pregnancies were the leading cause of maternal death in the first trimester.

One out of every ten pregnancies ends in miscarriage. The drugs used for medication abortions are the only treatment recommended for early miscarriages. For later or complicated miscarriages, the same surgical procedure used for abortions is recommended.

While some abortion bans include specific exceptions for nonviable pregnancies and miscarriages, other bans are too vague to be practicable. Healthcare providers may refuse to perform a procedure that could be interpreted as an "on-demand" abortion for fear of liability or prosecution.

Further, bans are a slippery slope to contraceptive and other healthcare restrictions. For example, some already wrongly view Plan B (the morning after pill) as an abortifacient and are thinking of including it in abortion bans.
Read More

Pro 3

Abortion bans deny bodily autonomy, creating wide-ranging repercussions.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated, "eliminating the rights of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades.... In many cases, abortions are of teenage women, particularly low-income and often Black, who aren't in a position to be able to care for children, have unexpected pregnancies, and it deprives them of the ability often to continue their education to later participate in the workforce."

After being denied an abortion, household poverty increased and lasted four or more years, resulting in an inability to cover basic expenses including food, housing and transportation. A denied abortion was associated with a lowered credit score, increased debt, and an increase in negative public records including evictions and bankruptcies. The households were also more reliant on government assistance. Transgender and nonbinary people denied abortions may face even worse outcomes.

And the consequences can be much more dire. "If a woman of childbearing age dies, it has enormous economic consequences.... It's someone who society has invested in and who has many productive economic years ahead of them," according to David Slusky, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas. Often, death also removes a wage-earner and caregiver from the household.

60% of women seeking abortions already had other children. Being denied an abortion worsened the well-being of their older children, including not meeting childhood development markers.

The Turnaway Study concluded, "Abortion does not harm women," and "Women who receive a wanted abortion are more financially stable, set more ambitious goals, raise children under more stable conditions, and are more likely to have a wanted child later."
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Con 1

Life begins at conception, making abortion murder.

Conception is the moment a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell, which begins the process of cell division that creates a human.

Tara Sander Lee, Senior Fellow and Director of Life Sciences at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, stated, "life begins from the moment of conception when the sperm fertilizes the egg, because there is the creation of a new, totally distinct, integrated organism or a human being, which is going to be biologically distinct from all other life forms on this planet." The first cell is biologically distinct because it has its own DNA that is different from either biological parent and all other humans.

Ending a life is murder legally and ethically, even a life that is only a few growing cells at the time of death.

Pope Francis explained, "Abortion is murder. Those who carry out abortions kill.... At the third week after conception, often even before the mother is aware (of being pregnant), all the organs are already (starting to develop). It is a human life. Period. And this human life has to be respected. It is very clear.... Scientifically, it is a human life."

That people may face difficulties without abortion as an option does not excuse or justify murder. A reader of The Atlantic, who gave only the initial K., clarified the moral dilemma: "I wish that I could be pro-choice because the awful circumstances so many women face-that I can't even imagine facing-seem so much more real to me than the rights of a fetus who doesn't even always look human. But abortion is the intentional killing of a human being and we look back with horror at anyone in history who decided a group of people did not actually count as people. We cannot solve the problem of injustice against women with more injustice. We need solutions that support women without killing fetuses."
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Con 2

Legal abortion promotes a culture in which life is disposable.

Echoing a 2014 remark by Pope Francis that connected abortion to " throwaway culture," Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, stated, "abortion represents a failure to recognize the sanctity of human life and promotes a culture in which human life in its most vulnerable moment is perceived as disposable. Such a proposal targets poor women as needing an expedient solution to a complex problem."

Tobin previously declared legal abortion a "brutalization of the American heart" on par with the "dehumanization of the undocumented" immigrants.

Alveda King, former Georgia state representative and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., also connected abortion to other societal ills: "Abortion and racism are both symptoms of a fundamental human error. The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root, selfishness. We create the deceptions that the other person is less important, less worthy, less human. We are all fully human. When we face this truth, there is no justification for treating those who look different than us as lesser beings. If we simply treat other people the way we'd like to be treated, racism, abortion, and other forms of inhumanity will be things of the past."

As King notes, some fetuses are treated as less than human. This ideology combined with legal abortion could create a slippery slope to designer babies, gender selection, termination of disabled but healthy fetuses, and other trait-selection-based abortions. The slippery slope can then extend to the mentally disabled and elderly in general.

"[A]bortion is an act rife with the potential for eugenic manipulation," according to US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. "Technological advances have only heightened the eugenic potential for abortion, as abortion can now be used to eliminate children with unwanted characteristics, such as a particular sex or disability."
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Con 3

Increased access to birth control, health insurance, and sexual education would make abortion unnecessary.

Experts largely contribute the decline in abortions in the United States and elsewhere to the improved safety and availability of LARC (long-acting reversible contraception) including IUDs and contraceptive implants that can last up to 10 years.

Access to health insurance to pay for contraceptives also contributed to a drop in abortions. With the passage of Obamacare (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), more people were insured with access to free or low-cost contraceptives and reproductive care.

Linda Rosenstock, Public Health Professor of Health Policy and Management at UCLA, summarized the simplicity of the connection: "In the United States each year, about half of pregnancies are unintended and about 40% of those lead to abortion. Access to birth control leads to fewer abortions."

Further, teens are having sex later in life than their parents. 38.4% of American high schoolers reported they have had sex (down from 54% in 1991) and only 27.4% reported they were currently sexually active (37.5% in 1991).

Because teen birth control use has not increased significantly, experts attribute the decline in part to better sex education. A 2021 study found that students who received comprehensive sexual education initiated sex later than students who did not participate in sex ed. The later teens have sex, the less chance there is for them to become pregnant unintentionally, which leads to fewer abortions.
Read More

Did You Know?

1. Throughout much of Western history, abortion was not considered a criminal act as long as it was performed before "quickening" (the first detectable movement of the fetus, which can occur between 13-25 weeks of pregnancy).

2. In 1821, Connecticut became the first US state to criminalize abortion.

3. The death rate for legal abortions is 0.7 deaths for every 100,000 abortions. By contrast, there are one to two deaths per 100,000 plastic surgery procedures, three deaths for every 100,000 colonoscopies, and three to six deaths per 100,000 tonsillectomies. Childbirth has nine deaths per 100,000 deliveries.

4. Abortion rates in the United States have fallen at what the CDC called a "slow yet steady pace" since a peak in 1981. That year there were 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The rate fell to 11.4 abortions per 1,000 women in 2019.

5. 60% of women seeking abortions already had other children.

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Abortion - Top Arguments For and Against - ProCon.org

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The Pro Choice side says women should have control of their bodies. Pro Lifers say abortion is murder. Explore both sides of the debate.

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"Abortion" is an emotionally charged word. A quick Google search of "abortion pros and cons" will return countless opinionated articles listing reasons why abortion is "good" or "bad," or why it should be legal or illegal. But for a woman trying to make the best possible choice for herself and her baby, the fierce debate about the pros and cons of abortion does little to help her reach a decision.

If you are weighing your unplanned pregnancy options, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the opinions of others, whether they come from your friends, family members or even information you come across online as you research abortion's pros and cons. The most important thing to remember is that you are the only person who can determine whether abortion is right for you.

But to do that, it's important to have all the facts. By familiarizing yourself with the true pros and cons to abortion, you can feel more confident knowing you're making a fully informed decision, whatever that may be. Read on for a comprehensive, unbiased list of the pros and cons on abortion to consider as you make your decision.
Pros of Abortion
No woman wants to be in a situation where she has to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. However, while it can be an agonizing decision to make, the women who choose this option often do so because they feel that the abortion pros outweigh the cons in their personal situation.

It's important to remember that every woman's circumstances are different; what one woman sees as an abortion pro, another might consider to be an abortion con. While this is not a complete list of the reasons women choose abortion, here are some of the benefits of abortion for the women that choose this option:

Most abortions involve low medical risk. One of the good things about abortion is that when it is completed legally, it's a generally safe procedure with few medical risks, especially when performed early in the pregnancy. Thousands of abortions are completed successfully every year, and most women experience only mild side effects.

Abortion is an alternative to pregnancy. Abortion is the only unplanned pregnancy option that allows a woman to discontinue her pregnancy before the baby is born. Many women choose abortion because they are not ready to experience pregnancy and childbirth.

Abortion is an alternative to parenting. Like adoption, abortion is an option for women who are not ready to raise a baby. An expectant mother may choose abortion (or adoption) because she does not have the time, money, health, stability or desire to raise a child at this point in her life. In turn, this can lead to additional abortion benefits; it allows women to continue pursuing their educational or career goals and work toward greater financial stability. In addition, research has suggested that by reducing the number of unwanted children, abortion may lead to lower crime rates and a reduced risk of maternal depression, child abuse, physical violence during pregnancy and more.

Abortion gives women control of their bodies. Pro-choice supporters argue that one of the biggest adoption pros is the independence it affords to women; the ability to choose abortion allows women greater control over the choice of whether and when to have children.

Most women feel positive about their abortion decision. While abortion is a difficult decision to make, and most women will experience some feelings of grief and loss immediately following the abortion, some studies have shown that the majority of women do not suffer long-term emotional consequences following an abortion.

Abortion is an option for women whose babies are diagnosed with severe health challenges. Some women choose abortion after discovering that their baby has a profound abnormality or life-threatening disorder that would result in death before or shortly after birth.

Abortion is an option for women facing life-threatening conditions. In some cases, a woman chooses abortion because continuing her pregnancy would put her life at risk.

While abortion may not be ideal, these pros about abortion may help expectant mothers who are struggling with an abortion decision to see the upside of their choice.

But before making a final decision, it's important to compare these abortion advantages to the challenges and disadvantages of this unplanned pregnancy option.
Cons of Abortion
While abortion can be the best option for women in certain circumstances, it's not the right choice for everyone. There are also several abortion cons to take into consideration. Many women weighing their unplanned pregnancy options ultimately decide against abortion because they have personal emotional, spiritual, financial or logistical problems with abortion.

If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy, here are some of the potential cons of abortion to be aware of:

Abortion can involve some minor health risks and side effects. While legal abortions are generally quite safe, they do carry some rare but serious risks and side effects, just like any other medical procedure. These include pain, discomfort, bleeding, infection and, in rare cases, injury to internal organs or reactions to the medicine given. Abortions completed later in pregnancy have a greater risk of complications, so talk to your doctor to make sure you are informed about what to expect during and after your abortion.

Abortion can have psychological consequences. The emotional effects of abortion are often debated. While some studies suggest that most women do not have long-term regrets about their adoption decision, others conclude that women who choose abortion may be more likely to suffer from mental health problems like anxiety, depression, substance abuse and more.

Abortion can be costly. While abortion is certainly less expensive than raising a child to adulthood, the medical procedure isn't always cheap. In fact, median abortion costs performed early in the pregnancy are around $500, with later-term abortions costing much more, sometimes up to several thousand dollars. Many insurance policies do not cover the cost of elective abortion, which means many women are forced to pay these costs out of pocket.

In some states, abortion requires parental consent. Several states have parental notification laws requiring minors to obtain permission from one or both parents before having an abortion. This is a major con of abortion for young women who do not want their parents to know about their unplanned pregnancy.

Abortion may be difficult to access. Women in more rural or remote areas may have trouble finding a safe abortion provider near them; some pregnant mothers have to travel several hours to access abortion services and, depending on state laws, they may have to make more than one trip for the necessary counseling and medical services.

Women who choose abortion may face harsh judgement from others. Pro-life organizations often picket abortion clinics or otherwise harass abortion providers and women seeking abortion services. Some women also face harsh criticism from friends, family members and others who know about and disagree with their abortion decision.

Abortion goes against some women's religious beliefs. Some women facing an unplanned pregnancy may want an abortion but feel torn because of religious or moral beliefs that abortion is wrong. They may feel that they are going against God or denying their baby the right to life by choosing an abortion.

When a woman chooses abortion, she does not get to meet her child. Women who choose abortion will not fully experience pregnancy or childbirth, and they will not have an opportunity to meet their baby and watch him or her grow up as they would with parenting or open adoption. Some women later wonder what their child would have been like if he or she had been born.

An abortion decision must be made early in the pregnancy. Most abortions are performed during the first trimester of pregnancy. After that, it becomes much more difficult to find abortion services, and medical risks are heightened. This means that women who want to have an abortion must learn of their unplanned pregnancy early on, quickly make an abortion decision, and make the necessary arrangements to access and pay for the abortion within the first few months of their pregnancy. As a result, abortion is not an option for everyone, and these time constraints could also lead some women to rush into an abortion decision that they may later regret.

It's important to keep in mind that these potential abortion problems should not necessarily be considered reasons not to have an abortion; they are just the realistic cons about abortion that every woman should be aware of when she's deciding how to move forward with an unplanned pregnancy.

Ultimately, the only pros and cons of abortion that matter are the ones that are relevant to you; the only reason to have an abortion (or not have an abortion) is because it's what you decide is right.
Weighing the Pros and Cons About Abortion
It is up to every woman facing an unplanned pregnancy to do her research and weigh the pros and cons of abortion in her individual circumstances. No one knows you, your baby or your situation better than you do.

However, if you need help making an abortion decision, you can always contact a professional counselor to talk about your options. Many abortion clinics, adoption agencies and independent counselors offer free options counseling to expectant mothers. Just make sure the professional you contact can provide nonjudgmental, unbiased information and support as you explore all of the pros and cons of abortion.

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"Abortion" is an emotionally charged word. A quick Google search of "abortion pros and cons" will return countless opinionated articles listing reasons why abortion is "good" or "bad," or why it should be legal or illegal.