Pro Choice: Abortion is a Woman's Right

In today's society, abortion laws are a hot topic and the debate on whether or not abortion should be legal has been a reoccuring debate for years. Nobody can be sure of when or if the ongoing debate will ever end, but with the ongoing debates comes the two sides, pro life or pro choice. The definition of abortion is “the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy”, when someone is pro life this means that they beleive it is wrong to terminate a pregnancy or in other words “kill” an unborn child who doesnt’ yet have a voice or say in the matter. When someone is pro choice this means they believe that with a woman's body, comes the women's choice and that it is a womens fundamental human right to have the ability to receive a safe and legal abortion. In 1931, Mexico became the first country to legalize abortion if rape was a factor and many countries followed, but now those same countries are attempting to reverse their decision. A great number of international and regional human rights treaties protect the fundamental human right of any women seeking an abortion, along with the protection of national level constituitions, but efforts to make abortional illegal are still in action.

Pro life is one side of the story when it comes to the debate on wether or not abortions should be legal. One of the biggest arguments in the debate between pro life and pro choice is at what time in the pregnancy can you define the fertilized egg as human or is it just a bunch of cells. Many pro life supporters see abortion as inhumane and murderous, in an article published by Cathy Ruse and Rob Schwarzwalder they argue that the second fertilization occurs a zygote is created and that zygote is undeniably human. A zygote is the first stage of a cell during conception and that zygote is composed of human DNA, this zygote will then become an embryo. In order for biological life to be confirmed the four criteria that must be met are metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and lastly reproduction. Overall, the argument of a pro life supporter are that even in the earliest stage of pregnancy the zygote is composed of human DNA and the four criteria of biological life are being met, which means there is no denying that it is 100% human and alive even without the presence of a beating heart or other crucial human anatomy. Now that they have established that the unborn child is undeniably human, this then begins another argument on how it is inhumane to terminate the unborn child that is 100% human and alive but does not yet have a voice.

If the womens body makes it her right and her choice then why shouldn't the baby have the same right, it's the child's body and should be the child's choice since it is labeled human and cannot yet stand up for itself.

When someone is pro choice that means they believe it is a womens fundamental human right to have the ability to receive a safe and legal abortion, that it is her body and her choice. A womens right to an abortion is protected by a number of international/regional human rights treaties and national level constituitions, the pro choice movement also has gained support from many people of power including Federal Green Party Canidate Crumplin. A pro choice supporter has many arguments, one being that the human heart does not start beating after conception until around day 22 and that even with a beating heart the unborn child cannot feel pain. In canada no women is allowed to legally have an abortion after the 24th week of a pregnancy and the 24th week is during the second trimester, the nervous system of a fetus does not develop until the third trimester. Therefore, since the nervous system of a fetus is not developed during the time that an abortion can be performed, this means the fetus will feel no pain if a women decides to terminate a pregnancy. Other perspectives of a pro choice supporter is that it’s the womens body and her choice, that an abortion is a fundemental human right, that it is cruel to force a women to have a child that is the result of rape, and that it is cruel to bring a child into a world if its qaulity of life will be in humane.

When it comes to pro life or pro choice, both sides present strong arguments with good evidence but my stance is pro choice. I believe that it is a human right to be able to get an abortion, because although it may be seen as wrong to terminate an unborn child without a voice it may be in the best interest of the mother and the child. Although I do not condone the fact that some women may opt for an abortion because they made the choice to be unsafe when engaging in sexual activity, i do believe that good people can slip up and make bad decisions or mistakes and if that happens then they should have the right to correct the situatuon. One piece of evidence supporting my stance is that even tho pro life supporters use science to label the pregnancy as human even within just a few seconds of conception, pro choice has science to support that even with the evidence of pro life supports the unborn child will not feel any pain as its nervous system would not be developed and it would not have awareness of the procedure that is occuring. Another piece of evidence supporting my stance is that its unfair to a woman to be forced to keep a child that is the result of abuse or rape, since the women was given no consent in the decision of a pregnancy and the child may be a reminder of what she endured and with that comes PTSD meaning the mother may not have the best mental stability to raise that child. Continuing along with the argument of unwanted/accidental pregnancies, I believe that if a woman is not fit to have a child then she should not be forced to. Imagine a woman finds out she’s pregnant while barely being able to even provide for herself, in school and the baby would disrupt her career, in a religion where she could be at danger or even risk of death if someone were to find out she's pregnant, what if the mother finds out her child has special needs and cannot afford the extra care the child requires, or what if the mothers spouse is an abuser and the child would be born into the same life, the list of circumstances goes on. If a woman were to have a child when she was unprepared and even her quality of life was unpleasant, imagine the child's quality of life… Would the child be happy? Would the women be able to provide for the child? Would the child be safe? For all those circumstances the option of putting the child up for adoption is available, but even then if the child does not get adopted then it would be bouncing around foster homes until the child is 18. A study by the “Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics” found that children in foster care are greatly more mentally and physically unhealthy than a child in the general population. Pro life supporters say it is cruel and inhumane to terminate a possible child, but isn't it cruel and inhumane to bring a child into a world where it would be unhappy, unhealthy, and have a terrible quality of life? 

In conclusion if it is in the best interest of the mother and the childs qaulity of life, happiness, health, pr safety, then i believe it is only fair to allow women the right to an abortion. Doctors would not be allowed to perform abortions if it was not deemed safe, if we were to take away a women’s right to abortion imagine how many women may be harmed or even die if they were to desperatly seek an illegal abortion because they had no other options. Its her body, her choice, her fundamental human right, and it is protected by treaties and the constitution for a reason. Where do you stand, pro life or pro choice?