Allie Herrmann

ENG 1201

Prof. C

20 March 2022

Literature Review

The world can be very black and white. People will always believe they’re right,

espicially when it comes to abortion. What one person views as mandatory healthcare, another

will call cruel murder. The issue with abortion is one that isn’t going away, today lawmakers are

still creating and enforcing laws that make abortions illegal. In the United States some states

want to enforce the death penalty on anyone who gets an abortion, or even assists in one. How

can abortion be seen in such a black and white light, and why is the morality of abortion up for

such a debate?

When considering the history of abortion one of the most noteable event was the Roe v.

Wade court case. It took place in 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that pregnant women would

have the liberty to choose to have an abortion without too many governemnt restrictions. This

decision overturned many laws in place restricting abortions at the time, both on a federal and

state level. It was after the Row v. Wade decided that the United States started hearing more

prominent antiabortion stances from evangelical groups. For most of the United States history

abortion had been illegal ( NPR, 2019 ). Turning to more recent history, in 2019, 10 U.S. states

enacted antiabortion laws. While Roe v Wade has not been officially overturned, the U.S. The

Supreme Court hasn’t taken any action to block these antiabortion laws.
 Those who take the antiabortion stance believe that abortions are unethical because of the

pain experienced by the fetus after a certain amount of development. The evidence being that

premature babies that are born around 23-24 weeks experience extreme amounts of pain when

undergoing surgical procedures. They argue that a fetus still in the womb around the same stage

in development that gets aborted using dilation and evacuation- a procedure that removes the

limbs of the fetus- would cause the fetus to feel that extreme pain just as the babies that have

been born, making the abortion unethical. Many on the other side of this point will argue that the

procedure should be legal. Out of 1.4 million abortions perfomed in 1996 only 650 of them used

the dilation and evacuation procedure, that’s .046% (Deters, 2005). They argue that the

procedure is necessary for a specific time in a woman’s pregnancy and banning it would restrict

her right to her choice. At the end of the day this side argues all abortions terminate a fetus and

should be able to be conducted throuh whichever prcedure a medical professional recommends.

It can be a common misconception that all people of faith don’t support abortions,

however Catholics for Choice debunk this generalization. Jon O'Brien- leader of Catholics for

Choice- says, "We are pro-choice because of our faith, not despite it” (Miller, 2016). It is

belived by many antiabortion activists that religious people need to be against abortion for moral

reasons. However, Catholics have proved this to not be necessary. Many Catholics in line with

their faith do not view abortion as murder, and more aligned to contraception. While not all

Catholics agree, it is evident there is a wide range of opinions, and they’re definitely not all pro-

life. Their support is important to the pro-choice movent as they are proving the religious

narrative to not be all for one.

Pro-life advocates point out that many women can view abortion as a form of birth

control. With statistics saying that there are about 1.5 million abortions taking place every year it
makes people wonder, why so many? On the other side of this debate pro-choice advocates say

that we need to better educate and support those who can get pregnant in order to prevent the

pregnacies in the first place. The author shared a personal story of her friend who was thrown a

bag of condoms at the abortion clinic and told to “be more careful next time.” It is also evident

that many women become pregnant against their will, 1 out of 6 American women are the victim

of attempted or completed rape (Mathewes-Green, 2001). They argue many of these women are

not being irresponsible, and we cannot punish them by taking away their choice to terminate

their pregnancy after a traumatic event.

Many pro-choice supporters call out pro-life supporters questioning how much they

really value life when it comes to the woman’s safety. They argue the point that when you ban

abortions, it leaves women to seek them out unsafely. Unsafe abortions are responsible for the

deaths of 78,000 women every year (Watkins, 2005). If pro-life advocates care so much about

life, it leaves pro-choice people to question what they’re doing for the lives these women. Many

will make the argument that these people are only “pro-birth” and don’t truly care for the quality

of life when it comes to the parent or the child.

In conclusion, the abortion debate has no end in sight. People on both sides are quick to

point fingers and desperately want to prove their opinion to be right. It will always be a moral

struggle for some, while others will continue fighting for the right of people who do want to have

an abortion. The debate for abortion is certainly intense, and it will be up to the lawmakers if,

and where it is legal in the future. However, the people will never stop speaking and fighting for

their side.
 Works Cited

Center for Reproductive Rights. "Abortion Is a Woman's Right." The Ethics of Abortion, edited
by
Christine Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2005. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing
Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010012215/OVIC?u=leba19371&sid=bookmark-
OVIC&xid=5ca33683. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.

Deters, Rob. "Partial Birth Abortions Do Not Harm Women." Problems with Death, edited by
David A. Becker, Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010160236/OVIC?
u=leba19371&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=9d5c56a2. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022. Originally
published as "Women Should Have Right to Choose," Badger Herald, 30 Oct. 2003.

"Listeners Ask About The History Of U.S. Abortion Laws." Morning Edition, 5 June 2019. Gale
In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588404719/OVIC?
u=leba19371&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=d69eaff0. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.

Mathewes-Green, Frederica. "Finding Common Ground in the Abortion Debate." The Ethics of
Abortion, edited by Christine Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2001. At Issue. Gale In
Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010012208/OVIC?
u=leba19371&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=ab7bc571. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.

Miller, Patricia. "Pro-Choice Catholics Play an Important Role in the Abortion Debate." The
Catholic Church, edited by Michael Ruth, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing
Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010384278/OVIC?u=leba19371&sid=bookmark-
OVIC&xid=05be1afa. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022. Originally published as "Why Pro-Choice
Catholics Matter," huffingtonpost.com, 27 Jan. 2015.