Women should be able to choose abortion

It’s 2020 and we’re still fighting for women’s rights. Many people are familiar with the ongoing fight regarding abortion restrictions in our society. For those who may not know, an abortion means terminating a pregnancy for whatever reason. Now, I am no expert on laws, but I do believe that women should not have to fight for something that affects their body.

Over the last few years, I have both seen and heard stories about men trying to stop a woman from being getting an abortion. In my sophomore year I took AP U.S. History, and our first topic at the beginning of the year was women’s rights. We were debating abortion laws when one of my classmates said that women shouldn’t have abortions because they are inhumane. My response to that was, “who are we to decide what a woman does with her body?”

To me that is inhumane, and this is the problem with our society today.

In a journal written by Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization, they state the reasons behind abortions. One reason is age — many teens who are pregnant can’t handle the responsibility of a child and balance their school life. Many women in the United States also don’t have enough money to afford the costs of a baby and themselves.

Although abortion is a heavily debated topic, some might say that abortions are a good option to have for those who aren’t able to take care of a child or for people who have been sexually assaulted and don’t want a child. Some women want an abortion because they can’t carry a child to a full pregnancy term, and some get an abortion because they have health issues that their child has a chance of getting. My question is, why would you want to take away something that allows women to feel like they have a fresh start or something that makes a woman worry less?

A report published by CNN in 2019 explains some reasons women have gotten abortions, and one of the reasons given was that the woman lived in an abusive household. In some cases, women get an abortion because they fear that their child could be harmed where they live. In that case, they choose an abortion as a way to protect their child from harm, but many people don’t see it that way. It has also been proven that an African American woman is five times more likely to get an abortion than a white woman, and a Latina woman is twice as likely to get an abortion as a white woman.

Some may argue that women shouldn’t be allowed to get abortions, those reasons being that they believe those women take away an innocent life without having a reason to. They fail to realize that many women don’t do it because they are heartless or don’t care about the child — many women feel they have no other choice.

Some women need to get an abortion because the baby would grow up in the wrong place, which can result in death to the mother and sometimes the child, too. Some people against abortions are quick to say that women shouldn’t have abortion rights because abortions are “immoral,” yet they continue to try and take away a natural right.

Anti-abortionists have also made arguments stating that women should have children and that without a child you are not a real woman. They continue to make pointless arguments and excuses to attempt to discard the rights given to women. A woman should be the only person to choose what to do with her body.

Overall, I’m not saying killing is the right thing to do, but abortion is something all women should have the choice to do whether it’s wrong or right. Women need to have control over their bodies and no one, not even a man in power, should take that away. At the end of the day, your body is all you have. I know you can’t do much, but I encourage you to sign petitions, argue against anti-abortionists and make people realize that it is a woman’s choice to seek out an abortion or not. Help women take control of their bodies.