Abortion Rights: Women's Right to Control Their Own Bodies

This essay discusses the controversial topic of abortion rights, arguing that women should have the right to control their own bodies and make decisions about their pregnancies. It explores various reasons why women may choose to have an abortion and addresses criticisms of the practice.

Running head: ABORTION RIGHTS
ABORTION RIGHTS
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author's Note:

1ABORTION RIGHTS
The aim of this essay is to discuss one of the most controversial themes of rights to
abortion. Terminating a child’s life before its birth has always been associated with a crime since
the ancient ages. Each woman has different reasons to decide for abortion or permit her fetus to
live in spite of being unwanted. Different critics have seen this act from different perspectives.
Some have referred to the religious beliefs and termed this act as a sin against the creator’s desire
to live. One the contrary, some points out the social or medical reasons for which a woman
comes under compulsion to abort her fetus. However, every woman needs to have the abortion
rights as they must have rights to make decisions about her own body.
It is important that the women in a civilized society have total control of their bodies.
This is a part of the equal rights for which the women have been fighting for. Every woman must
have the right to make decisions whether she must keep her fetus to alive and give birth normally
or terminate its growth before birth. No one and not even her husband can put pressure to abort
the child or keep it against the will of the woman.
As mentioned in the legislation of the United States, regarding of the most controversial
case Roe vs Wade in 1973, the women must have the right to control their own body and they
have the right to access safe and legal abortion (Plannedparenthoodaction.org, 2018). Since then
the country has been overwhelmingly supporting the decision of the Supreme court.
To Johari and Jadhav (2017), another reason that supports the fact that the women must
have rights to abortion is associated with the unwanted pregnancies. This can be very compelling
to the women especially young mothers who cannot take care of their child property. Therefore,
if they think that they cannot offer their babies a good life, they can go for abortion. The low
financial situation of the parents to support the living of a baby can lead to mother to opt for

2ABORTION RIGHTS
abortion. In this case the decision is made mutually though it is the hardest decisions made by the
mother herself.
In some cases, the women are compelled to have the abortion as they are victims of rape
or unwanted and forced intercourse (Johari & Jadhav, 2017). In order to manage such issues, the
women must have the rights to abortion. The health of the fetus is another reason why the
women must have the abortion rights. Under some tremendous situation when the health of the
mother as well as the child come under threat, the woman needs to abort her child. however, if
there is no such act, the life comes at stake.
On the contrary, some of the critics like Jones (2018), has pointed out that abortion must
be prevented or this will affect the society minimizing the values of life. In some of the religion,
abortion has been prohibited where the women cannot make such decisions even if they live in
an adverse situation. These advocates of abortion believe that it cannot be permitted as killing of
an unborn baby is a sinful act which is against religion, values and belief of the people. To these
critics, the right to abortion increases the options for the women to indulge in unprotected sex
which will lower the ethics and morality of the society (Jones, 2018). This is also against the
ethics in the perception where the critics are bringing the concept of rights of the fetus as they
also have the right to life and abortion violets such rights of the fetus (Greasley, 2017).
However, according to O’Rourke, (2016) in some of the cases, the women are
pressurized to undergo abortion against their will. Toscano (2015), has pointed out that in some
countries, abortion has been partially illegalized as the parents are determining the sex of the
fetus and killing the girl child. Therefore, the rights to abortion need to have some clauses that
will not harm the sex ratio of the country.

3ABORTION RIGHTS
Therefore, it can be concluded that that the right to abortion has initiated a good amount
of controversy among the critics in the world, either support this convention seeing the whole
situation from the perceptive of a woman and empathize with their condition for making such a
difficult situation, or speak against this right from the religious, ethical and social perception.
However, this act has served the rights to equality more effectively.

4ABORTION RIGHTS
References:
Greasley, K. (2017). Taking abortion rights seriously: Whole woman's health v hellerstedt:
Taking abortion rights seriously. The Modern Law Review, 80(2), 325-338.
doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12256
Johari, V., & Jadhav, U. (2017). Abortion rights judgment: A ray of hope. Indian Journal of
Medical Ethics, 2(3), 180.
Jones, A. (2018). Abortion rights: For and against. The New Bioethics, 24(3), 270-272.
doi:10.1080/20502877.2018.1521500
O’Rourke, C. (2016). Advocating abortion rights in northern ireland: Local and global
tensions. Social & Legal Studies, 25(6), 716-740. doi:10.1177/0964663916668249
Plannedparenthoodaction.org. (2018). Roe v. Wade: The Constitutional Right to Access Safe,
Legal Abortion. Retrieved from
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade
Toscano, V. (2015). Forced sonogram and compelled speech abortion regulations: A
constitutional analysis. International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, 8(1),
168-181