Public+Policy+-+Abortion

 For years women have been looking for a way to control becoming pregnant and having children. Abortion came about as a “solution” to being pregnant in the nineteen hundreds and has since been one of the most controversial policy issues brought before congress. Republican and conservatives argue in favor of “pro-life” and claim morality issues as the main problem. Democrats and liberals argue in favor of “pro-choice” and claim a woman has the right to choose. The debate stems from the morality of the issue and the trouble with making abortion legal or not is if congress has the right to take away a woman’s choice. Republicans want abortion outlawed but democrats believe it should be legal and the fight has been brewing for years. Abortion has been illegal in the past and was made legal in 1973 and remains legal to this day. However, republicans continue the fight to make abortion illegal.  Democratic beliefs show that women have the right to choose abortion or birth. In //Roe v. Wade// 1973 the courts ruled abortion to be legal under two circumstances. Abortion was legal in all states during the first and second trimester (before a fetus can live outside the womb); and after the fetus was viable, the states had right to outlaw abortion as long as exceptions were made for when a woman’s health or life are in danger. The case was a huge success for democrats since abortion had been illegal before 1973. During the mid-nineteen hundreds illegal abortion soared as women began to practice self-abortions or “back alley” abortions in order to prevent themselves from having another child. Democrats believed that abortions needed to be made legal in order to protect women from practicing self-abortions and “back alley” abortions. They saw the death toll of young women rising and believed that by legalizing abortion, women would at least find safe ways to get an abortion. However, recently democrats have recognized the need to reduce the number of abortions. Kristen Day of Democrats for Life said,  "I think there's been a huge change since 2004. After the 2004 elections, polls came out saying Democrats were out of touch on moral issues, especially abortion.” Even though most Americans (sixty-two percent) support //Roe v. Wade,// most also have mixed views on controversial aspects of abortion such as parental consent, late-term abortions, and emergency contraception. Democrats are still in favor of legalized abortion but are leaning towards finding a way to reduce the number of abortions. The proposed solution is to cut back the legal amount of time a woman has to get an abortion which currently is set at the first two trimesters. Cutting back the time limit would either force women to make a decision earlier, to go through with the birth, or get an illegal abortion. Although democrats are beginning to lean right, they stick to their belief that abortion should be legalized.  Republicans feel strongly that abortion should be illegal. Conservatives tend to stick strongly to moralistic views and believe in pro-life. They believe that a child has life since conception and the right of life for the fetus. Since //Roe v. Wade// 1973 republicans have been fighting vigorously to outlaw abortion. The Republican Party even wants a human life amendment added to the constitution protecting the right of the fetus. Even though they do not approve of abortions, Republicans as a whole do not look down upon women who get abortions. The Republican Party website states that, “ Our goal is to ensure that women with problem pregnancies have the kind of support, material and otherwise, they need for themselves and for their babies, not to be punitive towards those for whose difficult situation we have only compassion. We oppose abortion, but our pro-life agenda does not include punitive action against women who have an abortion. We salute those who provide alternatives to abortion and offer adoption services.” Republicans want to ensure that women are healthy and taken care of as well as the baby. Presidential candidate John McCain has a long record of opposing abortion and as part of his presidential platform believes strongly that it should be outlawed. The question of morality looms as Republicans are known to use the both the bible and Christian religion as background for their beliefs.  Abortion has become one of the most controversial topics in the world but particularly in the United States of America. Although the subject of morality seems to be the largest component of the debate, women’s health and safety also is very important. Republican views are correct in the aspect of morality. Abortion is wrong because the fetus was not the one who chose to be conceived. In cases of “surprise” pregnancy, the parents are at fault for getting caught in the moment and not begin safe. In fact, if a couple is not ready to have a baby, they should not have sex because even with birth control the possibility of pregnancy is always there. Becoming pregnant is a choice. It doesn’t happen by accident. It may be unplanned, but that comes at the fault of both parties for not being careful. Another option may be adoption. If a couple of woman is not ready to have and raise a child, adoption would be the responsible choice. It allows that baby to be formed and born but also allows the mother to feel free after her pregnancy. However, when morality issues are brought up on the topic of abortion, the party arguing against abortion must also have the responsibility and intelligence to realize that the issue of abortion is much bigger than just the morality of the issue. Issues of the health and safety of both the woman and the baby have to be considered and when we look back at the mid-nineteen hundreds when abortion was illegal, the number of women who died from botched abortions was through the roof. We can’t go back to that time, so even those who believe abortion should be outlawed for morality reasons have to accept the history of what illegal abortions did to women of that time and must accept that abortion cannot become illegal. Even though it is “morally wrong” in ninety five percent of cases, outlawing it would only cause women to go back to “back-alley” and “self-abortions” and we would again see the death toll rise in young women. The women who would want abortions would find a way to have them if abortion was made illegal and most would probably die. We also have to consider pregnancies caused by rape or incest in a case where the baby is at risk for being born unhealthy. For those “Christian republicans” who are stuck on the morality of abortions I point out that the bible says God will judge those who have sinned and it isn’t our place to judge. The bible also says that all sin is equal and every person sins. No one is perfect and so by going on the basis of the bible, the “Christian republicans” are in the same boat “sin-wise” as women who get abortions and have no right to judge them. So even though abortions are wrong in most cases, outlawing them simply would not be safe to the population of young women who struggle with birth control. 
 * Abortion**