During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of the most debatable subject of controversy in the United States. It discusses human interaction where ethics, emotions and law come together. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemma that faces many individuals to create an emotional and violent atmosphere. There are many points of view toward abortion but the only two fine distinctions are "pro-choice" and "pro-life". A pro-choicer would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers and the state has no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive. This life imposes on us a moral obligation to preserve it and that abortion is tantamount to murder.

In the United States about 1.6 million pregnancies end in abortion. Women with incomes under eleven thousand are over three times more likely to abort than those with incomes above twenty-five thousand. Unmarried women are four to five times more likely to abort than married and the abortion rate has doubled for 18 and 19 year olds. Recently the U.S. rate dropped 6 percent overall but the rate of abortion among girls younger than 15 jumped 18 percent. The rate among minority teens climbed from 186 per 1,000 to 189 per 1,000.

The most popular procedure involved in abortions is the vacuum aspiration, which is done during the first trimester (three months or less since the women has become pregnant). A tube is simply inserted through the cervix and the contents of the uterus are vacuumed out. The most commonly used type of second trimester abortion is called dilation and evacuation. Since the fetus has bones, bulk and can move second trimester is not as simple. When as much of the fetus and placenta are vacuumed out then tweezers are used to remove larger parts. After this, or the beginning of the fifth month abortion is serious and actually induced as childbirth. That is, the mother is given substances that put her into labor and delivers the fetus as she would a full-term baby. About 40 percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal and 40 percent believe it should be banned except when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or is the result of rape or incest. Also 15 percent believe it should be illegal in all cases. Although abortion is regarded as a women's right, it should be banned with exceptions because it's considered murder, has many psychological side effects and there is an alternative.

Abortion is a women's own right and choice. In 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision proved this by recognizing abortion as a fundamental constitution right and made it legal in all states. The law now permits abortion at the request of the women without any restrictions in the first trimester and some restrictions in the second trimester to protect the women's health. The National Abortion Right Act League argues that without legal abortion women would be denied their constitutional right of privacy and liberty. The women's right to her own body subordinates those of the fetus and the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade argued that the women's "right to privacy" overruled the fetus's right to life. If abortion were illegal it would force poor women to bear and raise children they can't afford to bring up. There would be a number of unsafe abortions in back allies. It would also force women to give up their dreams and stay home to bring up babies. Worst of all, it would condemn victims to rape and incest to carry and nurture the offspring of their rapist. Abortion is necessary for women to have control over their own bodies and life.

However, abortion is considered murder by half of all Americans. This half of Americans believe that abortion should be banned except for instances that have to do with rape, incest, and the mother s life. Pro-lifers believe that human life begins at the moment of conception. This is nothing less than a new human life at its earlier stage of life. In the United States many infants will not make it to puberty, old age or even their second birthday. Just because of their shortened life, it doesn't mean that it never existed.

Scientific research has successfully shown that abortion causes many psychological side effects. It leaves the woman with many strong feelings about their decision. They feel sadness, wishing things could have been different and grief for a lost life. Guilt arises because they know a fetus represents an independent life. Anger builds up towards other people having to do with their decision. Sometimes the mother may feel that she has in fact been abandoned. Most of all, the mother feels ashamed and embarrassed about her action. People close to the mother may be angry with her for ending her pregnancy and make it difficult for her to deal with. Even years after the abortion, women tend to remember the regretful experience. They usually wonder what the baby would have looked like and its birthday. It maybe a month or a year but feelings do catch up with the mother. Symptoms like nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks are signs of a recently discovered Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS). According to a study published by Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Valves and Social Change, one in five women studied had diagnosable stress disorders. Also two in five had sleep disorders and flashbacks following abortion.

Abortions are considered the easy was out. I feel that abortions are just selfish. There is no easy way out. I could not imagine living with the guilt of taking another s life, especially the life of something that I created, and that is dependant of me. There are so many people out there that wish they had the chance to get pregnant. If you really feel that you are not ready to be a parent then you could at least give the baby up for adoption, and make your life, that babies life, and the family adopting the babies life a lot happier.

I believe that when conception occurs, it is Gods will. He would not have provided you with the joys of having a baby if he did not feel that you could handle it, and he definitely would not provide you with the joys of having a baby if he thought that you had any intentions of killing it.

Many of the people that have abortions take advantage of it and use abortion as a form of birth control. I can understand that having a baby might ruin your life, or so you think, but what about the life that you are ruining when you have an abortion. In a way, it is taking away a piece of you, a piece of you that you will never be able to get back. Maybe if the results of abortion were more widely discussed then it might change the way people think and feel about the topic. Maybe if people really knew what happens to their baby, they would consider it murder too. Just think of all the lives you could change if you were more conscious about your actions.