Abortion Paper

Research Paper: Abortion

Abortion continues to be one of the most controversial issues in our country today. I think because of the immense controversy surrounding abortion it is a great topic for a paper so I am choosing to focus my paper on abortion. We have learned that the only 100% guarantee against pregnancy is abstinence. However, the number of individuals who engage in premarital sex is continuously increasing. As it increases so does the number of unintentional and unwanted pregnancies. I have formulated my own opinion on the subject matter of abortion based on my beliefs. While I may feel the way I feel I have never really looked into the situation deeply. Of course I have a basic understanding of the issue and have learned about the revolutionary Roe vs. Wade decision in my American Government class. My stance on abortion going into this paper is the women should have the right to choose. I feel that accidents can happen and mistakes can be made, and there shouldn’t be a law saying that a woman cannot get an abortion. While I feel getting an abortion once you are financially established and/or married is not as acceptable I still think it is the woman’s choice and that it should not be taken away from her. I don’t think that any information found in my research will change my opinion, but I am interested in statistics pertaining to this controversial issue and also opposing viewpoints to mine. The only questions I have right now are the different reasons people are opposed to abortion. I know many people are opposed due to religious reasons, but I am curious if there are other reasons also.

The definition for abortion, or “induced abortion” (p. 383) as given in the Human Sexuality in a world of diversity textbook refers to the purposeful termination of a pregnancy. The abortion rate in the United States peaked in 1990 where there were approximately 1.4 million abortions. Since then it has declined to about 1.2 million abortions a...