The woman body has always been a majestic creature. Woman’s body can do miraculous things. One of them being able to create life and nurture. This is a right woman have, to be able to have a child. However, what if a woman doesn’t want to create life and nurture? Shouldn’t she be allowed to abort that child for any given reason?First off, what is abortion? Abortion is the process of eliminating something that is no longer wanted or needed. This is a personal freedom right woman have or should be able to have and without judgment. The right to abortion has changed miraculously over the last two centuries.
The opinions and thoughts that occurred in the 18th century is completely opposite as of today. Ravitz quotes, “In the 18th century, abortions were allowed and widely practiced” (Ravitz). Abortions were allowed in the 18th century at least up until a point they called “quickening”.
Quickening is known as the stage of pregnancy where the fetus starts to move enough to where the woman can feel the movement. So, in the 18th century abortion was allowed until this point into a woman’s pregnancy. The idea of abortion before quickening was also accepted by the Catholic Church. “The Catholic Church implicitly accepted early abortions prior to ensoulment” (Reagan). The Catholic Church accepted this as a natural way to life for a woman. “It wasn’t until 1869, that the Catholic Church decided to follow the lead of the public and condemn abortion; in 1895, they condemn therapeutic abortion.” (Reagan)In-between the period of the 18th century to the 19th century the AMA (American Medical Association) really voiced their disapproval of abortions. This caused a force of states to “set laws to restrict abortion and by 1880 most states had restrictions.
” (Ravitz) This is where the government agencies and even our religious practices start taking over our personal freedom as woman. By the time of the depression, abortion was illegal. Many women went through extreme measures to get an abortion because it was illegal, and these risky measures often cost them their life. Woman went to such great lengths to receive an abortion that by 1950’s “the estimated number of illegal abortions ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year”.
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(Ravitz) This shows just how much of a crisis illegalizing abortions became. Especially during a depression, when families could barely afford food, they couldn’t afford to raise a child let alone give that child a good quality of life. In the 1960’s is when abortion really took its stand in the public eye and became an enormous issue.
“In the late 1960s, before abortion was legalized again in the United States, concerned pastors and rabbis set up the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion to help women find safe illegal abortions.” (Ravitz) For years these women were going to quacks to get abortions. They were risking their own lives just because our government didn’t believe it to be fit that abortions should be allowed. Women took their stand, they protested clinics and the government to give them back their personal freedom to abort.
Flash ford to today, abortion is legal under the judicial interpretations of the Unites States Constitution. The landmark that decided this was a Supreme Court case in 1973 known as the Roe v. Wade case. This is the case that decided that abortion was legal to woman under the fourteenth amendment of the United States. The right to privacy is broad enough spectrum that woman’s right to abort fell under that category. This is the significant event that lead to abortion being legalized.
Although abortion is legal in the United States, every state differs on the terms and policies of abortion. Some states have insurance regulations meaning they won’t allow a person’s insurance to pay for the abortion. As well as, not being able to have an abortion after a certain amount of time in a woman’s pregnancy. For example, most states have a twenty-week regulation.
After a woman’s twentieth week of pregnancy they will not go through with an abortion. Even though there are regulations and terms to follow woman have still come very far as to have the right to have the choice of abortion.Woman have come so far in life, being able to have their personal freedoms. Woman’s personal freedoms have been stripped, taken away, modified for centuries. They take their stand and fight for what they believe, and our government shouldn’t have a right to take away anyone’s medical decision. Looking back to the 18th century to now woman have advanced tremendously to have their decision to abort or not to abort.
Even if a woman never wanted to abort their fetus, at least they know they have that right as a woman to do so.
