The Test: Results from EVE 2

A Matter of Choice

The topic of abortion is one of the most controversial of our times. It has caused countless deaths and several violent confrontations between the two separate parties of opinion. The fight between pro-life and pro-choice supporters has been long and brutal. This is because, despite what several people may believe, abortion is neither right nor wrong. It is a matter of personal opinion. In this way, each side can say with certainty that the other is wrong.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is the nation's preeminent defender of the Constitution and The Bill of Rights, they defend the rights of all. The ACLU has protected the right of woman to choose abortion, and in recent years has argued the key cases opposing restrictions that deny woman access to reproductive health care. Policy 263 states: "The ACLU holds that every woman, as a matter of her right to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and privacy, should be free to determine whether and when to bear children."

All human beings are given some inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution. One of those privilege is the right to pursue happiness. A baby can sometimes disrupt a woman's pursuit of happiness. Even if she decides to give it up for adoption, she still has the burden of carrying the fetus for nine months. Having the option to perform an abortion can solve that obstacle. Taking away this right would be invading on a woman's constitutional liberty.

By the mid 20th century, decisions about abortion often went to hospital review boards. There were also several groups arguing that abortion laws should be changed. In 1959 The American Law Institute proposed revisions that were used by a number of states. In the 1960s an outbreak of German measles (which often cause serious birth defects) led to more abortions. Some doctors, fearing prosecution, argued for more liberal laws. In 1969 Planned Parenthood supported the repeal of anti-abortion laws. In 1970 Hawaii and New York repealed, but in 1972 a referendum to liberalize the law in Michigan was defeated. The sudden and far reaching change came only after 1973 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a Texas anti-abortion statute was unconstitutional.

No matter how much you want to deny it, abortion is taking a human life. End of story. If a friend were to come up to me and say she was getting an abortion I would urge her not to do so, for the baby AND for herself (many neglect the fact that most mothers who go through an abortion suffer guilt and depression afterwards.) And if she went through it anyway, I would still be there to support her in whatever way I could. Being pro-life does NOT mean that someone's an uncaring, wanting to take away all your rights, mean, person. It means we care enough to care that an innocent human life is being taken, and to try to oppose it.