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Abortion Controversy In America

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The Abortion Controversy in America Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth. The issue of abortion is present in many major political debates and in nearly every American election, whether local, state, or national. Therefore, the government must remain involved in this hot topic because it is impossible to ignore. Even though abortion is currently legal in the United States, an abortion being each person’s individual choice fails to protect the unborn’s own rights and potential life once born. Each person should enjoy freedom and liberty, but not passed the point when that liberty affects the liberty of another person, including the unborn. The government should not allow abortion unless the mother’s life or health is threatened …show more content…

One disturbing method of direct abortion is surgical suction curettage, or vacuum aspiration, where the fetus is sucked out of the uterus, and the womb is scraped with a spoon-shaped instrument called a curette. Another direct surgical method involves dilation and evacuation (or D and E), during which the doctors take apart the fetus it piece by piece. Direct abortions also include medical abortions, which refers to using specific drugs to cause abortion. A drug called mifepristone, known as RU-486, blocks the progesterone hormone necessary to prepare the woman’s uterus to receive and nourish the embryo, which would eventually become the fetus. Another drug called prostaglandin causes muscle contractions to expel the fetus …show more content…

By 1900, however, most states made abortion a serious crime. By the 1960s, pro-choicers were trying to make abortion legal again. In the early 1970s, 14 states permitted abortion if the mother was in danger or the victim of incest or rape. In 1973, the decision of Roe v. Wade held that all abortion is legal during the first trimester, that states may regulate abortion to protect the women’s health by the second trimester, and that states may regulate abortion for the interests of the mother and the unborn in the third trimester. It is still the law in effect today. By the year 2000, the FDA approved the sale of the mifepristone drug that ends pregnancies early and can be taken privately at home

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