The US Abortion Statistics - Research Paper Example

As per the findings of the Guttmacher Institute, the US abortion statistics indicates that approximately 1.2 million American women choose abortion each year to end a pregnancy. The decision to continue or end a pregnancy is very personal and this decision may be influenced by various factors. As reported in WebMD, birth control failure is the most common reason why women consider abortion. A vast majority of women consider abortion as a contraceptive method to terminate a pregnancy. In addition, a notable portion of women chooses abortion to end an unwanted pregnancy. The inability to support or afford a child is another major reason for abortion. Sometimes women choose to have an abortion to prevent the birth of a baby with major birth defects or severe delivery complications. Finally, they consider abortion as a means of terminating a pregnancy resulting from incest or rape (WebMD).

All religions consider abortion as an extreme sin because they believe that human life is created by god and therefore no person other than God may take a life (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children). Humanitarians hold the view that every individual has the right to live and abortion is therefore an inhumane activity. In contrast to this, some people opine that the decision must be left to the option of women as they are the child bearers.

The US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade in 1973 made abortion legal in every state of the country (qt in Rosenthal, 313). Prior to this ruling, the legality of abortion was left to the option of individual states. It was illegal in 30 states and legal in 20 states under particular circumstances. However, individual states are allowed to regulate abortion or form trigger laws. Currently, 6 states follow trigger laws and other three states possess laws to criminalize abortion. It must be noted that the US Constitution guarantees women’s fundamental right to choose abortion. At the same time, US Constitution provides states with the right to restrict abortion practices to varying degrees.   

I strongly support the Federal position on abortion. Every child has the right to obtain proper care and love and which is not guaranteed when a woman is forced to give birth to an unwanted child. It is observed that majority of the abortions take place in the first trimester. At this stage, a fetus is fully dependent on the mother and hence it cannot be considered as a separate entity. In many cases, abortion reduces the probability of pregnancy-related complications and secures the mother’s life. If a woman is forced to bear an unwanted child, the fetus is more likely to grow unhealthy.

While analyzing the US abortion statistics, it seems that the abortion rate has been declining since the mid-1990s (“Minnesota Citizens..”). As per United States’ abortion statistics, among abortions reported in 2008, 17% were chosen by girls under the age of 19 whereas women aged between 20 and 29 were responsible for 57%. The abortion rate of women in the age group 30-39 was 23% in 2008. A total of 253,865 White women chose to have abortions in 2008 whereas it was 194,694 Black women (United States: Abortion statistics).