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Abortions should not be banned

Whether or not abortion should be criminalized has been a ranging ethical debate for a long time. The stance held in this paper is that abortion should not be criminalized for several reasons. The first reason is that criminalizing abortion leads to the denial of the rights of women toward their bodies (Weitz 164). Specifically, women have the right to do what they want with their bodies, including abortion. Criminalizing abortion denies them that right. The second reason is that criminalizing abortion increases the likelihood for women to use unsafe strategies. When abortion is disallowed, women that feel they must do it, yet they do not qualify for safe abortion in hospitals, find alternative, unsafe strategies that pose a risk for death (Weitz 165). One of the reasons given to criminalize abortion is that it is against the unborn baby’s rights. However, the argument ignores that a woman also has her rights that she should not be denied because of the embryo (Weitz 165). The health of the woman intending to engage in pregnancy is greater than that of the embryo. Some women may wish to have an abortion for unwanted pregnancies due to the expectations of hardships in the future. As such, the criminalization of abortion is that it compels such women to give birth to children that may end up living low-quality lives (Weitz 165).

In some cases, criminalizing abortion compels women to bear children after traumatizing experiences such as rape. Some women may wish to abort to eliminate the traumatizing memories that may last throughout their lives. Last, criminalizing abortion compels women to give birth when they do not, limiting their ability to achieve full potential in their lives.

Works Cited

Weitz, Tracy A. "Rethinking the mantra that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare." Journal of women’s history vol. 22 No. 3 (2010): 161-72.