Abortion Clinics Should Not Be Closed Essay

, Research Paper

In 1973, the Supreme Court?s decision made

it possible for women to get safe, legal abortions from well-trained medical

surgeons, and therefore led to dramatic decreases in pregnancy-related

injury and death (”abortion”). Now there is a new proposal to close abortion

clinics. This proposal takes away the privacy rights of American women

that are guaranteed by our Constitution. By closing abortion clinics the

government is not only taking away women?s rights, but is also punishing

those whom want to exercise their right of a pro-choice woman.

Abortion clinics allow thousands of women

every year to have abortions. Having the abortion should be woman?s personal

choice. By closing these clinics, there will be no providers to perform

the operation, so the choice has already been made for them. Closing the

clinics will increase the barriers of having an abortion. When there are

too many obstacles, the right to make their own choice is taken away from

them. In 1973 the American Supreme Court ruled that Americans? right to

privacy included: “the right of a woman to decide whether to have children,

and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state

interference” (”abortion”). The Constitution says we have a right to privacy,

so taking away a woman?s chance to make decisions about her own body violates

that right.

The American Civil Liberties Union defends

the Constitution and peoples? rights.ACLU has protected the rights of abortion

for women, and in recent years has argued mayor cases opposing restrictions

that deny woman access to reproductive health care (”ACLU”). 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.”(The American Civil Liberties Union)

The closure of abortion clinics will be

done with the purpose to reduce the number of abortions. This raises the

question whether this will be an effective method or not. Before 1973 abortions

were illegal yet the number of women who sought abortions did not decrease

(”abortion”). Before 1973 many thousands of women died or suffered serious

medical problems after attempting to perform their own abortions, or going

to untrained doctors who performed cheap abortions with uncivilized methods

or in unsanitary conditions (The Abortion Law Homepage.). If clinics are

closed, women will still continue to attempt, and succeed, in ending unwanted

pregnancies just like before 1973. Women will risk their health and possibly

even their lives. By keeping these abortions clinics open it ensures a

higher probability that the women who do have abortions will be in a safe,

sanitary environment, and therefore injuries will be fewer in number.

If clinics are shut, the waiting lists

of abortion clinics in other countries will be much longer. Women will

have to wait longer to get an abortion, and will be treated later in their

pregnancy which is much more dangerous for the pregnant women.

Pro-life activists claim that the unborn

baby is alive and has feelings when the heart begins beating. But, the

heartbeat begins between the eighteenth and twenty-fifth day (”Fetus”).

They also say that women who have abortions are “murderers”. This problem

could be solved by keeping abortion clinics open, because then the woman

can be treated before the twenty fifth day when the fetus is not yet a

living baby. She will not have to wait because of long waiting lists, but

instead will have the abortion as soon as possible with as less psychological

pain.

If a woman has to travel to another country

to have a legal abortion, she will have to pay more money. She will now

not only have to pay for the abortion itself, but also the traveling costs

and that does not include the psychological costs as well. Not all people

can afford these costs. So by keeping clinics open more women will have

the chance to exercise their right and have their desired abortion. If

a working woman or student suddenly has to leave the country, this means

she will have to think of excuses and lies for an explanation. This is

not fair to the woman, she should not have to explain herself to anyone,

it is her body and therefore she can do what she wants, she does not need

other people?s consult.

Abortion clinics are not a “butcher?s place”

where young babies are murdered. They provide a choice for women whether

or not to bring a child into this world.

What is worse: taking away the life of

an unborn child that is not even aware of life itself yet, or a mother

bringing an unwanted child into this world, knowing that she will not be

able to take care of it, and that her child will have to suffer from the

poor circumstances in which she lives. As of now the woman has the ability

to make that choice and save the child from poor, possibly abusive or hate

filled environment. Personally I feel that living in a circumstance such

as abuse is worse than the abortion of the fetus. Rape victims should also

be able to have an abortion because they know that if they were to keep

the child, they would cringe when she thought about whom contributed to

the other half of the child. The offspring will be a painful reminder to

the rape victim. She did not choose to take the responsibility of a child

and therefore should not have to pay the consequences. A woman who cannot

love her child has no right to have a baby in the first place.

One option for women who are not able to

take care of their baby is adoption. Yet she will have to carry the baby

for nine months and then give it up. Not all women are able to do this

physically or psychologically. After the pregnancy she will have to hope

that their baby will find a good and loving home. And this is not always

the case. The child will possibly have to suffer from living in orphanages

waiting to get adopted. Adoption can not always be seen as a good solution

to unwanted pregnancies.

The advantage of closing abortion clinics

could be that woman will be forced to take the responsibility over their

baby, and give their unborn child the right to life. But it can not be

seen as something entirely positive. The mother will always regard the

child as a “mistake” and will never love it the way she would have if she

had wanted to keep the child. Getting an abortion does not always mean

that the woman is only thinking of herself, she also thinks on behalf of

her baby. Abortion clinics do not make the choice easier, nor do they force

the woman into the surgery. People who are against abortion having the

choice not to have one. It is not fair to take away the choice of people

who do want one.

List of works consulted:

“Abortion.” Encarta Encyclopedia 1999.

1999 ed.

“ACLU.” Encarta Encyclopedia 1999. 1999

ed.

“Fetus.” Encarta Encyclopedia 1999. 1999

ed.

The Abortion Law Homepage. “Abortion Law

Homepage”. 24 November 1996. (11 March 2000). http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/index.htm

The American Civil Liberties Union. “Abortion

Clinic Access Law”. 1997. (11 March 2000). http://www.aclu.org/library/aaabort.html