Abortion in the United States Debate

In the past, abortion was tolerated in the United States. If it is planned, it is regarded as lawful. There was a period in American history when abortion was regarded as a natural part of life rather than a crime. American ladies have used it to regulate their sexual lifestyle. In the US, buying medications to induce abortion has never been a problem. Women could simply and brazenly enter pharmacies to purchase abortion-related medications or prescriptions for how to carry out an abortion. Abortion was illegal in the US up until 1965. The law forbade it. All who engaged in the practice of abortion were arraigned in the court of law (Reagan 1867-1973).

Many feminists like Susan Anthony were against the practice and strongly wrote against it. All went on well until in 1973 when the US Supreme Court legalized abortion (Dellinger 83-118). Ever since then, policies have been enacted to control the rate of abortion, but this has not been fruitful. In the US, abortion rates remain alarming. This has been as result of pressure groups that are organized to demand the right of aborting. Later on many feminist came up and refuted the danger of abortion and advocated that the practice should only be planned and not be treated as a crime. By legalizing abortion, the law meant that abortion was not an issue and was left to be decided between the mother and the doctor (Dellinger 83-118).

In 1976 the Congress passed a bill that could limit any funding to low-income citizens for abortion. This resulted in protests across the country as women strongly condemned the act. Women in the United States have in the past viewed abortion as their right and any law touching on it has faced severe condemnation with widespread protests. In the last two decades, there has been mixed reaction among women on laws restricting abortion. Some have strongly defended the restrictions and demands that the practice should be done away with as it causes more harm to their bodies. Conversely, a section of the groups claim that to fully integrate into the current lifestyle, abortion should be part of their lives (Dellinger 83-118).

Studies indicated that American’s old women are in high support of abortion than the young women. The study shows that over 59% of those who participated in the poll were old women and advocated that the practice should be legalized (Lipka & Gramlich 2017). There has been an upsurge in public support for the legalization of abortion, especially by the old women. Conversely, current studies have shown that the high abortion rates in the US are conducted by women aged between 20-24 years. This implies that women who are aged between 20-24 years have got the largest abortion cases (Relly 2017)

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However, there seems to be a shift in the paradigm under Trump’s administration. During his campaign, Trump made it clear that war against abortion will be the evil to end during his first 100 days in office. This created hot debate as women shies off from voting Trump in office. Rallies were organized across the state to mobilize women not vote him in. Trump’s campaigns were dominated by arbitration theme as he felt enough was enough and US could no longer promote abortion (Lipka & Gramlich 2017).

Trump’s promised to give executive orders to curb abortion and make it illegal in the US. As soon as he took office, women lobby groups mobilized women and were on the streets for over three days demanding Trump to respect their rights and should stop making abortion illegal. In March this year, another protest was organized to condemned Trump’s decision and the issuance if executive orders which banned abortion (Ludden 2017).

In January this year as part of his promise of what he was going to do in his first 100 days in office, President Trump signed an order which prohibited the use of public funds from supporting those organizations that support abortion. In closing his case against abortion, President Trump has appointed Charmaine Yoest as the head of the health docket. She was initially the head of the anti-abortion movement for many years (Relly 2017)

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The debate around abortion has been the main issue between the Republicans and the Democrats. Each of them defends their view on abortion. Republicans feel that moral standards ought to be observed with high dignity, and thus abortion should be made illegal in the US. On the other side, the Democrats are of the view that abortion should be legalized and be conducted under well-planned methods. Democrat’s accuse Trump of signing an order which barred any support to the organization which promotes planned abortion (Lipka & Gramlich 2017).

Abortion concerns have been widely covered in the media both during and after Trump’s election. Discussion topics have been conducted with the aim of trying to predict what might happen in Trump’s area especially when abortion is concerned. Speculations have been all over the media and major critics raised concerning Trump’s decision to scrap abortion in the US. Many have used social media to condemn the actions and the signing of orders against abortion (Ludden 2017).

However, the media has failed to give the truth as it barely relies on speculation and people’s insights. The same issue was widely covered during Trump campaign, and this was one of the critical matters that made women to shy Trump during the election until Women for Trump movement was established to counter the effect especially through media (Ludden 2017)..

Women in the US are concerned about these policies and orders which prohibit abortion because they affect them directly. By putting a stop to any support to organizations which support planned abortion, those who are not economically stable will not find it easy to conduct an abortion. Secondly, by appointing a former anti-abortion boss to the public office especially in health docket means that strict rules are going to be put in place against abortion practices in the US.

In summary, the essay has discussed abortion among the use women. The history and views of women regarding abortion have also been discussed. As main issue during Trump’s campaign, abortion was widely covered by the media as protests were witnessed across the states. Women have raised concerns about the signing of an order to deter any support to those international organizations which promotes abortion.

Work cited

Dellinger, Walter, and Gene B. Sperling. “Abortion and the Supreme Court: The Retreat from

Roe v. Wade.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 138.1 (1989): 83-118.

Lipka, Michael, and John Gramlich. “5 facts about abortion.” Pew Research Center. N.p., 26 Jan.

2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Ludden, Jennifer. “Access To Abortion Could Be Curtailed Under Trump Administration.” NPR.

NPR, 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Reagan, Leslie J. When abortion was a crime: Women, medicine, and law in the United States,

1867-1973. Univ of California Press, 1997.

Reilly, Mollie. “Donald Trump To Appoint Anti-Abortion Advocate To Key Health Position.”

The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.