The Big Question:
Should abortion be legal?
Yes, Abortion Should Be Legal (The Pro-Choice Argument):
Until a fetus becomes a child, it's a part of a woman's body. A woman has the right to decide what to do with her own body. Besides, women have abortions whether they are legal or not. It is safer, for these women, if abortions are legal--and therefore medically supervised.
No, Abortion Should Not Be Legal (The Pro-Life Argument):
A fetus is a person even before it becomes a child, so killing a fetus by abortion is the same thing as killing a person. The government has both a right and an obligation to make it illegal to kill a person.
History in a Flash:
Until 1973, abortion was legal in some states and illegal in others. 1973 was the year that the Supreme Court ruled, in Roe v. Wade, that the right to have an abortion is a constitutional right for the first six months that a woman is pregnant.
What Happens After Six Months:
State law varies, but in most cases it is illegal to have an abortion after the first six months of pregnancy unless the doctor believes that the woman's health is at risk.
