Abortion is defined as "the termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus that is incapable of survival." However, the debate over the abortion issue is not as simple as the definition above. People have been debating whether abortion is right or wrong, and if it should be legal, for many years now.
Those who are against abortion say that it is murder of a helpless baby who has not yet had the chance to live and function as a human being. However, those who support abortion say that it is a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, and if she decides that she is not capable of bringing a child into this world, then she should not be forced to do so. Is abortion right or wrong? Are rape, incest, and potential fatality to the mother exceptions when abortion would be all right? Are there truly any exceptions at all? So many questions are raised by the abortion debate, that we must look at both sides to better understand it.
There are many people that are against abortion. These people are referred to as "pro-life advocates." They advocate the life of the baby over the woman's right to choose. There are two main reasons why people who are pro-life do not support abortion. The main argument is that you are killing an unborn baby, murdering an unsuspecting life, if the baby was born and not inside the mother, it would be illegal to kill it. Why should it be legal when still inside the mother? Abortion is also a dangerous procedure, and puts the mother at risk too. Pro-life advocates feel that there are better options than abortion, such as adoption.
The second side of the debate, of course, is pro-choice. A pro-choice advocate is someone who feels that the woman's right to choose should come before anything, even human life. The main argument of pro-choice advocates is that women should have the right to choose what happens to their own bodies. Pro-choice advocates also bring up the idea of a mother's physical safety.