When a woman becomes pregnant, the woman has a couple of options. One is to do nothing, like people have the thousands of years before us, and raise it herself. She could also have the baby, and give it up for adoption. The third option is now available after the infamous Rowe vs. Wade decision, and that is to have an abortion. Abortion is a tough subject to tackle and this paper is going to focus on both sides of the issue.
In the United States, women choose to end around 25 % of their pregnancies through abortion. This number has gradually been in decline since 1979. Our friendly neighbors to the North, Canada, has comparable numbers in that woman end pregnancies through abortion 21% of the time. The former Soviet Union (60%) and Romania (78%) are quite high, but there is a short supply of contraceptives in those countries.
A social consensus exists among pro-lifers and pro-choicers that when human personhood begins, that person should be protected. The problem in the United States is that people hold conflicting views as to when human personhood begins. This leads to conflictual beliefs and policy decisions. In a general sense, people don't always take a pro-life or pro-choice stance when it comes to abortion. There are variations of beliefs within each group. Because the debate is when human personhood begins, I will talk about the conflicting views. .
To most pro-life people, human personhood begins at the instant of conception. They then believe that an abortion is the same as murder, and they believe abortion clinics are the equivalent of a Nazi death camp. This group of people believes that all or most abortions should be illegal.
Pro-choice people believe that human personhood begins later during the pregnancy or even all the way until birth. They view abortion as a civil rights matter that should be left up to an informed woman and her doctor.
The objectives of both groups are to reduce the number of abortions, and to make any needed abortions safe.