abortion argumentative essay title

241 Abortion Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples

Abortion is a highly controversial issue because it involves a conflict between a woman’s bodily autonomy and a fetus’s right to life. Due to the complicated nature of this problem, one can come up with many research questions on abortion. On this page, you’ll find plenty of interesting and thought-provoking abortion title ideas and essay examples. Read on to get inspired!

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Do you need to write a paper on pregnancy termination but don’t know where to begin? Here are some general abortion topics to write about. You can use them as a starting point for developing more nuanced research questions about abortion for your assignment.

• Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages of Abortion
• Ethical Egoist and Social Contract Ethicist: On Abortion
• Why Abortions Should Be Legal?
• Should Abortion Be Banned?
• Should Abortions be Legal?
• The Controversy Around Morality of Abortion
• Abortion in Hanafi and Maliki Schools of Islamic Thought
• The Dilemma of Abortions: Consequentialist and Deontological Points of View
• Deductive and Inductive Arguments: Granting Abortion Rights
• Abortion: An Ethical Dilemma
• Reproductive Health and Abortion Practices in Fiji The legalization of abortion has always been a difficult and contentious topic of discussion, both in the academic field and in politics.
• Utilitarianism and Abortion: Mill’s Principle of Utility and Bentham’s Felicific Calculus The issue of abortion is often approached from spiritual or religious standpoints, and utilitarianism arguably has the potential to provide a refreshing perspective.
• “Why Abortion Is Immoral” the Article by Don Marquis The selected text for analysis relates to the ethical issue of abortion since its title is “Why Abortion is Immoral” by Don Marquis.
• The Moral and Legal Status of Abortion This paper discusses Warren’s work “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion,” which raises a question about the status of any given fetus and whether it made the latter a person.
• Ethics and the Right to Abortion The paper discusses a case in which a gynecologist must decide to perform an abortion for a woman who is a survivor of abuse in a state that prohibits the practice.
• Discussion of Legalization of Abortion The paper presents annotated bibliography of sources aims at providing a clear view of various policies and laws around the globe on abortion.
• Social Exchange Theory and Abortion Legalization While the risk of having financial issues influences individuals, they will be more likely to refuse to give birth to a child because of the possible losses in the future.
• Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Abortion in the United Kingdom Samantha can legally have an abortion if she meets the legal requirements stipulated in the United Kingdom abortion Act of 1967.
• Abortion in Marquis’, Bentham’s, Biblical Theories Some people believe that abortion is impermissible under any circumstances, even if the child is ill or if it was conceived as a result of rape.
• Is Abortion Beneficial or Harmful To a Teenager? Abortion is the removal of a pregnancy before it is due. It is the elimination of a fetus or embryo from the mother’s uterus before it is due for birth.
• Abortion: Comparing Advantages and Disadvantages Pro-life and pro-choice have their respective stands regarding the issue of abortion. The question is whether to terminate or keep the pregnancy.
• Thompson’s ‘A Defense of Abortion’ and Hursthouse’s ‘Virtue Theory and Abortion’ This paper is a reading summary of two articles on the ethics of abortion, such as ‘A defense of abortion’ and ‘Virtue theory and abortion’.
• Debate of the Dangerous Consequences of Abortion In order to cope with the various problems resulting from abortion, it is mandatory to create an awareness campaign that informs people of the dangerous consequences of abortion.
• Abortion Nursing Care and Patient’s Rights The U.S. has many abortion laws and limitations; furthermore, the procedure is widely frowned-upon in the American society.
• Abortion and Its Moral Status Sometimes, our decisions inevitably affect other people’s lives and therefore involve a wide range of moral issues. This is the case with abortion.
• The Judith Thomson vs. Don Marquis Abortion Debate Thompson agrees that murder is immoral, as the Marquis believes, but a woman has every right to get rid of the fetus, and outsiders have the right to help her.
• The Advantages and the Dangers of Abortion The paper states that the right to abortion allows a woman the freedom to control their body. It also empowers pregnant people to manage their health.
• Reflection on “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Jarvis Thomson In her moral philosophy essay, “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Jarvis Thomson implements thought experiments to argue in support of abortion based on two core premises
• Abortions: Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life The issue of abortions has always been a controversial one leading to multiple clashes between irreconcilable ideologies.
• Abortion: Analysis of the Main Causes The causes of abortion are not universal around the world; they vary depending on the country and region of residence.
• Violinist Analogy in Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion” This example of Thompson’s article demonstrates what kind of a burden women are obliged to deal with in case they live in a society that prohibits abortions.
• Ethics in Society. Abortion Debates: Different Sides The history of abortion witnessed that “millions of women suffered injury or death at the hands of abortionists operating illegally”.
• The Issue of Abortion: Ethics Challenges The debate about abortion in terms of ethics has been in place for decades ever since this medical procedure was first legalized by the government.
• The Need for Abortion and the Moral Status of the Fetus The people who rely on religious postulates are likely to see a fetus as a creature that is supposed to have the same rights as the child that is already born.
• A Defense on Abortion: Ethical Issues Abortion is considered the intended action to expel a fetus from the womb of a woman. The expulsion of a fetus leads to death, the intentional expulsion of a fetus is murder.
• Abortion: Women’s Health as Their Integral Right This paper will elaborate on the thesis that a woman should have the right to abortion as the best ethical decision to ensure her physical and psychological health.
• Abortion Policies: History, Current Issues, and Social Workers’ Roles This discussion is aimed at discussing abortion policies with regard to the Constitution, their history, current issues on abortion, and social workers’ roles.
• Abortion Dilemma in Pragmatic Ethics The moral acceptability of abortions has always been a disputable issue. From the perspective of pragmatic ethics, the decision to make an abortion can be acceptable and moral.
• Pros and Cons of Abortion Undergoing abortion is a very difficult step to take for any woman and it takes a lot of guts to take the decision. This paper will throw light upon the pros and cons of abortion.
• Abnormal Fetus, Its Moral Status and Abortion Ethics Abortion is a medical procedure that involves the surgical elimination of the fetus from a female’s womb with the purpose of ending a pregnancy.
• Abortion: Pros and Cons Abortion should be illegal because unborn babies are considered human beings by the US Government, making abortion murder.
• Fetal Abnormality and Ethical Dilemms of Abortion In the case study “Fetal Abnormality,” four characters face the same problem: an abnormal condition of a fetus and the necessity to decide if to save a child or consider abortion.
• Abortion: Arguments for Defense Abortion should be accepted as a way of curbing unnecessary maternal death and showing compassion to rape victims.
• Abortion: Arguments in Support This essay will explore the medical reason for an abortion to be performed. It will ask the pertinent question of why abortion should remain legal with limitations.
• Abortion: The Ethically Appropriate Procedure Based on the available evidence and the considerations of women’s rights, treating abortions as an ethically appropriate procedure seems to be a more reasonable position.
• Social Justice Protests Regarding Abortions This study aims to understand abortion rights and how they were significant in women’s equality. Roe v. Rode was a case that challenged the rule about abortion.
• Abortion in Christian and Non-Christian Ethics The Christian ethical system approaches the issue of abortion through God’s image and character while utilitarianism is concerned with maximizing happiness.
• Abortion Is a Woman’s Right and Should Be Legal Abortion is one of the most controversial topics in our society. Some believe that a woman has the right to choose what happens to her body and believe that abortion is murder.
• The Controversy Around Abortion in the US In the US, the issue of abortion has been facing controversy. The disagreement from society is making it difficult to address the problem.
• Abortion With Limitations: Analysis Since abortion remains a divisive issue due to the presence of divergent opinions, permitting it with specific limitations is a good decision.
• The Abortion Prohibition Issue Analysis The paper analyzes the issue of the irrationality of abortion prohibition due to the ideological, sociological, medical, and legal perspectives.
• Abortion Should Be Available in Modern Society Abortions should be allowed for every woman within the framework of respect for human rights and eliminating undesirable consequences for a woman’s health.
• Ethical Aspects of Abortion: A Moral Dilemma This paper discusses the ethical aspects of abortion, a controversial and highly debated topic that raises religious, moral, and other fundamental issues.
• Justifying Abortion From Utilitarian Position This paper argues that abortion should be justified since a woman’s body, health and future should depend on her own consensual and conscious decisions.
• Abortion Ban and Its Negative Consequences The choice to ban abortion will have a severe impact on women; doctors must engage judges in case a clinical feticide are necessary, causing a delay that might result in death.
• Abortion Abolitionists and Pro-Life Activists While both abortion abolitionists and pro-life activists share a variety of fundamental beliefs, they also vary in their approach and interpretation of women’s rights to abortion.
• American Democrats’ Pro-Abortion Beliefs The US political system consists of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. The chosen news article elaborates more on the Federal Abortion ban from these two perspectives.
• Sex-Selective Abortions Around the World Sex-selective abortion is a problem that must be addressed if we take into account the place of women in society and the effects of sex choice on interpersonal relationships.
• Decriminalizing Abortion for Women’s Health’s Sake The debate for and against abortion has caused controversies worldwide, with some groups ruling out the act as heinous.
• Ban on Abortions as Current Civil Rights Issue Even if a woman leaves a child for upbringing due to an unplanned pregnancy, it will be difficult to talk about a good emotional climate in a family.
• The Morality of Selective Abortion and Genetic Screening The paper states that the morality of selective abortion and genetic screening is relative. This technology should be made available and legal.
• Right to Abortion and Related Ethical Issues This paper applies the utilitarianism approach to ethics in showing that women that have been raped or have some health complications should be free to terminate their pregnancy.
• “Why Abortion is Immoral” by Don Marquis Don Marquis is an author of an essay that argues that abortions are immoral from a non-religious standpoint. He begins with a general discussion on why killing is wrong.
• Abortion: A Pro-Choice Rally in Charlotte The article discusses the author’s experience at a pro-choice rally in Charlotte, NC, where a Christian preacher attempted to reason with the protestors and spread God’s message.
• Women’s Reasons for Seeking Abortions The cause-effect essay aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion by exploring the reasons why women seek abortions.
• Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling Sets Off New Court Fights The article discusses the Supreme Court’s decision to ban abortions and give states the right to decide on their local level whether they want to prohibit it or not.
• Abortion in Public Opinion and Legislation Supporters of abortion believe that embryos and fetuses cannot have full human rights since the fetus is not yet a human being.
• Right to Abortion: Ethical Issues On the one hand, abortion is the woman’s right to protect her life; on the other hand, abortion touches upon two lives minimum.
• Women’s Right to Abortion: Religious Perspective Some religious people are right to accept the US court decision on limiting women’s right to abortion. They believe that the act is murder because life starts at conception.
• Ethical Issue: Abortion Should Be Legal Abortions should be lawful because morally justifiable activities should be legal: it is an injustice to punish behaviors that are not bad.
• Roe v. Wade: Abortion Rights in the United States Since the beginning of May, the United States has been discussing the possible cancellation of the decision in the Roe v. Wade case.
• “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Thomson and Abortion Discussion “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Thomson tries to bridge the gap between supporters of abortion, and opponents, who believe that a fetus is a person.
• Ethics: Women’s Right to Abortion In the current paradigm of medicine and healthcare, abortion has become a relatively safe operation due to the increased quality of competencies and equipment.
• “Abortion Law and Policy Around the World”: Source Evaluation The paper analyzes article “Abortion law and policy around the world” which was written by Marge Berer and published in June, 2017.
• Abortion: The Lifesaving Procedure Even though abortion is a form of right to life deprivation, the act is not a crime, as some believe hence should be legalized. It can potentially be a lifesaving procedure.
• Should Abortions Be Legal? The paper states that doing an abortion before 20 weeks is permissible and has to be an option for women willing to stop their pregnancy.
• Abortion: Effects and Legalization The social stigma surrounding abortion has a negative impact on people’s mental health and their willingness to seek safe abortion services despite the legal laws.
• The Right to Abortion Must Be Protected Legal abortion means respecting women’s reproductive freedom, ensuring that all children grow up wanted in safe environments, and improving the general conditions of society.
• Abortion Legalization and List of Circumstances In some cases where the expectant mother cannot handle a child, abortion in such a scenario needs legalization.
• Discussion: Legalization of Abortion Aspects The paper argues abortion needs legalization under exceptional grounds, such as when a mother’s life is at risk.
• Abortion Issues and Safe Practices Fathalla’s Safe abortion discusses solutions to preventing unsafe abortions, including sexual education, increased access to contraceptives, provision of safe abortions, etc.
• The Abortion Issue Regarding Human Rights This article raises the question of how people should determine what rights should be guaranteed by the constitution and what rights are core rights from birth.
• The Controversy Over Abortion Rights The paper states that the confrontation between the two movements over the years has led to the fact that abortion has become a controversial topic.
• The Future of Abortions in the United States This paper examines the different ways United States legislators have used their power to politicize abortion and argues about the future of abortion rights.
• The Morality of the Abortion Case Abortion is perceived as a morally incorrect action. This paper investigates the morality of the case and which action is supposed to be right or wrong.
• The Issues Surrounding Abortion This paper aims to find solutions to the issues surrounding abortion and to justify why the proposals need to be considered when implementing abortion laws.
• Abortion: Comparison and Contrast of Arguments Abortion has been a controversial issue for many decades, with both sides of the argument often feeling very strongly about it.
• Disagreeing With Abortion Encouragement This essay argues that abortions should not be publicly encouraged as it represents a serious decision for women that should be undertaken without pressure.
• Abortion: The Indispensable Woman’s Right A woman’s freedom to safe, legal abortion is an integral part of her right to privacy and physical and psychological health.
• Women’s Mental Health after Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion: Summary The results infer women who were refused abortion experienced higher levels of anxiety, lower levels of contentment, and a similar level of depression as those who had an abortion.
• President’s Power to Affect National Policy: The Case of Abortion Probably, none of the important and controversial policies can be implemented without the participation of the country’s chief executive.
• Affordable Abortions as a Reproductive Right of Women This paper examines the issue of abortion affordability as a public health and human right concern from legal and judicial perspectives.
• Women’s Bodies, Women’s Rights: A Case for Abortion If one holds that a woman has the moral right to make decisions about her health and existence, the only reasonable conclusion is to acknowledge the right to abortion.
• Abortion Safety as Topic of Sociological Studies Sociological studies show that about half of all abortions are unsafe, while every third abortion is performed in dangerous circumstances.
• Abortion and Its Permissibility Issue Abortion during pregnancy is one of the discussed topics in the modern world, which sometimes becomes more acute in connection with certain incidents.
• Christianity Views on Abortion Concepts, the Big Bang, and the Evolution Theory The Bible and other Christian articles provide information related to contemporary society, views on abortion concepts, the big bang, and the evolution theory.
• Debates: Abortions Must Be Legal Access to safe and effective abortions is not only a universal human right but also an indicator of social development concerning women.
• A Controversial Topic of Abortion Abortion has been a controversial topic globally for many decades. The side of the argument an individual chooses to support depends on many factors.
• Ethical Issues and Concerns Regarding Abortion The paper is addressing contemporary ethical issues and concerns regarding abortion. The debate over this subject involves ethical arguments.
• Way Forward for Improving Abortion Healthcare The healthcare field should ensure the safety of those who want to terminate the pregnancy, the first step towards changing the situation is training enough personnel.
• Moral Arguments Regarding Abortion The paper describes that abortion laws within the US vary dramatically between states, and to understand the reason for this disparity, it is critical to list the moral arguments.
• “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion” Act and the Judeo-Christian Worldview The purpose of this paper is to analyze the H.R. 7 “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion” act within the framework of the Judeo-Christian worldview and ethics.
• Ethical, Medical, and Legal Aspects of Abortion Abortion is a medical procedure aimed at termination of pregnancy “before the fetus is able to live independently in the extrauterine environment”.
• Abortions’ Negative Impacts on Modern Society Abortion is an immoral act or rather a crime that has diverse negative implications for individuals and the entire society.
• The Moral Status of a Fetus and the Acceptability of Abortion The case study involves four individuals presenting their views on the moral status of a fetus and the acceptability of abortion.
• Decriminalizing Abortion in Victoria, Australia The issue of abortion had been rampant in Australia, particularly in Victoria, to the point that it was considered a crime until 2007 when the government decriminalized it.
• Abortions. Perspectives, Federalism, Court Cases Abortion has been one of the most provocative topics across the globe. People have different views on whether a woman should be permitted to abort her child or not.
• The Problem of Alabama’s Latest Abortion Bill The problem revolves around Alabama’s latest abortion bill, which punishes abortion, providing doctors with lifetime sentencing.
• The Controversial Issue of Abortion Legal and ethical issues associated with abortion are becoming controversial every day in modern society; some people support the idea of abortion, while others disagree.
• Policy Debate: Argument in Support of Abortion Abortion is a critical issue in the support of women’s rights because usually women are more affected by the debate than men (both as a gender and individuals).
• The Effects of Abortions on the Black Community The paper states that it cannot be confidently stated that the ‘trend’ on abortion among the black community is the result of political conspiracy.
• Why Abortion Should Be Included in the National Healthcare Plan The abortion debate is one of the most controversial and irrational issues that have lacked a concrete solution for a very long time in America.
• Abortions: Is It a Legalized Murder? The views about abortion are often based on the cultural and ethical values of people and on how an individual perceives the status of the fetus.
• Ethics of Smoke-Free Legislation and Abortion Laws There are laws that are clear for the population and their importance is undeniable. A bright example is smoke-free legislation, which is crucial for the health of non-smokers.
• Providing the Argument Against Abortion The paper questions the argument against abortion that is associated with the fact that every aborted child may become a great composer, an artist, or some other prominent person.
• Fetus Abnormality and Morality of Abortion
• An Exploration of the Abortion Debate
• Mandating Ultrasound Prior to Having an Abortion
• “Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions” by Finer
• Abortion Should Be Encouraged in the United States
• Should Abortions Be Legal? Arguments For and Against
• The Abortion Debate: The Conservative and Liberal Arguments Against
• Abortion and Catholic Church’s Attitude
• Abortion Topic in “A Defense of Abortion” by Thomson
• The Abortion Dilemma: Islam vs. Christianity
• Judith Jarvis Thomson’s Views on Abortion
• Abortion: The Issue of Legalization and Ethical Considerations
• ‘A Defense of Abortion’ by Judith Jarvis Thomson: Major Arguments for Abortion
• Abortion Issues: Credible and Non-Credible Sources of Information
• The Legalized of Abortion in the United States
• Summary of the Research Article About Abortion
• The Decision to Seek Abortions
• Pro-choice vs. Pro-life: The Question of Abortion
• Abortion as the Fundamental Right of Women
• Women Have the Right to Decide the Abortion
• The Issue of Abortion Eligibility
• Overview of the Abortion as a Legal Issue
• The Ethics of Abortion and Reproductive Rights
• The Controversy About Abortion Prohibition and Women’s Rights
• Abortions Through the Prism of Christianity
• Women Have the Right to Decide Whether to Have an Abortion
• Legality of Abortion in the USA: Discussion
• Abortion: Negative Impacts on Women
• Pro-Abortion Ethics Case and Argument
• The Abortion Law in Ireland and Canada
• The Issue Of Abortion in the United States: Arguments For and Against
• Abortion: Arguments for and Against
• Abortion as a Legal Women’s Right
• The Problem of Abortion
• Abortion: G. Marino’s Controversial Points of View
• Abortion and Moral Status of Fetus with Abnormality
• Abortion and Moral Theory
• Debate on Abortion Insurance in South Dakota
• Health Insurance Abortion Ban in South Dakota
• Abortion Policy in the United States
• Abortion in the US: Human Behavior and Social Environment
• Abortions in Australia Discussed in Media
• Abortion as a Woman’s Choice and Right
• Abortion: Legal, Medical, Moral, Religious Issues
• Abortion from Legal and Public Health Perspectives
• Abortion in Feminist and Care Ethics
• Abortion and Maternal Health: the Global Health Crisis
• Ethics in Practice: Abortion Choice
• President Obama’s Fallacy in Abortion Arguments
• Abortion in Texas as a Political Issue
• Ethics of Abortion and Over-the-Counter Drugs
• Abortion Clinic Access Policy and Women’s Health
• Abortion in Case of Down Disease in Fetus
• Abortion as a Moral Controversy in the US
• Abortions and Rights of a Fetus in the US
• Florida Abortion Policies and Health Insurance
• Policy Analysis: Abortion Clinic Access
• “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Jarvis Thomson
• Abortion: Reasons and Issues
• Debate on Abortion: Ethics and Principals
• Abortion as a Public Issue: The New York Times Views
• Anti-Abortion Advocacy of Pro-Life Movement
• Canadian Abortion Laws and Women’s Rights
• Abortion: Judith Thomson’s Ethical Perspective
• Fetal Abnormality and Abortion: Ideal and Discretionary Theories
• The Ethics of Abortion: Women’s Rights
• Abortion: Legal, Ethical and Professional Evidence
• Moral Argument in Support of Abortion
• Should Abortion be Legal or Illegal?
• Abortion as a Controversy
• Possible Effects After Abortion
• Abortion’s Physical and Psychological Effects
• What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?
• What Kind of Connection Exist Between Abortion and Mental Health?
• Does Abortion Relieve Overpopulation?
• Why Many Christians Oppose Abortion
• What Similar Features Are Seen Between Abortion and Slavery?
• Does Male Age Have an Influence on the Risk of Spontaneous Abortion?
• What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Abortion?
• Why Abortion Should Remain Legal?
• What Are the Reasons for the Choice of Abortion in American Women?
• What Are the Pros and Cons of Abortion, Prostitution and Gun Control?
• What Are Opposition and Conflicting Feelings on Abortion?
• Does Rape Justify Abortion?
• What Are the Ethical Issues Raised With Abortion?
• Who Should Decide the Legality of Abortion?
• Does Abortion Have Severe Psychological Effects?
• Why Abortion Attitudes Will Always Be Controversial?
• Does Abortion Affect Subsequent Pregnancy?
• Why the Abortion Controversy Is Often So Bitter Essay
• Why the Government Should Ban Abortion Essay
• Why Has Abortion Become Such a Political Issue? Who Should Have the Final Say?
• Why Doctors Should Not Perform Induced Abortion?
• What Are the Religious Arguments Concerning Contraception and Abortion?
• What Social, Moral and Ethical Dilemma Causes Abortion?
• Why Abortion Laws Should Be Changed for Teens?
• Does abortion promote gender equality?
• Should parental consent be required for minors seeking an abortion?
• Is a fetus’s right to life more important than a woman’s right to choose?
• Is abortion acceptable in case of rape or incest?
• Should waiting periods and pre-abortion counseling be mandatory?
• Abortion: a relief or a toll on a woman’s physical and mental health?
• Is abortion justified in case of failed contraception?
• Should medical professionals be allowed to refuse to perform abortions?
• Should medically unnecessary abortions be criminalized?
• Abortion: a personal choice or a social matter?
• How do religious beliefs affect opinions about the legality of abortions?
• How do restrictive abortion laws influence women’s access to safe healthcare?
• What is the role of informed consent in abortion?
• How do socioeconomic disparities affect women’s decisions regarding abortion?
• What is the impact of sex education programs on the demand for abortions?
• What do women experience before, during, and after abortion?
• How does the media shape public attitudes toward abortion?
• How do societal attitudes toward abortion differ across the world?
• How did abortion laws evolve over time?
• Do the psychological effects of abortion differ from one woman to another?
• How do cultural perceptions of motherhood affect women’s abortion decisions?
• How does abortion accessibility influence the rates of self-induced and unsafe abortions?
• What is the role of grassroots movements in shaping abortion policies?
• What are the long-term health consequences of multiple abortions?
• How do technological advancements shape how the public perceives the fetus?
• How do mandatory waiting periods affect women’s mental well-being?
• Does telemedicine improve rural women’s access to safe abortion?
• What is the emotional impact of mandatory pre-abortion ultrasounds on women?
• How does the availability of abortion affect women’s economic stability?
• How do personal narratives help reduce the stigma surrounding abortion?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 241 Abortion Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/abortion-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "241 Abortion Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/abortion-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "241 Abortion Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/abortion-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Abortion were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 5, 2024 .

245 Abortion Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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If you need to write an abortion essay, you might be worried about the content, arguments, and other components of the paper. Don’t panic – this guide contains the key aspects that will make your essay on abortion outstanding.

Historical Perspectives

First of all, you should think about the historical perspectives on abortion. It is true that unwanted pregnancies were a thing long before any legislation in this area has been enacted. If you want to write on this topic, consider the following:

• Historically, what were the main reasons for women of various titles to abort children?
• What were the methods used for abortion before the development of modern medicine?
• Were there any famous historical examples of women who aborted?
• Is the history of abortion relevant to the contemporary debate? Why or why not?

Religious Arguments

In an abortion essay, pro-life arguments usually stem from religious beliefs. Hence, there are plenty of possibilities for you to explore religious arguments related to the debate on abortion. Here are some things to think about:

• What are the ideas about abortion in different religions?
• Why do various religions have different views on abortion?
• Were there any other factors that affected how different religions saw abortion (e.g., political or social)?
• Would an complete abortion ban be a correct solution from a religious viewpoint? Why or why not?

Moral Arguments

Abortion is probably one of the most popular topics in the study of ethics. Moral arguments exist for both pro-choice and pro-life views on abortion, and you can thus explore both sides of the debate in your paper. These questions will help you to get started:

• Why is abortion considered an ethical dilemma?
• What do different ethical theories show when applied to abortion?
• From a moral viewpoint, should the life of an unborn child be more important than the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic well being of the mother? Why or why not?
• What would be some negative consequences of an abortion ban?

Women’s Rights

Abortion essay topics are often linked to the issue of women’s rights. According to most feminists, abortion is related to women’s bodily autonomy, and thus, legislators should not try to limit access to safe abortions. If you wish to explore the relationship between women’s rights and abortion, focus on the following:

• Why is abortion considered to be a feminist issue?
• Who should be involved in decisions about abortion?
• Considering that most legislators who pass pro-life laws are male, is it correct to understand abortion legislation as reproductive control?
• What are other gender issues associated with abortion?
• From the feminist viewpoint, what would be the best way to approach the problem of high abortion rates?

Essay Structure

The structure of your essay is just as important as its content, so don’t forget about it. Here is what you could do to make your paper stand out:

• Read sample papers on abortion to see how other people structure their work.
• Write a detailed abortion essay outline before you start working.
• Make sure that your points follow in a logical sequence – this will make your paper more compelling!
• For a good abortion essay conclusion, do not introduce any new sources or points in the final paragraph.

By covering the aspects above, you will be able to write an influential paper that will earn you an excellent mark. Before you begin researching, check our website for free abortion essay examples and other useful content to help you get an A*!

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• Abortion and Virtue Ethics Those who support the right of a woman to an abortion even after the final trimester makes the assertion that the Constitution does not provide any legal rights for a child that is still within […]
• Ethics and Abortion In weighing the options concerning whether to perform an abortion and how to care for the patient, a healthcare entity must consider the legal implications, the patient’s and provider’s beliefs as well as the health […]
• Social Problem: Abortion The willingness of the students to partake in the procurement of abortion was significantly correlated with the views that they held regarding the issue of abortion, the extent to which they would be required to […]
• Christian Ethics Issues and Abortion As for the rights and interests of the mother, when comparing them with the rights and interests of the child, there is a possibility of an axiological preference for the goods of the latter.
• The Mother and the Challenges of Abortion In conclusion, it is clear that despite having procured abortions in the past, she wanted to be a mother to her children.
• An Abortion Versus Fetus’s Right Dilemma On the other hand, she is afraid that the child will serve as a reminder of the rapist and she has set a lot of plans for her studies and career path.
• Conservative and Liberal Arguments on Abortion Governments and health organizations’ move to control access to abortion led to the emergence of groups and movements supporting and opposing abortion.
• Abortion From the Utilitarian Perspective First and foremost, the majority of people will not abide by her since abortion is considered to be an immoral act of human murder.
• Abortion in Marquis’s vs. Thompson’s Arguments Overall, the argument against the morality of abortion using the premise that the fetus has a right to live just like the mother is self-defeating in nature. It would be beneficial for the opponents of […]
• Abortion: An Unsolvable Dilemma? We know that Christians are composed of three congregations: the Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Those who believe in the Bible, it is clear that the Bible is straightforward on life, that is that God is […]
• Abortion in Thomas Aquinas’ Religious View Abortion is aimed at the destruction of blastocyst, foetus, embryo or zygote and in the process kills the innocence any life that would be there.
• Abortion’s Pros and Cons Abortion, if legalized would curb unnecessary maternal deaths, in that, it would be done in the open and mothers would not be afraid of consulting qualified personnel for the same.
• Arguments Against the Abortion The other danger associated with abortion is that it poses a danger to the reproductive system of women in the future.
• Elizabeth Leiter’s The Abortion Divide Review Undeniably, The Abortion Divide film adequately shows the gradual growth in differences between the pro-choice and pro-life supporters but fails to bring a solution to the moral problem of abortion.
• Abortion in Teenagers: Proposal Argument In the overwhelming majority of cases, the teenager who has encountered such problems is inclined to violate the law, which often leads her to illegal and sometimes unsafe abortion. According to WHO, it is the […]
• Abortion: Why It Should Be Banned Most people are suffering from various pregnancy-related traumas as more and more couples are experiencing conceiving difficulties due to the current unhealthy food intake and environmental conditions; thus, having a baby could change a lot […]
• Discussion of Abortions: Advantages and Disadvantages The topic of abortions is, arguably, one of the most controversial and emotionally charged in the medical history, and it continues to cause a divide in healthcare even today.
• Abortion: An Ethical Dilemma and Legal Position The core concerns in the controversy are whether women should have the right to decide to terminate a pregnancy or whether the unborn child has the right to life.
• Abortion: Ethical Dilemma in Pope John Paul II’s View This paper tries to examine the abortion ethical dilemma from the lens of the Pope’s thoughts and proposals. Towards the end of the 20th century, new ideas and thoughts began to emerge in different parts […]
• Abortion Law in Canada For instance, in the report released by the Canada government in 2005, the overall rate of abortion in the country was approximately 14%, which was less than the 20% incidents reported in the United States, […]
• Abortion and the Aspects of Pro-Abortion There are occasions where somebody can have an untimely pregnancy that might end up enslaving her to the man and this can be sorted out through abortion A foetus is not a baby and there […]
• Moral Issues in the Abortion The moral authority termination of life lies in the hands of the mother despite the influence of the society about the issue.
• Debating the Issue of Abortion The psychological price to pay for abortion is irredeemable and not unless anyone wants to live a downtrodden life, she should refrain from abortion.
• Abortion-Related Ethical Considerations As a health practitioner, following the required professional standards and regulations on abortion will enable me to avoid the wrath of the law.
• Texas Abortion Ban as Current Political Topic Furthermore, denying women the right to make decisions regarding their bodies leads to the denial of bodily autonomy, which, in turn, must be regarded as a severe infringement on basic human rights.
• Abortion in Australia: Legal and Ethical Issues A woman’s sexual companion is not needed to be informed of an abortion, and the judicial system does not give orders to stop the termination even when the complainant is the biological father of the […]
• Abortion Law Reform and Maternal Mortality: Global Study Some of the criteria for selecting a credible source include the authors’ reputation, the time elapsed since published, and the legality of the publishing company or database.”Abortion Laws Reform May Reduce Maternal Mortality: An Ecological […]
• The Ethics of Abortion in Nursing The sanctity of human life, non-maleficence, and the right to autonomy and self-determination are some of the fundamental ethical ideas frequently addressed regarding abortion.
• Utilitarian Permissive Concept for Women’s Right to Choose Abortion Utilitarians believe that the right to choose abortion should be protected under the law as a matter of justice since a woman should have the right to make decisions concerning her own body and health.
• Abortion: Positive and Negative Sides To sum up, despite abortion being presented as an illegal intervention against human life, proponents believe that as a safe medical procedure, it protects the lives of mothers.
• Abortion vs. Right to Life Among Evangelical Protestants The issue of abortion is critical to many citizens, especially women. In addition to restricting women’s rights, the issue of abortion affects well-being.
• Abortion and Significant Health Complications Considering the effects of abortion, such as excessive bleeding, infection, and perforation of the uterus, surgical abortion procedures due to incomplete abortion or even death abortion can be fatal to life and one’s health.
• Abortion as an Ethical Issue in Medicine In resolving the conflict between the decision to obtain an abortion from a minor adolescent and the nurse, there may be the following solution.
• Teen Abortion: Legal and Ethical Implications The second legal implication is that the patient has the right to medical privacy and confidentiality, and the doctor may not be able to legally tell the patient’s mother about the pregnancy or abortion without […]
• Abortion as a Medical Necessity Moreover, in case of fetal death, abnormalities, ectopic pregnancy, or harm to the woman’s health, it is obligatory to follow the recommendations of doctors who objectively assess the situation. Hence, individual factors influence the development […]
• Abortion Ban: Ethical Controversies and History of Laws Abortion bans are the attempt to restrict the rights of women to procure an abortion when needed. On the other hand, arguments against the abortion ban focus on the bodily autonomy of women and the […]
• Impact of Abortion Bans on Black Women Black women and other females of color will be disproportionately affected by the United States Supreme Court’s ruling to invalidate the right to an abortion as guaranteed by the Constitution.
• The Problem of Late-Term Abortion Late-term abortion is associated with high-risk complications for the mother and inhumane treatment of the unborn child. There is an immense violation of the child’s rights if abortion is to be done after 20 weeks […]
• Abortion With Limitations: Discussion Such insights support the notion that such a medical practice could be pursued in a professional manner when the life of the mother appears to be at risk.
• Abortion and Mental Health as Controversial Issues There have been issues related to the use of face masks and the number of cases of infected people. The topic of autism is a huge controversy due to denial or a lack of awareness.
• Philosophical Reasoning About Deliberately Induced Abortion The philosophical discussion about the relationship between the right to life and bodily autonomy has become especially aggravated in the modern world.
• The Abortion Theme in Society and Literature The author does not directly mention whether the couple or the parent had opted for abortion but relating to how society handles unwanted pregnancy, the thought must have crossed people’s minds, and that is how […]
• Abortion: Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Positions Traditionally, those concerned with the abortion dilemma take one of two positions – pro-life, in which it is required to keep the fetus alive, and pro-choice, following which a woman has the right to end […]
• Nursing Ethics Regarding Abortion Currently, several articles exist that highlight different facets of this issue in nursing, including the ability of nurses to object to abortion, their confrontation with the law, and their perception of specific types of abortion.
• The Government Stance on Abortion as an Ethical Issue Throughout the years, the practice has been both legalized and prohibited in the US, with the government’s shift in attitudes being central to the ambiguity of the issue.
• Is Abortion Moral From Kantian Standpoint? The difficulties in using Kantian deontology to discuss the morality of abortion are defining whether the fetus is a human, and the role ethics play in actual decision-making.
• Abortion of a Fetus With Disability It is worth paying attention to the fact that it is precise because of such things that terminations of pregnancy occur so that a person does not come into contact with obvious prejudices still actively […]
• Pro-Abortion Arguments and Justification In general, terminating a pregnancy is the key to a woman’s prosperity, social and moral well-being, and ability to control the future.
• Law of Interest: Abortion Restrictions In the current paper, I will discuss the Texas Senate Bill 8, which is the legislation related to abortion restrictions. Therefore, the bill is interesting from the standpoint of ethical considerations, which are double-natured.
• Researching of Abortion Rights The authors of the three articles support my viewpoint by depicting the health-related and ethical risks that may take place if abortion laws continue to be restrictive.
• Aspects Against Abortion Rights Having reviewed both the supporters and opponents of abortion in the legal and ethical contexts, the writers express their pro-life views, saying that life should be respected while offering their ideas on the aforementioned contexts.
• Religious Beliefs and Medical Ethics: The Dilemma of Abortion in Cuban Society The process of giving birth to a child is considered a holiday for Cubans, and the family supports the woman after giving birth in every possible way.
• Legislative Powers in Texas: Case of Abortions In this particular situation, the Speaker of the House supports my position in the role of trustee, but here the position of the lieutenant governor is much more critical since the bill is heard in […]
• Abortion Backlash and Leadership Issues Although the issue of abortion in the United States remains one of the weightiest issues, with a high possibility of affecting the well-being of the people, it has been entirely politicized.
• Anti-Abortion Laws: The Roe v. Wade Case Therefore, the Roe case is similar to the Griswold case, making the use of the latter as a precedent justifiable. The precedent case in Roe v.
• Majority Opinion on Abortion Legalization vs. Prohibition Abortion is not the result of a nation’s historical or even cultural experience but merely the result of the adoption of restrictions.
• The “Why Abortion Is Immoral” Article by Don Marquis Don Marquis gives a different argument regarding the immorality of abortion from the standard anti-abortion argument in his “Why Abortion Is Immoral” article.
• Judith Jarvis Thomson on Women’s Right to Abortion The most serious objection to Thompson’s argument might be the one addressing abortion as a killing of a child, given that the fetus is considered a human being from the moment of conception.
• The Right to Abortion: Childless Women The issue of inferential statistics in this example is motivated by considering the possibility of extrapolating results from the sample to the general population in the context of the population mean, i.e, no children for […]
• Abortion and Women’s Right to Control Their Bodies However, the decision to ban abortions can be viewed as illegal, unethical, and contradicting the values of the 21st century. In such a way, the prohibition of abortion is a serious health concern leading to […]
• Role of Abortion Policies Discussion The introduction of regulation and informed consent measures in the case of abortion policies is feasible from the perspective of eliminating health risks for the population.
• Abortion-Related Racial Discrimination in the US In spite of being a numerical minority, Black women in the U.S.resort to abortion services rather often compared to the White population.
• Should Abortions Be Illegal as Form of Homicide? When it comes to the difference between my opinion and the status quo, I believe that abortions cannot be considered a form of homicide and cannot be persecuted.
• Abortions: Abortions Stigmatization Another issue regards the unavailability of abortions and the consequences of women being denied in abortions, and the necessity of choice for women to terminate or not terminate a pregnancy.
• Socio-Psychological Factors of Abortion in Women of Different Age Groups It is necessary to conduct a theoretical analysis of the pregnancy termination problem, reflected in psychological research. In addition, it is essential to improve the state of social stability.
• Women in Marriage & Sex, Abortion, and Birth Control The historical period chosen is from the eighteenth to the twentieth century to demonstrate the advancement of social structures for women.
• Constitutional Issues of Abortion Rights Constitution, regulating the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, laid the legal basis for the practical implementation of the American concept of civil rights. The amendments that were passed later on the base of the […]
• Abortion Trends in the United States The history of the legalization of abortion in the United States has a history of several decades and is still the problem of reproductive rights today is quite acute.
• Texas Abortion Laws for Victims of Sexual Assault A female will have approximately two weeks in the law to evaluate her situation, verify the conception with a test, determine how to handle the pregnancy, and undergo an abortion.
• Discussion of Abortion Accesion for Women Other individuals perceive abortion as a rather reasonable and necessary procedure that should exist as a part of healthcare and be accessible to the women who refuse to give birth to a child due to […]
• A Controversial Process of Abortion Abortion is morally wrong and should not occur at any stage of human life because it only deprives the fetus of a right to life.
• Abortion Politics and Moral Concerns Supporters of the third position think that abortion is a form of killing a person since the embryo is a person with the right to life from the moment of conception.
• “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion” Article by Warren In the first section of the paper, Mary Ann Warren suggests that it is impossible to establish whether abortion is morally permissible, provided one accepts that the fetus is a being with a full right […]
• Abortion on the Grounds of Disability Removing a fetus from the woman’s womb results in death which is contrary to the morals of the community that is against killing.
• Abortion: The Role of Nursing Staff In addition, the task of the nurse may be to inform the patient about the abortion process and its possible consequences. Medical personnel must respect the decision and rights of a woman who decides to […]
• Abortion and Its Physical and Psychological Effects Physiological and physical disorders that may develop in the long run due to abortion have a wide range of unfavorable consequences.
• Discussion of Abortion Rights Aspects 1, 2017, pp. It would be best used to illustrate the argument in favor of abortion rights based on the [regnant women’s right to health, which is its major strength.
• Do We Need to Legalize Abortions? Therefore, every person should take a moment to research this uncomfortable subject and think about the consequences of unsafe and illegal abortion for women, children, and society.
• Ethical Dilemma of Abortion Triumphalism In this issue and other matters, the affected person’s experience may not be a determining factor for the expression of opinion but is unique.
• The Texas Abortion Law: A Signal of War on Women’s Rights and Bodies The purpose of this paper is to examine the structure and implications of the Texas Abortion Law in order to demonstrate its flaws.
• Abortion and Menstrual Health and Society’s Views Limited resources, menstrual materials, and access to facilities are often a result of the lack of policy dedicated to the sexual health of individuals.
• The Problem of Abortion in Today’s World Therefore, the choice of the topic of late abortion is justified because of the importance and need to cover this issue.
• Abortion in the Context of Ethics and Laws The aim of this paper is to analyze abortion in the context of the law, ethics, and human rights and to identify the solution to the issue.
• Societal Approach to Abortion at Various Levels Due to its relevance in society, the issue of abortion has those affirmative, the proposers, and those who think that abortion is a vice against humanity and unethical, the opposers.
• The Problem of Abortion: Key Aspects Abortion should not be permitted because any procedure that results in the termination of pregnancy before viability is contrary to the religious idea.
• The Issue of Prohibitions on Abortions in Texas I want to talk about the indifference to women’s problems on the part of those who have vowed to be the guardians of justice in our country.
• Abortion as a Modern-Day Dilemma for the US Community For this reason, the right for abortion must be seen as the integral part of a system of human rights, specifically, those that must be given solely to women based on the reality of their […]
• Abortion: Ethical and Religious Aspects From the Christian perspective, the miracle of human life is the most valuable gift, as the creation of human beings in imago Dei allows them to experience the blessings of life and exercising the service […]
• The Ethical Dilemma on Abortion From the perspective of the Christian philosophy, a person is a product and manifestation of the love of God, hence the sanctity of any human life.
• “What I Saw at the Abortion” by Richard Selzer This sight made Selzer imagine that the fetus was struggling with the needle in this way, that he was scared and hurt, that he was trying to save itself.
• Abortion: Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Argumentation To convince the States to provide access to abortion services for women legally, the article’s author refers to standards of human rights to health and other fundamental human rights. The article’s author refers to international […]
• The Effects of Age and Other Personal Characteristics on Abortion Attitudes This is tantamount to seeking a face-saving compromise where the core issues are in black and white and is similar to the uncompromising stands of those for and against homosexual marriage; of pederasts, pedophiles and […]
• Supporting the Women Undergoing Abortion One in every five pregnancies in the world results in abortions. The main aim of the paper is to study the perceptions of nurses attending to abortion patients.
• The Politics of Abortion in Modern Day Jamaica In the first part of the dissertation, the influence of the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 was discussed on abortion practices and laws around the world, including Jamaica.
• Abortion as Moral and Ethical Dilemma Despite the conflicting approaches to solving the moral and ethical dilemma of abortion, experts agree that it is possible to reduce the severity of the problem with the help of more excellent sexual education of […]
• Regarding Abortion vs. Adoption In such cases, the couple, or more specifically, the woman is forced to face the reality of her situation and make a decision that will definitely affect the rest of her life.
• Class Action Against the Enforcement of Texas Abortion The specific grounds of inconsistency are that the laws seek to prohibit an attempt to obtain or the actual procurement of an abortion regardless of the circumstances with the exception of the special circumstance of […]
• Ethics in Health Care-Pro-Abortion There has been myriad of reported cases of failure to uphold the integrity of the unborn and the possible health related problems that would affect a mother’s health especially in the event of unsuccessful abortion.
• The Benefits of Declining an Abortion Procedure The women may feel that they do not deserve the love of their children, and a sincere act such s a child refusing to suckle is perceived as the child directing hatred to the mother […]
• Hills Like White Elephants. Abortion or Breakup It is used to demonstrate the stalemate in the couples’ relationships the necessity to choose between an abortion and a breakup.
• Parental Consent in Minors’ Abortions Thus, the parents or guardians of the teenage girl ought to be aware of the planned abortion and explain the possible consequences of abortion to the girl.
• Ethics and Reproduction Health: Surrogacy, Multiple Pregnancies, Abortion When the child is born, the contracting woman becomes the mother of the child, but she is not a biological mother because the child has the genes of the husband and the surrogate mother.
• Applying the Moral Model to Evaluate Abortion Issue The MORAL model could be used to evaluate the issue by following the five components of the model. Upon reviewing the aspects, a nurse may want to know the current health status of the patient.
• Induced and Spontaneous Abortion and Breast Cancer Incidence Among Young Women There is also no question as to whether those who had breast cancer was only as a result of abortion the cohort study does not define the total number of women in population.
• Abortion-Related-Maternal Death in Dominican Republic There is need to focus the effort in pressuring the lawmakers to respect the rights of women. The Dominican law prohibits women from abortion even the life of woman and the child is in danger.
• How Do Abortion Laws and Regulations Affect Anti-Abortion Violence? Moreover, support for anti-abortion violence can also be considered as a political weapon against women’s rights that is linked to the tolerance of violence against women.
• Benefits of Abortion Overview Therefore, although some believe that abortion is equal to murder, many are still for abortion because it allows women to have control over their bodies, achieve full potential, and avoid engaging in hazardous abortion methods.
• Abortion Techniques and Ban in Nicaragua The case of Nicaragua has shown to be particularly challenging as the country’s leaders are adhering to the patriarchal worldview that does not consider the rights and the health of women, and the importance of […]
• How Christians View Abortion There are people who claim that the act of abortion is okay since it does not amount to the death of a live being.
• Abortion and the Theory of Act Utilitarianism One possible philosophical approach to the problem of choice in such sensitive issues as abortion is the theory of Utilitarianism measuring the moral value of the action.
• Teen Pregnancy: Abortion Rates Rise In the spotlight was the matter of teen pregnancy since teen births and abortion are both consequences of the former. That teen pregnancy rates fell in the 1990s and rose in the middle of this […]
• Abortion and Its Side Effects in the United States One of the most dominant restrictions in the 1992 ruling is that parents are supposed to be involved in the decision making platform before an abortion can be carried out.
• Cider House Rules Movie and Abortion However, upon raping her own daughter and making her pregnant, a reason was introduced for Homer to follow the path of his mentor as he becomes an abortionist for the first time.
• Maryland State Bill on Abortion According to the bill, women are supposed to see the ultrasound image in the uterus before an abortion is performed on them.
• Legalizing Abortion in the USA: Pros and Cons Since abortion was legalized in the US in the year 1973, the rates of abortion have gone up to approximately 1.
• Pro-Choice: The Issue of Abortion Abortion has become a highly debatable issue in the United States because of the ethics and morality involved in the act and the possibility of resorting to it in an elective manner.
• The Ethics of Abortion: Discussion The essay first examines the philosophical and religious concept of life and how the decision to abort affects the right to life of the fetus as also the existential dilemma that may arise when a […]
• Is Abortion Right or Wrong: A Dilemma The supporters of abortion feel that a woman should be given the chance to decide on abortion as being pregnant and having a baby involves dealing with many consequences.
• Medical Ethics. Should Abortion Be Banned? However, in the present situation of the world in general and the United States in particular, there is no doubt that abortion is a bad practice that deserves to be banned in all cases except […]
• Legalities of Carrying Out Abortion Discussion This led to the emergence of such groupings as pro-life, who advocate for the consideration of abortion as murder, and pro-choice who are of the view that women should have the right of choice of […]
• Issue of Abortion Abortion in Islam and Christianity This law justifies the humanity of the unborn baby and places the child in the same level of an adult being who has caused the miscarriage.
• Abortion Is Legal but Is It Ethical? It is not difficult to understand how God’s words can be considered open to analysis but the difficulty of the abortion issue is that the breadth of the interpretation is very wide.
• Ethical Problem of Abortion However, the major point of contention has not been whether the mother is the victim or not; but more on where does the fetus really attain the status of a person with rights and the […]
• Abortions and Birth Control As a result the overall mortality of women increases in the countries where legal abortions take place. The general point of view in decreasing the number of abortions is the use of contraceptives as a […]
• Abortion as an Unmerciful and Irresponsible Act Abortion is a very big risk to the health of the woman who opts to undergo an abortion. The biggest risk is to the life of the woman who opts for an abortion.
• Abortion in Islamic View If a woman finds that she is pregnant, and does not want to be, what is the best way out for her, the potential baby that she is carrying, and all the other people concerned […]
• Noonan and Thomson’s View on Abortion A more disarming approach is that of Thomson who maintains that the mother’s right to control her own body overrides the right to life of the fetus unless the mother has a special responsibility to […]
• Factors Contributing to the Decline in Abortion A considerable decline in abortion has been witnessed and I propose to assess the factors that have contributed to the decline in abortion. The next is the reason for the decline in the number of […]
• Bioethics. When Abortion Is Morally Permissible Abortion as we all know is the deliberate removal of a foetus from the womb of a female resulting in the death of the foetus.
• Abortion Debate: Overview of Both Positions Daniel Oliver appears to be the supporter of the pro-life side of the debate, even though he does not impose his opinion on the reader and does not write that abortion is wrong.
• Abortion: Strengths and Limitations They believe that it is the right of a woman to have an abortion when they want to, and they should also not be forced to have an abortion if they want to give birth.
• Importance of Legalizing of Abortions Three of the most common reasons why women choose abortion is that they do not have the financial resources to raise a child, the others feel that they are not ready to have a child, […]
• Ethical Issues of Counseling: Abortion and Divorce Personal values and beliefs, world views, and attitudes of both a counselor and a client have a great impact on the therapeutic relationship and effective treatment.
• Contemporary Argument on Abortion Review Abortion is treated differently as some find it a moral crime, others think that it is a reasonable way out from the unwanted pregnancy situation, and there is also a viewpoint that abortion is the […]
• Abortion: Premeditated Murder or a Reasonable Way Out? Speaking of the second point the supporters of abortion have, we should say that they find abortion as the mother’s attempt to protect the unborn child from the various hardship she will fail to fight.
• Women’s Health Issues: Abortion Reasons and Laws As one can see, the physical, psychological, and social risks of limiting access to abortion or proposing hostile policies are apparent.
• View of Abortion: The Question of Human Life and Death In order to describe the question of abortion it is important to define and explain it.”Abortion’ as a ‘spontaneous or induced termination of pregnancy”, and “miscarriage’ as the ‘the spontaneous loss of an early pregnancy […]
• Unsafe Abortions Concepts Analysis The overall attitudes to abortion were negative, and women who succeeded in aborting pregnancy faced opposition from their partners, social ostracism, and quasi-legal sanctions.
• New Jersey Bill A495 on Abortion This paper aims to review the New Jersey Bill A495, the differences in the legislation process between New Jersey and other states, provide a personal position on the issue of abortion, and discuss the impact […]
• Social Work Framework for the Abortion Seeking Experience In countries that do allow abortion, the law has to be adhered to and I would have to do the abortion or give the needed advice despite my ethical or religious beliefs.
• The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States What is the association between the appropriateness of specific abortion services and various clinical circumstances? What are the physical and mental health effects of abortion?
• The Abortion Debate: The Moral Status of the Fetus All arguments about abortion do not come down to the question of what is the moral status of the fetus since there are other aspects involved, including the health conditions of the mother, the fetus’s […]
• Abortion in Ireland: Law and Public Opinion Abortion in Ireland is a highly controversial issue despite the May 26, 2018 landslide victory, which saw the repealing of the Eighth Amendment of the constitution to allow women to abort albeit under certain circumstances.
• Anti-Abortion Social Movements and Legislators’ Role In the described cases, the main task for the representatives is to make law as flexible as possible, and this is one of the most complicated things to do.
• The Politics of Abortion
• Abortion Is Too Complex to Feel All One Way About
• The Last Abortion Clinic
• Why Abortion Is Immoral?
• Abortion, Its Causes and Psychological Problems
• Abortion Debates of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Parties
• Abortion as a Constitutional Right of US Women
• Is Abortion Morally Justified?
• Abortion Debate: Immoral Aspect of Pregnancy Termination
• Abortion Counseling and Psychological Support
• Teenage Pregnancy, Abortion, and Sex Education
• Barriers to Access to Abortion Services
• Anti-Abortion Legislation and Services in Texas
• Elective Abortion For and Against
• Should Abortions Be Legal?
• Abortion Rights: Roe vs. Wade Case
• Abortion as a Crime and the Fight Against It
• Canadian vs. American Post-Abortion Care
• Abortion: Quality of Life and Genetic Abnormalities
• Teenage Pregnancy and Abortion: Articles Evaluation
• Abortion in the Middle East
• Abortion Practice in the Middle East
• The Minimum Hourly Wages and the Abortions
• Conflicting Viewpoints: Should Abortion Be Legal?
• “The Last Abortion Clinic”: Documentary Analysis
• Ethical Dilemma: Political Involvement in Abortion
• Legalization of Abortion for Underage Girls
• Legalizing Abortion: Advantages and Justification
• Abortion Incidence in the United State
• Ethics of Abortion: Controversial Issues
• “A Defence of Abortion” by Thomson
• Social Issues: Abortions Prohibition
• Abortion Law Importance in Canada
• Abortion: Theories and Moral Issues
• Anti- and Pro-Abortion Arguments
• A Woman Has A Natural Right To Get An Abortion
• Controversial Question About Abortion
• Abortion: Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Movement
• The Issue of Abortion in the African Continent
• State of Abortion Laws
• Moral Problems of Abortion
• President Reagan’s Thoughts on Abortion
• Abortion and Parental Consent
• Analysis of Abortion as an Ethical Issue
• Ethics in Professional Psychology: Abortion Issue
• Abortion as a Health Ethics Issue
• Abortion as a Current Public Policy Issue
• A Call to Legalize Abortion
• Should Canada Have An Abortion Law?
• Abortion’s Merits and Demerits of in the Global Perspectives
• Freedom of Women to Choose Abortion
• Compare and Contrast Analysis Socio-Political and Moral Agenda of Abortion
• Abortions Legal in the U.S.A.
• Abortion: Analysis of Pro-Abortion Arguments
• The Role of US Government on Abortions
• Exploiting Nazism in Abortion Debate
• Abortion Principles – Case of George and Linda
• Is Self-Defense Abortion Permissible?
• Africa Is Not Ready to Embrace Abortion
• The Ethics of Abortion
• The Debate About Abortion
• Moral Controversies of Abortion
• The Issue of Abortion
• The Case Against Legalization of Abortion
• The Burning Debate on Abortion
• Teen Abortion: Understanding the Risks
• Conflicting Views on Abortion
• Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Sides of Abortion
• No More Abortion: Anti-Abortion Debate
• The Right to Abortion
• The Problem of Legality or Illegality of Terminating Pregnancy (Abortion)
• Abortion and Its Effects
• The True Extremist on Abortion: The Analysis of Tom Trinkon’s Essay
• The Problems of Abortion in Modern Society
• Social Problem of Abortion: Dealing With Media
• Abortion as a Controversial Issue
• How Christians Respond to the Issue of Abortion?
• Did Legalizing Abortion Reduce Crime Rate in the US?
• Does Abortion Have Severe Psychological Effects?
• Does Increased Abortion Lead To Lower Crime?
• Does Natural Law Allow Abortion?
• What Are Economic Incentives for Sex-Selective Abortion in India?
• How Christians Might Put Their Beliefs About Abortion Into Action?
• How Christian Teachings May Be Used in a Discussion About Abortion?
• How Abortion Laws Have Changed Around the World?
• How Are Religious and Ethical Principles Used in the Abortion?
• How Has Abortion and Birth Control Affected the 20th and 21st Century?
• How Roman Catholics Might Put Their Beliefs About Abortion Into Practice?
• How Useful Are Kantian Ethics for Drawing Conclusions About Abortion?
• How Women Are Psychologically Impacted by Abortion?
• What Are the Ethical Issues Raised With Abortion?
• Who Should Decide the Legality of Abortion?
• Why Abortion Should Remain Legal and With Limitations?
• Why Has Abortion Created Serious Debates and Controversies Among the Mainline?
• Why the Government Should Ban Abortion?
• Women Should Have the Right to Have Abortion?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Abortion Argumentative Essay: Definitive Guide

Academic writing

Abortion remains a debatable issue even today, especially in countries like the USA, where a controversial ban was upheld in 13 states at the point this article was written. That’s why an essay on abortion has become one of the most popular tasks in schools, colleges, and universities. When writing this kind of essay, students learn to express their opinion, find and draw arguments and examples, and conduct research.

It’s very easy to speculate on topics like this. However, this makes it harder to find credible and peer-reviewed information on the topic that isn’t merely someone’s opinion. If you were assigned this kind of academic task, do not lose heart. In this article, we will provide you with all the tips and tricks for writing about abortion.

Where to begin?

Conversations about abortion are always emotional. Complex stories, difficult decisions, bitter moments, and terrible diagnoses make this topic hard to cover. Some young people may be shocked by this assignment, while others would be happy to express their opinion on the matter.

One way or another, this topic doesn't leave anyone indifferent. However, it shouldn’t have an effect on the way you approach the research and writing process. What should you remember when working on an argumentative essay about abortion?

• Don’t let your emotions take over. As this is an academic paper, you have to stay impartial and operate with facts. The topic is indeed sore and burning, causing thousands of scandals on the Internet, but you are writing it for school, not a Quora thread.
• Try to balance your opinions. There are always two sides to one story, even if the story is so fragile. You need to present an issue from different angles. This is what your tutors seek to teach you.
• Be tolerant and mind your language. It is very important not to hurt anybody with the choice of words in your essay. So make sure you avoid any possible rough words. It is important to respect people with polar opinions, especially when it comes to academic writing. 
• Use facts, not claims. Your essay cannot be based solely on your personal ideas – your conclusions should be derived from facts. Roe v. Wade case, WHO or Mayo Clinic information, and CDC are some of the sources you can rely on.

Speaking of Outline

An argumentative essay on abortion outline is a must-have even for experienced writers. In general, each essay, irrespective of its kind or topic, has a strict outline. It may be brief or extended, but the major parts are always the same:

• Introduction. This is a relatively short paragraph that starts with a hook and presents the background information on the topic. It should end with a thesis statement telling your reader what your main goal or idea is.
• Body. This section usually consists of 2-4 paragraphs. Each one has its own structure: main argument + facts to support it + small conclusion and transition into the next paragraph.
• Conclusion. In this part, your task is to summarize all your thoughts and come to a general conclusive idea. You may have to restate some info from the body and your thesis statement and add a couple of conclusive statements without introducing new facts.

Why is it important to create an outline?

• You will structure your ideas. We bet you’ve got lots on your mind. Writing them down and seeing how one can flow logically into the other will help you create a consistent paper. Naturally, you will have to abandon some of the ideas if they don’t fit the overall narrative you’re building.
• You can get some inspiration. While creating your outline, which usually consists of some brief ideas, you can come up with many more to research. Some will add to your current ones or replace them with better options.
• You will find the most suitable sources. Argumentative essay writing requires you to use solid facts and trustworthy arguments built on them. When the topic is as controversial as abortion, these arguments should be taken from up-to-date, reliable sources. With an outline, you will see if you have enough to back up your ideas.
• You will write your text as professionals do. Most expert writers start with outlines to write the text faster and make it generally better. As you will have your ideas structured, the general flow of thoughts will be clear. And, of course, it will influence your overall grade positively.

Abortion Essay Introduction

The introduction is perhaps the most important part of the whole essay. In this relatively small part, you will have to present the issue under consideration and state your opinion on it. Here is a typical introduction outline:

• The first sentence is a hook grabbing readers' attention.
• A few sentences that go after elaborate on the hook. They give your readers some background and explain your research.
• The last sentence is a thesis statement showing the key idea you are building your text around.

Before writing an abortion essay intro, first thing first, you will need to define your position. If you are in favor of this procedure, what exactly made you think so? If you are an opponent of abortion, determine how to argue your position. In both cases, you may research the point of view in medicine, history, ethics, and other fields.

When writing an introduction, remember:

• Never repeat your title. First of all, it looks too obvious; secondly, it may be boring for your reader right from the start. Your first sentence should be a well-crafted hook. The topic of abortion worries many people, so it’s your chance to catch your audience’s attention with some facts or shocking figures.
• Do not make it too long. Your task here is to engage your audience and let them know what they are about to learn. The rest of the information will be disclosed in the main part. Nobody likes long introductions, so keep it short but informative.
• Pay due attention to the thesis statement. This is the central sentence of your introduction. A thesis statement in your abortion intro paragraph should show that you have a well-supported position and are ready to argue it. Therefore, it has to be strong and convey your idea as clearly as possible. We advise you to make several options for the thesis statement and choose the strongest one.

Hooks for an Abortion Essay

Writing a hook is a good way to catch the attention of your audience, as this is usually the first sentence in an essay. How to start an essay about abortion? You can begin with some shocking fact, question, statistics, or even a quote. However, always make sure that this piece is taken from a trusted resource.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use in your paper:

• As of July 1, 2022, 13 states banned abortion, depriving millions of women of control of their bodies.
• According to WHO, 125,000 abortions take place every day worldwide.
• Is abortion a woman’s right or a crime?
• Since 1994, more than 40 countries have liberalized their abortion laws.
• Around 48% of all abortions are unsafe, and 8% of them lead to women’s death.
• The right to an abortion is one of the reproductive and basic rights of a woman.
• Abortion is as old as the world itself – women have resorted to this method since ancient times.
• Only 60% of women in the world live in countries where pregnancy termination is allowed.

Body Paragraphs: Pros and Cons of Abortion

The body is the biggest part of your paper. Here, you have a chance to make your voice concerning the abortion issue heard. Not sure where to start? Facts about abortion pros and cons should give you a basic understanding of which direction to move in.

First things first, let’s review some brief tips for you on how to write the best essay body if you have already made up your mind.

Make a draft

It’s always a good idea to have a rough draft of your writing. Follow the outline and don’t bother with the word choice, grammar, or sentence structure much at first. You can polish it all later, as the initial draft will not likely be your final. You may see some omissions in your arguments, lack of factual basis, or repetitiveness that can be eliminated in the next versions.

Trust only reliable sources

This part of an essay includes loads of factual information, and you should be very careful with it. Otherwise, your paper may look unprofessional and cost you precious points. Never rely on sources like Wikipedia or tabloids – they lack veracity and preciseness.

Edit rigorously

It’s best to do it the next day after you finish writing so that you can spot even the smallest mistakes. Remember, this is the most important part of your paper, so it has to be flawless. You can also use editing tools like Grammarly.

Determine your weak points

Since you are writing an argumentative essay, your ideas should be backed up by strong facts so that you sound convincing. Sometimes it happens that one argument looks weaker than the other. Your task is to find it and strengthen it with more or better facts.

Add an opposing view

Sometimes, it’s not enough to present only one side of the discussion. Showing one of the common views from the opposing side might actually help you strengthen your main idea. Besides, making an attempt at refuting it with alternative facts can show your teacher or professor that you’ve researched and analyzed all viewpoints, not just the one you stand by.

If you have chosen a side but are struggling to find the arguments for or against it, we have complied abortion pro and cons list for you. You can use both sets if you are writing an abortion summary essay covering all the stances.

Why Should Abortion Be Legal

If you stick to the opinion that abortion is just a medical procedure, which should be a basic health care need for each woman, you will definitely want to write the pros of abortion essay. Here is some important information and a list of pros about abortion for you to use:

• Since the fetus is a set of cells – not an individual, it’s up to a pregnant woman to make a decision concerning her body. Only she can decide whether she wants to keep the pregnancy or have an abortion. The abortion ban is a violation of a woman’s right to have control over her own body.
• The fact that women and girls do not have access to effective contraception and safe abortion services has serious consequences for their own health and the health of their families.
• The criminalization of abortion usually leads to an increase in the number of clandestine abortions. Many years ago, fetuses were disposed of with improvised means, which included knitting needles and half-straightened metal hangers. 13% of women’s deaths are the result of unsafe abortions.
• Many women live in a difficult financial situation and cannot support their children financially. Having access to safe abortion takes this burden off their shoulders. This will also not decrease their quality of life as the birth and childcare would.
• In countries where abortion is prohibited, there is a phenomenon of abortion tourism to other countries where it can be done without obstacles. Giving access to this procedure can make the lives of women much easier.
• Women should not put their lives or health in danger because of the laws that were adopted by other people.
• Girls and women who do not have proper sex education may not understand pregnancy as a concept or determine that they are pregnant early on. Instead of educating them and giving them a choice, an abortion ban forces them to become mothers and expects them to be fit parents despite not knowing much about reproduction.
• There are women who have genetic disorders or severe mental health issues that will affect their children if they're born. Giving them an option to terminate ensures that there won't be a child with a low quality of life and that the woman will not have to suffer through pregnancy, birth, and raising a child with her condition.
• Being pro-choice is about the freedom to make decisions about your body so that women who are for termination can do it safely, and those who are against it can choose not to do it. It is an inclusive option that caters to everyone.
• Women and girls who were raped or abused by their partner, caregiver, or stranger and chose to terminate the pregnancy can now be imprisoned for longer than their abusers. This implies that the system values the life of a fetus with no or primitive brain function over the life of a living woman.
• People who lived in times when artificial termination of pregnancy was scarcely available remember clandestine abortions and how traumatic they were, not only for the physical but also for the mental health of women. Indeed, traditionally, in many countries, large families were a norm. However, the times have changed, and supervised abortion is a safe and accessible procedure these days. A ban on abortion will simply push humanity away from the achievements of the civilized world.

Types of abortion

There are 2 main types of abortions that can be performed at different pregnancy stages and for different reasons:

• Medical abortion. It is performed by taking a specially prescribed pill. It does not require any special manipulations and can even be done at home (however, after a doctor’s visit and under supervision). It is considered very safe and is usually done during the very first weeks of pregnancy.
• Surgical abortion. This is a medical operation that is done with the help of a suction tube. It then removes the fetus and any related material. Anesthesia is used for this procedure, and therefore, it can only be done in a hospital. The maximum time allowed for surgical abortion is determined in each country specifically.

Cases when abortion is needed

Center for Reproductive Rights singles out the following situations when abortion is required:

• When there is a risk to the life or physical/mental health of a pregnant woman.
• When a pregnant woman has social or economic reasons for it.
• Upon the woman's request.
• If a pregnant woman is mentally or cognitively disabled.
• In case of rape and/or incest.
• If there were congenital anomalies detected in the fetus.

Countries and their abortion laws

• Countries where abortion is legalized in any case: Australia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.
• Countries where abortion is completely prohibited: Angola, Venezuela, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Paraguay, Palau, Jamaica, Laos, Haiti, Honduras, Andorra, Aruba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, Senegal, etc.
• Countries where abortion is allowed for medical reasons: Afghanistan, Israel, Argentina, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Israel, Morocco, Mexico, Bahamas, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Algeria, Monaco, Pakistan, Poland, etc. 
• Countries where abortion is allowed for both medical and socioeconomic reasons: England, India, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, Finland, Taiwan, Zambia, Iceland, Fiji, Cyprus, Barbados, Belize, etc.

Why Abortion Should Be Banned

Essays against abortions are popular in educational institutions since we all know that many people – many minds. So if you don’t want to support this procedure in your essay, here are some facts that may help you to argument why abortion is wrong:

• Abortion at an early age is especially dangerous because a young woman with an unstable hormonal system may no longer be able to have children throughout her life. Termination of pregnancy disrupts the hormonal development of the body.
• Health complications caused by abortion can occur many years after the procedure. Even if a woman feels fine in the short run, the situation may change in the future.
• Abortion clearly has a negative effect on reproductive function. Artificial dilation of the cervix during an abortion leads to weak uterus tonus, which can cause a miscarriage during the next pregnancy.
• Evidence shows that surgical termination of pregnancy significantly increases the risk of breast cancer.
• In December 1996, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics concluded that a fetus is considered a human being on the 14th day after conception.

You are free to use each of these arguments for essays against abortions. Remember that each claim should not be supported by emotions but by facts, figures, and so on.

Health complications after abortion

One way or another, abortion is extremely stressful for a woman’s body. Apart from that, it can even lead to various health problems in the future. You can also cover them in your cons of an abortion essay:

• Continuation of pregnancy. If the dose of the drug is calculated by the doctor in the wrong way, the pregnancy will progress.
• Uterine bleeding, which requires immediate surgical intervention.
• Severe nausea or even vomiting occurs as a result of a sharp change in the hormonal background.
• Severe stomach pain. Medical abortion causes miscarriage and, as a result, strong contractions of the uterus.
• High blood pressure and allergic reactions to medicines.
• Depression or other mental problems after a difficult procedure.

Abortion Essay Conclusion

After you have finished working on the previous sections of your paper, you will have to end it with a strong conclusion. The last impression is no less important than the first one. Here is how you can make it perfect in your conclusion paragraph on abortion:

• It should be concise. The conclusion cannot be as long as your essay body and should not add anything that cannot be derived from the main section. Reiterate the key ideas, combine some of them, and end the paragraph with something for the readers to think about.
• It cannot repeat already stated information. Restate your thesis statement in completely other words and summarize your main points. Do not repeat anything word for word – rephrase and shorten the information instead.
• It should include a call to action or a cliffhanger. Writing experts believe that a rhetorical question works really great for an argumentative essay. Another good strategy is to leave your readers with some curious ideas to ponder upon.

Abortion Facts for Essay

Abortion is a topic that concerns most modern women. Thousands of books, research papers, and articles on abortion are written across the world. Even though pregnancy termination has become much safer and less stigmatized with time, it still worries millions. What can you cover in your paper so that it can really stand out among others? You may want to add some shocking abortion statistics and facts:

• 40-50 million abortions are done in the world every year (approximately 125,000 per day).
• According to UN statistics, women have 25 million unsafe abortions each year. Most of them (97%) are performed in the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 14% of them are especially unsafe because they are done by people without any medical knowledge.
• Since 2017, the United States has shown the highest abortion rate in the last 30 years.
• The biggest number of abortion procedures happen in the countries where they are officially banned. The lowest rate is demonstrated in the countries with high income and free access to contraception.
• Women in low-income regions are three times more susceptible to unplanned pregnancies than those in developed countries.
• In Argentina, more than 38,000 women face dreadful health consequences after unsafe abortions.
• The highest teen abortion rates in the world are seen in 3 countries: England, Wales, and Sweden.
• Only 31% of teenagers decide to terminate their pregnancy. However, the rate of early pregnancies is getting lower each year.
• Approximately 13 million children are born to mothers under the age of 20 each year.
• 5% of women of reproductive age live in countries where abortions are prohibited.

We hope that this abortion information was useful for you, and you can use some of these facts for your own argumentative essay. If you find some additional facts, make sure that they are not manipulative and are taken from official medical resources.

Abortion Essay Topics

Do you feel like you are lost in the abundance of information? Don’t know what topic to choose among the thousands available online? Check our short list of the best abortion argumentative essay topics:

• Why should abortion be legalized essay
• Abortion: a murder or a basic human right?
• Why we should all support abortion rights
• Is the abortion ban in the US a good initiative?
• The moral aspect of teen abortions
• Can the abortion ban solve birth control problems?
• Should all countries allow abortion?
• What consequences can abortion have in the long run?
• Is denying abortion sexist?
• Why is abortion a human right?
• Are there any ethical implications of abortion?
• Do you consider abortion a crime?
• Should women face charges for terminating a pregnancy?

Want to come up with your own? Here is how to create good titles for abortion essays:

• Write down the first associations. It can be something that swirls around in your head and comes to the surface when you think about the topic. These won’t necessarily be well-written headlines, but each word or phrase can be the first link in the chain of ideas that leads you to the best option.
• Irony and puns are not always a good idea. Especially when it comes to such difficult topics as abortion. Therefore, in your efforts to be original, remain sensitive to the issue you want to discuss.
• Never make a quote as your headline. First, a wordy quote makes the headline long. Secondly, readers do not understand whose words are given in the headline. Therefore, it may confuse them right from the start. If you have found a great quote, you can use it as your hook, but don’t forget to mention its author.
• Try to briefly summarize what is said in the essay. What is the focus of your paper? If the essence of your argumentative essay can be reduced to one sentence, it can be used as a title, paraphrased, or shortened.
• Write your title after you have finished your text. Before you just start writing, you might not yet have a catchy phrase in mind to use as a title. Don’t let it keep you from working on your essay – it might come along as you write.

Abortion Essay Example

We know that it is always easier to learn from a good example. For this reason, our writing experts have complied a detailed abortion essay outline for you. For your convenience, we have created two options with different opinions.

Topic: Why should abortion be legal?

Introduction – hook + thesis statement + short background information

Essay hook: More than 59% of women in the world do not have access to safe abortions, which leads to dreading health consequences or even death.

Thesis statement: Since banning abortions does not decrease their rates but only makes them unsafe, it is not logical to ban abortions.

Body – each paragraph should be devoted to one argument

Argument 1: Woman’s body – women’s rules. + example: basic human rights.

Argument 2: Banning abortion will only lead to more women’s death. + example: cases of Polish women.

Argument 3: Only women should decide on abortion. + example: many abortion laws are made by male politicians who lack knowledge and first-hand experience in pregnancies.

Conclusion – restated thesis statement + generalized conclusive statements + cliffhanger

Restated thesis: The abortion ban makes pregnancy terminations unsafe without decreasing the number of abortions, making it dangerous for women.

Cliffhanger: After all, who are we to decide a woman’s fate?

Topic: Why should abortion be banned?

Essay hook: Each year, over 40 million new babies are never born because their mothers decide to have an abortion.

Thesis statement: Abortions on request should be banned because we cannot decide for the baby whether it should live or die.

Argument 1: A fetus is considered a person almost as soon as it is conceived. Killing it should be regarded as murder. + example: Abortion bans in countries such as Poland, Egypt, etc.

Argument 2: Interrupting a baby’s life is morally wrong. + example: The Bible, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics decision in 1996, etc.

Argument 3: Abortion may put the reproductive health of a woman at risk. + example: negative consequences of abortion.

Restated thesis: Women should not be allowed to have abortions without serious reason because a baby’s life is as priceless as their own.

Cliffhanger: Why is killing an adult considered a crime while killing an unborn baby is not?

Examples of Essays on Abortion

There are many great abortion essays examples on the Web. You can easily find an argumentative essay on abortion in pdf and save it as an example. Many students and scholars upload their pieces to specialized websites so that others can read them and continue the discussion in their own texts.

In a free argumentative essay on abortion, you can look at the structure of the paper, choice of the arguments, depth of research, and so on. Reading scientific papers on abortion or essays of famous activists is also a good idea. Here are the works of famous authors discussing abortion.

A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson

Published in 1971, this essay by an American philosopher considers the moral permissibility of abortion. It is considered the most debated and famous essay on this topic, and it’s definitely worth reading no matter what your stance is.

Abortion and Infanticide by Michael Tooley

It was written in 1972 by an American philosopher known for his work in the field of metaphysics. In this essay, the author considers whether fetuses and infants have the same rights. Even though this work is quite complex, it presents some really interesting ideas on the matter.

Some Biological Insights into Abortion by Garret Hardin

This article by American ecologist Garret Hardin, who had focused on the issue of overpopulation during his scholarly activities, presents some insights into abortion from a scientific point of view. He also touches on non-biological issues, such as moral and economic. This essay will be of great interest to those who support the pro-choice stance.

H4 Hidden in Plain View: An Overview of Abortion in Rural Illinois and Around the Globe by Heather McIlvaine-Newsad 

In this study, McIlvaine-Newsad has researched the phenomenon of abortion since prehistoric times. She also finds an obvious link between the rate of abortions and the specifics of each individual country. Overall, this scientific work published in 2014 is extremely interesting and useful for those who want to base their essay on factual information.

H4 Reproduction, Politics, and John Irving’s The Cider House Rules: Women’s Rights or “Fetal Rights”? by Helena Wahlström

In her article of 2013, Wahlström considers John Irving’s novel The Cider House Rules published in 1985 and is regarded as a revolutionary work for that time, as it acknowledges abortion mostly as a political problem. This article will be a great option for those who want to investigate the roots of the abortion debate.

FAQs On Abortion Argumentative Essay

• Is abortion immoral?

This question is impossible to answer correctly because each person independently determines their own moral framework. One group of people will say that abortion is a woman’s right because only she has power over her body and can make decisions about it. Another group will argue that the embryo is also a person and has the right to birth and life.

In general, the attitude towards abortion is determined based on the political and religious views of each person. Religious people generally believe that abortion is immoral because it is murder, while secular people see it as a normal medical procedure. For example, in the US, the ban on abortion was introduced in red states where the vast majority have conservative views, while blue liberal states do not support this law. Overall, it’s up to a person to decide whether they consider abortion immoral based on their own values and beliefs.

• Is abortion legal?

The answer to this question depends on the country in which you live. There are countries in which pregnancy termination is a common medical procedure and is performed at the woman's request. There are also states in which there must be a serious reason for abortion: medical, social, or economic. Finally, there are nations in which abortion is prohibited and criminalized. For example, in Jamaica, a woman can get life imprisonment for abortion, while in Kenya, a medical worker who volunteers to perform an abortion can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

• Is abortion safe?

In general, modern medicine has reached such a level that abortion has become a common (albeit difficult from various points of view) medical procedure. There are several types of abortion, as well as many medical devices and means that ensure the maximum safety of the pregnancy termination. Like all other medical procedures, abortion can have various consequences and complications.

Abortions – whether safe or not - exist in all countries of the world. The thing is that more than half of them are dangerous because women have them in unsuitable conditions and without professional help. Only universal access to abortion in all parts of the world can make it absolutely safe. In such a case, it will be performed only after a thorough assessment and under the control of a medical professional who can mitigate the potential risks.

• How safe is abortion?

If we do not talk about the ethical side of the issue related to abortion, it still has some risks. In fact, any medical procedure has them to a greater or lesser extent.

The effectiveness of the safe method in a medical setting is 80-99%. An illegal abortion (for example, the one without special indications after 12 weeks) can lead to a patient’s death, and the person who performed it will be criminally liable in this case.

Doctors do not have universal advice for all pregnant women on whether it is worth making this decision or not. However, many of them still tend to believe that any contraception - even one that may have negative side effects - is better than abortion. That’s why spreading awareness on means of contraception and free access to it is vital.

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Persuasive Essay Writing

Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Learn How to Craft a Compelling Persuasive Essay About Abortion With Examples!

Published on: Jan 12, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 29, 2024

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Writing an essay on abortion is a controversial and often difficult undertaking. 

But with the right approach, you can craft an effective persuasive essay that brings awareness to this complex issue. 

In this blog post, we’ll outline how to approach your research. You will also learn how to create a strong argumentative structure to support your stance. 

So without further ado, let's dig in to learn more about this.

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How to Write a Persuasive Essay About Abortion?

Writing a persuasive abortion essay can be tricky. After all, abortion is an emotionally charged topic, and it can be hard to write objectively. 

But with careful planning and research, you can write an effective persuasive essay on abortion. 

Here are five steps to get you started. 

Step 1: Research Both Sides of the Issue

Before writing your essay, you should familiarize yourself with both sides.

 Read up on both pro-choice and pro-life arguments so that you have a comprehensive understanding of the debate. 

This will help ensure that your argument is well-informed and balanced.

Step 2: Choose a Stance and Develop Your Thesis Statement.

Once you've researched, decide which side of the debate you want. Construct a thesis statement that reflects this stance. 

This statement should be clear, concise, and specific enough to guide your essay.

Step 3: Support Your Argument With Evidence & Sources.

Now it's time to back up your thesis statement with evidence from credible sources such as scholarly articles or government reports. 

As much as possible, use facts rather than opinions when citing evidence to make your argument more convincing. 

Be sure to cite any sources used properly in either MLA or APA format so readers can easily find them. Check out this video explaining the importance of supporting your persuasive essays with evidence.

Step 4: Keep a Formal and Persuasive Tone Throughout Your Essay. 

When writing about such a sensitive subject, it’s important to maintain a formal tone throughout your essay.  

Avoid emotional language or personal anecdotes, as these can be biased or unprofessional.

Instead, focus on presenting logical arguments backed up by reliable evidence. 

This helps to create an argument that is compelling yet unbiased in presenting both sides of the issue.

Step 5: Make Sure You’ve Addressed Counterarguments & Objections. 

Before submitting your essay for grading or publication, take some time to reflect on potential counterarguments.

Address these issues directly, if necessary, to strengthen your argument’s validity and persuasiveness further. 

Read our extensive guide on crafting a persuasive essay , so that you know all ins and outs of crafting a perfect persuasive essay.

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Outline of a Persuasive Essay on Abortion

Here is a detailed outline of a persuasive essay about abortion. Follow this to make sure your essays stand out.

Read our extensive blog on how to create a persuasive essay outline here!

Persuasive Essay About Abortion Examples 

Having different examples and points of view on an abortion essay is a great way to learn about this controversial issue. 

Here are a  few examples of persuasive essays about abortion that you can look at for more information.

Short Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Persuasive Essay About No To Abortion

What Is Abortion? - Essay Example

Persuasive Speech on Abortion

Legal Abortion Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Check out some more persuasive essay examples to learn more!

Example of Argumentative Essay About Abortion 

Reading samples of argumentative abortion essays can provide insight into different perspectives.

Argumentative essays seek to challenge existing beliefs as well as propose new ones. 

Here are a few examples of argumentative essays about abortion that you can look at for more information: 

Abortion Persuasive Essay Introduction

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Conclusion

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Pdf

Argumentative Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Abortion Persuasive Essay Topics

Here is a list of few topics that can inspire you for your next essay. Take a look at them.

• Should abortion remain legal? 
• Are there any circumstances where abortion should be illegal? 
• Is there a moral obligation to have an abortion in certain situations? 
• Why is the debate on abortion so contentious?
• What are the psychological effects of abortion? 
• How can society better support pregnant women who do not wish to have a baby? 
• Should there be stricter regulations around access to abortion services? 
• What are the long-term effects of abortion on a woman’s reproductive health? 
• Could pro-choice and pro-life advocates come together to compromise on abortion policies? 
• Does a woman’s right to choose trump the potential life of a fetus? 
• What are some of the possible medical complications related to abortion? 
• Can men have an opinion on abortion that is just as valid as a woman’s? 
• Are there any alternatives to abortion that can be used in cases where the baby cannot survive? 
• How has the legality of abortion affected women’s rights over the years?
• What is the best way to reduce abortions without denying a woman her right to choose? 

Check out our comprehensive list of  persuasive essay topics . You might find the inspiration to write your next persuasive essay!

A Few Interesting Facts About Abortion 

Abortion is a highly controversial topic, and many different viewpoints exist.

Some people believe that abortion is morally wrong, while others believe that it is a woman's right to choose what happens to her body. 

There are many facts about abortion that both sides of the debate can agree on, however. Here are some key points

1. Globally, an estimated 56 million abortions are performed each year. 

2. In the US, about 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion. 

3. Most women who have abortions (78%) are unmarried, and 25% are younger than 20. 

4. About half of all abortions performed in the US are done in the first eight weeks of pregnancy. 

5. There is a direct correlation between the legal availability of abortion and decreased infant mortality rates. 

6. In countries where abortion is illegal, women are more likely to die during childbirth due to a lack of access to safe, medical abortions. 

7. Most women (75%) who have abortions do so because they cannot afford to care for a child. 

8. The most common reasons why a woman would choose to have an abortion are financial, relationship issues, and feeling unprepared for the responsibility of parenting. 

9. Most abortions in the US occur in clinics or doctor’s offices rather than hospitals. 

10. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures available, with a low rate of complications (less than 0.3%). 

In the end, a persuasive essay is all about making your point convincingly. With the right evidence, logical reasoning, and engaging tone, you can make an argument for any topic you choose. 

If you’re still struggling to put your thoughts together or need help getting started, don’t worry. Trust our professional essay writer with your next essay.

CollegeEssay.org offers top essay writing service  that will take care of everything for you. We guarantee a high-quality persuasive essay writing service that will get you the grades you deserve. So what are you waiting for? 

Contact us today, and let our essay writer AI help you write the perfect essay about abortion!

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Abortion Rights: For and Against

Kate Greasley and Christopher Kaczor, Abortion Rights: For and Against , Cambridge University Press, 2018, 260pp., $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781316621851.

Reviewed by M. T. Lu, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

The editorial front matter in this volume claims that the book "gives readers a window into how moral philosophers argue about the contention issue of abortion rights." As a descriptive claim this strikes me as largely true. Unfortunately, how many "moral philosophers" actually do argue about this issue is not how they should.

The book consists of two essays written (apparently independently) by Kate Greasley (pro-abortion) and by Christopher Kaczor (anti-abortion), followed by a response from each author to the other, and finally a short reply to each response. Greasley begins the central argumentative part of her essay in favor of abortion rights by conceding what she calls the "silver bullet," namely that "if the fetus is a person, equivalent in value to a born human being, then abortion is almost always morally wrong and legal abortion permissions almost entirely unjustified" (5). In other words, she identifies moral personhood as the gravamen of the abortion question, setting aside (without argument) so-called women's rights arguments (of the sort made famous by Judith Jarvis Thomson) that abortion can still be justified even if the unborn child is a person.

This concession makes it immediately clear that her essay is not intended to be any kind of synopsis of the pro-choice side of the abortion debate, but to advance what Greasley herself takes to be the strongest case for the non-personhood of the unborn child. This is significant because many pro-choice writers take women's rights style arguments to be more effective, both because they prescind from many of the difficult questions about the nature of the child, but also because they purport to establish the moral permissibility of abortion even if the unborn child is a person. To concede this point, then, is to give up a lot of ground pro-choice writers have long coveted and so must presumably express Greasley's confidence in her own capacity to establish the non-personhood of the fetus.

Unfortunately, anyone expecting some kind of a new argument (much less one likely to change the mind of anyone already familiar with the abortion literature) will be disappointed. Greasley's argumentative strategy is well-worn. She defends a version of the familiar "developmental view" largely drawn from Mary Anne Warren which "takes personhood or moral status to supervene on developmentally acquired capacities, most notably psychological capacities such as consciousness, ability to reason, communication, independent agency, and the ability to form conscious desires" (26). While such traits may not all be necessary for personhood, Greasley concurs with Warren that "a creature could not lack all of the traits and yet be a person" (26).

She proposes that the non-personhood of the fetus can be established by means of three thought experiments, one of which -- the "embryo rescue case" (ERC) -- she seems to think is nearly dispositive. This is something like a trolley scenario in which we are invited to choose between rescuing "five frozen human embryos" or "one fully formed human baby" from a burning building. Greasley holds that it would be "unthinkable" to rescue the embryos "despite the fact that the embryos number five and the baby only one" (27). This she takes to be deeply problematic for anyone holding the standard pro-life view that the embryos are "morally considerable persons." Ultimately, she thinks this shows that "people simply do not believe that death is as serious for the embryo, or as tragic from an impartial point of view, as infant death or the death of an adult human being" (30). Accordingly, "the [intuitive] pull to save the baby . . . rather than the embryos -- even though this would mean saving the one over the many -- tells us something meaningful about our view of the relative status of embryos and born human beings" (31, emphasis in original).

Greasley's thought here is straightforward: if people would save one infant over five embryos, then they simply cannot believe that those embryos are "morally considerable persons." Of course, even if this is what the respondents believe , that doesn't by itself show that the belief is true . To be fair, Greasley does somewhat concede this point, noting that historically many have (falsely) denied the moral status of certain groups. Nonetheless, she largely dismisses the possibility that this is just a mistaken belief and seems to think the only truly plausible explanation for the near universal intuition is a (warranted) belief that the infant is a person and the embryos are not.

I do not have much confidence in the philosophical helpfulness of these sorts of cases in general, but if we are forced to play this game some reflection will show that the ERC doesn't have nearly the force Greasley want to gives it. Consider a parallel case in which we have to choose between saving five fully conscious nonagenarians and one baby. Perhaps I am unusual, but my intuitions are almost entirely in favor of the baby, "even though this would mean saving the one over the many." This is obviously not because I think the elderly are not persons. In fact, forced to choose, I wouldn't hesitate much between saving, say, one mother with small children over five childless, middle-aged tenured philosophy professors. Again, this is not because I deny the personhood of my colleagues (certain faculty meetings notwithstanding), but for the simple reason that I genuinely believe that it would very likely be worse for several small children to lose their mother than for five childless adults to die tragically (though, of course, there are possible circumstances that might cause me to reconsider). In short, a decided preference for one over many does not by itself entail, or even strongly suggest, a clear denial of the personhood of the many.

In the end, though, the larger problem with Greasley's approach is not merely competing intuitions. The personhood question really cannot be convincingly settled by this sort of intuition pumping. Indeed, it is precisely the intractability of the personhood question that leads so many pro-choice writers to embrace a women's right approach that putatively allows them to prescind from the question.

To her credit, after presenting her thought experiments Greasley does at least make some effort to engage personhood arguments. However, she is unsuccessful because her criticisms make clear that she doesn't really understand what she is criticizing. While there are a number of approaches to arguing for the personhood of the unborn child (and both authors discuss Don Marquis' famous "future like ours" argument at length) the key one here is Christopher Kaczor's "Personhood as Endowment" argument.

Kaczor begins by distinguishing a "functional" view of personhood from his "endowment" (or sometimes "substance") view. The functional view (of which Warren's and Greasley's accounts are examples) makes personhood dependent on the occurrent exercise of certain (especially rational) powers. By contrast, on the endowment view "it is sufficient for moral status to be capable of sentience or capable of rational functioning. An appeal is made here not to actual functioning but to the kind of thing the being is, the kind of being capable of sentience or rational functioning" (135). So, what matters for the personhood of the unborn child (or anyone else, such as a sleeping adult) is not whether that individual is currently exercising or demonstrating the powers characteristic of a person, but whether that individual is the kind of being that is rational (or sentient, etc.) by nature.

On this view, any and all human beings, from conception onwards, are rational creatures. If all rational creatures (human or otherwise) are persons, then all human beings are persons. As Kaczor puts it, the "substance view rests on the claim that each and every human being (born and unborn) actually (not just potentially) possesses a rational nature, and therefore merits fundamental respect as a rational being" (135-6, emphasis added).

That Greasley misunderstands the view is clear from her attempt to criticize it. She claims that "if we award [the young] equal moral status, this can only be on the basis of their potential to exercise those capacities in the future " (50, emphasis added). In short, they have a right to life not because they are actual persons, but because "they are at least potential persons in that they are individual human organisms that will, if they survive and develop, eventually become persons" (50). However, she notes that this "potentiality principles suffers . . . from an obvious logical problem . . . [that] there is no reason why being a potential person ought to endow a creature with the very same rights as an actual person" (51). Given that obvious problem, one would think Greasley should give more thought to why pro-life writers, Kaczor included, have continued to insist on the point.

In his initial response, Kaczor notes that he has "never encountered a single scholar who defends the view that the prenatal human being has a right to live because he or she is a potential person . . . The classic pro-life view is not that the prenatal human being is a potential person , but rather that the prenatal human being is a person with potential " (196). Unfortunately, after saying this, he does not go on to explain what it means or why exactly, which is the greatest defect in his part of the book.

In fact, the substance view is rooted in Aristotle's philosophy of nature. While contemporary neo-Aristotelians and Thomists have developed the view considerably, the relevant issue here is that any (putative) potential must belong to a substance with a particular nature. To say that a particular substance has a potential to develop in some way is not to make a prediction about the future , but to make a claim about that thing's nature right now . On this view, no non-rational being can ever develop rational powers ( de novo ) and remain the same thing. [1] Rather, insofar as a rational being begins to exercise those powers at some point in its life it does so precisely because they were always already latent in its nature. To say that a fetus is "potentially rational" is not to say that it will become a rational being when it begins to exercise those powers; it is rather to say that its (latent) rational nature will (likely, but not necessarily) become more fully actualized. [2]

Greasley's putative counterexamples show that she doesn't understand this. She claims that just "as a caterpillar that metamorphoses into a butterfly appears to go through a fundamental and substantial change in nature while remaining the same thing , so it seems true to say of human beings that when the go through a fundamental change in nature as when they become persons, while remaining the same numerical entity" (183). Similarly, she claims her imagined interlocutor "presumably would not agree that dead human bodies are persons . . . even though they are . . . numerically identical with the human being that was alive" (183).

For the substance theorist, neither example makes sense. The caterpillar cannot undergo "a fundamental and substantial change" and yet remain "the same thing" because a substantial change, by definition, involves the destruction of the original thing. The substance theorist would say that the caterpillar has not undergone a substantial change at all (and therefore is numerically identical to the butterfly) but has, well, metamorphosed (i.e., literally, "changed shape"). In Greasley's other case, the substance theorist does not regard a corpse as numerically identical with the human being that was alive, precisely because death is a substantial change .

On this view, the identity of a substance across the actualization of some potency just means that the change in question is not (and cannot be) a substantial change. Instead, such a (developmental) change is the actualization of a latent potency that was always already there in the nature of that substance. This is exactly how a substance theorist understands the human being from conception: as a substance of a rational nature. While the zygote, embryo, fetus, infant, etc. cannot occurrently exercise any rational powers, he or she is a rational creature from the moment of his or her substantial existence. Furthermore, since classical substance theorists hold organisms to be paradigmatic substances, the beginning of the rational substance is identical with the beginning of the organism. Accordingly, the human organism cannot become a person, because that would constitute a substantial change. So, if the being capable of exercising rational powers at some point (say, t + 7 years) is numerically identical with the fetus at t, that just means no substantial change can have occurred between t and t+7.

Of course, this just scratches the surface in articulating the substance view and none of this shows that it is correct. Like any other serious philosophical view, it requires development and defense from a variety of possible objections. My point is simply that Greasley has not raised the right kind of objections, because her criticisms reveal that she's attacking a straw man. As I noted above, however, I also think Kaczor can be legitimately criticized for failing to make clear why this is so. While he often notes Greasley's misunderstandings, he doesn't really show why she's failing to engage the substance view.

Ultimately, this is what I mean when I say the book reflects how "moral philosophers" do argue about abortion, rather than how they should. The kinds of criticisms Greasley offers of potentiality reflect the same kind of misunderstanding of the substance view that Michael Tooley has been offering since the early 70's. There isn't a real dialectic here because Greasley doesn't adequately understand the view she's criticizing and Kaczor hasn't adequately articulated and defended its deeper basis. Greasley's arguments fall flat largely because she's attempting to establish the non-personhood of the unborn child through superficial thought experiments without even grappling with the deeper metaphysical issues at hand. In short, Greasley is talking past Kaczor, not actually identifying and attacking putatively false premises or fallacious reasoning. For Kaczor's part, while I think he does a better job of actually engaging various pro-choice arguments overall, he still leaves much too much unsaid.

In the end, it's not clear what philosophical purpose this book best serves. It does not offer any significantly new arguments (nor do the authors claim otherwise). Neither is it an attempt to summarize the state of the abortion debate, as large parts of that debate are elided or ignored (e.g. the women's rights arguments and the more recent virtue ethics discussions). Even just with regards to the views of the two authors, it's unnecessary in that each of them has a more complete monograph on the subject. I find these sorts of "for and against" books are rarely that successful, and I fear this one will only tend to confirm that judgment.

[1] If Michael Tooley’s famous kitten example (a magic serum that makes a normal kitten into a rational cat) were actually possible, it would constitute a substantial change.

[2] On this view, the claim “human beings are rational” is an example of what Michael Thompson has called an “Aristotelian Categorical.” It is parallel to the claim that “human beings are bipedal” and would not be falsified by adducing an example of a human being born without legs, nor by a normal infant who cannot (yet and may never) walk. Needless to say, much more can and should be said that space does not permit.

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5.1: Arguments Against Abortion

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• Nathan Nobis & Kristina Grob
• Morehouse College & University of South Carolina Sumter via Open Philosophy Press

We will begin with arguments for the conclusion that abortion is generally wrong , perhaps nearly always wrong . These can be seen as reasons to believe fetuses have the “right to life” or are otherwise seriously wrong to kill.

5.1.1 Fetuses are human

First, there is the claim that fetuses are “human” and so abortion is wrong. People sometimes debate whether fetuses are human , but fetuses found in (human) women clearly are biologically human : they aren’t cats or dogs. And so we have this argument, with a clearly true first premise:

Fetuses are biologically human.

All things that are biologically human are wrong to kill.

Therefore, fetuses are wrong to kill.

The second premise, however, is false, as easy counterexamples show. Consider some random living biologically human cells or tissues in a petri dish. It wouldn’t be wrong at all to wash those cells or tissues down the drain, killing them; scratching yourself or shaving might kill some biologically human skin cells, but that’s not wrong; a tumor might be biologically human, but not wrong to kill. So just because something is biologically human, that does not at all mean it’s wrong to kill that thing. We saw this same point about what’s merely biologically alive.

This suggests a deficiency in some common understandings of the important idea of “human rights.” “Human rights” are sometimes described as rights someone has just because they are human or simply in virtue of being human .

But the human cells in the petri dish above don’t have “human rights” and a human heart wouldn’t have “human rights” either. Many examples would make it clear that merely being biologically human doesn’t give something human rights. And many human rights advocates do not think that abortion is wrong, despite recognizing that (human) fetuses are biologically human.

The problem about what is often said about human rights is that people often do not think about what makes human beings have rights or why we have them, when we have them. The common explanation, that we have (human) rights just because we are (biologically) human , is incorrect, as the above discussion makes clear. This misunderstanding of the basis or foundation of human rights is problematic because it leads to a widespread, misplaced fixation on whether fetuses are merely biologically “human” and the mistaken thought that if they are, they have “human rights.” To address this problem, we need to identify better, more fundamental, explanations why we have rights, or why killing us is generally wrong, and see how those explanations might apply to fetuses, as we are doing here.

It might be that when people appeal to the importance and value of being “human,” the concern isn’t our biology itself, but the psychological characteristics that many human beings have: consciousness, awareness, feelings and so on. We will discuss this different meaning of “human” below. This meaning of “human” might be better expressed as conscious being , or “person,” or human person. This might be what people have in mind when they argue that fetuses aren’t even “human.”

Human rights are vitally important, and we would do better if we spoke in terms of “conscious-being rights” or “person-rights,” not “human rights.” This more accurate and informed understanding and terminology would help address human rights issues in general, and help us better think through ethical questions about biologically human embryos and fetuses.

5.1.2 Fetuses are human beings

Some respond to the arguments above—against the significance of being merely biologically human—by observing that fetuses aren’t just mere human cells, but are organized in ways that make them beings or organisms . (A kidney is part of a “being,” but the “being” is the whole organism.) That suggests this argument:

Fetuses are human beings or organisms .

All human beings or organisms are wrong to kill.

Therefore, fetuses are wrong to kill, so abortion is wrong.

The first premise is true: fetuses are dependent beings, but dependent beings are still beings.

The second premise, however, is the challenge, in terms of providing good reasons to accept it. Clearly many human beings or organisms are wrong to kill, or wrong to kill unless there’s a good reason that would justify that killing, e.g., self-defense. (This is often described by philosophers as us being prima facie wrong to kill, in contrast to absolutely or necessarily wrong to kill.) Why is this though? What makes us wrong to kill? And do these answers suggest that all human beings or organisms are wrong to kill?

Above it was argued that we are wrong to kill because we are conscious and feeling: we are aware of the world, have feelings and our perspectives can go better or worse for us —we can be harmed— and that’s what makes killing us wrong. It may also sometimes be not wrong to let us die, and perhaps even kill us, if we come to completely and permanently lacking consciousness, say from major brain damage or a coma, since we can’t be harmed by death anymore: we might even be described as dead in the sense of being “brain dead.” 10

So, on this explanation, human beings are wrong to kill, when they are wrong to kill, not because they are human beings (a circular explanation), but because we have psychological, mental or emotional characteristics like these. This explains why we have rights in a simple, common-sense way: it also simply explains why rocks, microorganisms and plants don’t have rights. The challenge then is explaining why fetuses that have never been conscious or had any feeling or awareness would be wrong to kill. How then can the second premise above, general to all human organisms, be supported, especially when applied to early fetuses?

One common attempt is to argue that early fetuses are wrong to kill because there is continuous development from fetuses to us, and since we are wrong to kill now , fetuses are also wrong to kill, since we’ve been the “same being” all along. 11 But this can’t be good reasoning, since we have many physical, cognitive, emotional and moral characteristics now that we lacked as fetuses (and as children). So even if we are the “same being” over time, even if we were once early fetuses, that doesn’t show that fetuses have the moral rights that babies, children and adults have: we, our bodies and our rights sometimes change.

A second attempt proposes that rights are essential to human organisms: they have them whenever they exist. This perspective sees having rights, or the characteristics that make someone have rights, as essential to living human organisms. The claim is that “having rights” is an essential property of human beings or organisms, and so whenever there’s a living human organism, there’s someone with rights, even if that organism totally lacks consciousness, like an early fetus. (In contrast, the proposal we advocate for about what makes us have rights understands rights as “accidental” to our bodies but “essential” to our minds or awareness, since our bodies haven’t always “contained” a conscious being, so to speak.)

Such a view supports the premise above; maybe it just is that premise above. But why believe that rights are essential to human organisms? Some argue this is because of what “kind” of beings we are, which is often presumed to be “rational beings.” The reasoning seems to be this: first, that rights come from being a rational being: this is part of our “nature.” Second, that all human organisms, including fetuses, are the “kind” of being that is a “rational being,” so every being of the “kind” rational being has rights. 12

In response, this explanation might seem question-begging: it might amount to just asserting that all human beings have rights. This explanation is, at least, abstract. It seems to involve some categorization and a claim that everyone who is in a certain category has some of the same moral characteristics that others in that category have, but because of a characteristic (actual rationality) that only these others have: so, these others profoundly define what everyone else is . If this makes sense, why not also categorize us all as not rational beings , if we are the same kind of beings as fetuses that are actually not rational?

This explanation might seem to involve thinking that rights somehow “trickle down” from later rationality to our embryonic origins, and so what we have later we also have earlier , because we are the same being or the same “kind” of being. But this idea is, in general, doubtful: we are now responsible beings, in part because we are rational beings, but fetuses aren’t responsible for anything. And we are now able to engage in moral reasoning since we are rational beings, but fetuses don’t have the “rights” that uniquely depend on moral reasoning abilities. So that an individual is a member of some general group or kind doesn’t tell us much about their rights: that depends on the actual details about that individual, beyond their being members of a group or kind.

To make this more concrete, return to the permanently comatose individuals mentioned above: are we the same kind of beings, of the same “essence,” as these human beings? If so, then it seems that some human beings can be not wrong to let die or kill, when they have lost consciousness. Therefore, perhaps some other human beings, like early fetuses, are also not wrong to kill before they have gained consciousness . And if we are not the same “kind” of beings, or have different essences, then perhaps we also aren’t the same kind of beings as fetuses either.

Similar questions arise concerning anencephalic babies, tragically born without most of their brains: are they the same “kind” of beings as “regular” babies or us? If so, then—since such babies are arguably morally permissible to let die, even when they could be kept alive, since being alive does them no good—then being of our “kind” doesn’t mean the individual has the same rights as us, since letting us die would be wrong. But if such babies are a different “kind” of beings than us, then pre-conscious fetuses might be of a relevantly different kind also.

So, in general, this proposal that early fetuses essentially have rights is suspect, if we evaluate the reasons given in its support. Even if fetuses and us are the same “kind” of beings (which perhaps we are not!) that doesn’t immediately tell us what rights fetuses would have, if any. And we might even reasonably think that, despite our being the same kind of beings as fetuses (e.g., the same kind of biology), we are also importantly different kinds of beings (e.g., one kind with a mental life and another kind which has never had it). This photograph of a 6-week old fetus might help bring out the ambiguity in what kinds of beings we all are:

In sum, the abstract view that all human organisms have rights essentially needs to be plausibly explained and defended. We need to understand how it really works. We need to be shown why it’s a better explanation, all things considered, than a consciousness and feelings-based theory of rights that simply explains why we, and babies, have rights, why racism, sexism and other forms of clearly wrongful discrimination are wrong, and , importantly, how we might lose rights in irreversible coma cases (if people always retained the right to life in these circumstances, presumably, it would be wrong to let anyone die), and more.

5.1.3 Fetuses are persons

Finally, we get to what some see as the core issue here, namely whether fetuses are persons , and an argument like this:

Fetuses are persons, perhaps from conception.

Persons have the right to life and are wrong to kill.

So, abortion is wrong, as it involves killing persons.

The second premise seems very plausible, but there are some important complications about it that will be discussed later. So let’s focus on the idea of personhood and whether any fetuses are persons. What is it to be a person ? One answer that everyone can agree on is that persons are beings with rights and value . That’s a fine answer, but it takes us back to the initial question: OK, who or what has the rights and value of persons? What makes someone or something a person?

Answers here are often merely asserted , but these answers need to be tested: definitions can be judged in terms of whether they fit how a word is used. We might begin by thinking about what makes us persons. Consider this:

We are persons now. Either we will always be persons or we will cease being persons. If we will cease to be persons, what can end our personhood? If we will always be persons, how could that be?

Both options yield insight into personhood. Many people think that their personhood ends at death or if they were to go into a permanent coma: their body is (biologically) alive but the person is gone: that is why other people are sad. And if we continue to exist after the death of our bodies, as some religions maintain, what continues to exist? The person , perhaps even without a body, some think! Both responses suggest that personhood is defined by a rough and vague set of psychological or mental, rational and emotional characteristics: consciousness, knowledge, memories, and ways of communicating, all psychologically unified by a unique personality.

A second activity supports this understanding:

Make a list of things that are definitely not persons . Make a list of individuals who definitely are persons . Make a list of imaginary or fictional personified beings which, if existed, would be persons: these beings that fit or display the concept of person, even if they don’t exist. What explains the patterns of the lists?

Rocks, carrots, cups and dead gnats are clearly not persons. We are persons. Science fiction gives us ideas of personified beings: to give something the traits of a person is to indicate what the traits of persons are, so personified beings give insights into what it is to be a person. Even though the non-human characters from, say, Star Wars don’t exist, they fit the concept of person: we could befriend them, work with them, and so on, and we could only do that with persons. A common idea of God is that of an immaterial person who has exceptional power, knowledge, and goodness: you couldn’t pray to a rock and hope that rock would respond: you could only pray to a person. Are conscious and feeling animals, like chimpanzees, dolphins, cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, and cows more relevantly like us, as persons, or are they more like rocks and cabbages, non-persons? Conscious and feeling animals seem to be closer to persons than not. 13 So, this classificatory and explanatory activity further supports a psychological understanding of personhood: persons are, at root, conscious, aware and feeling beings.

Concerning abortion, early fetuses would not be persons on this account: they are not yet conscious or aware since their brains and nervous systems are either non-existent or insufficiently developed. Consciousness emerges in fetuses much later in pregnancy, likely after the first trimester or a bit beyond. This is after when most abortions occur. Most abortions, then, do not involve killing a person , since the fetus has not developed the characteristics for personhood. We will briefly discuss later abortions, that potentially affect fetuses who are persons or close to it, below.

It is perhaps worthwhile to notice though that if someone believed that fetuses are persons and thought this makes abortion wrong, it’s unclear how they could coherently believe that a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest could permissibly be ended by an abortion. Some who oppose abortion argue that, since you are a person, it would be wrong to kill you now even if you were conceived because of a rape, and so it’s wrong to kill any fetus who is a person, even if they exist because of a rape: whether someone is a person or not doesn’t depend on their origins: it would make no sense to think that, for two otherwise identical fetuses, one is a person but the other isn’t, because that one was conceived by rape. Therefore, those who accept a “personhood argument” against abortion, yet think that abortions in cases of rape are acceptable, seem to have an inconsistent view.

5.1.4 Fetuses are potential persons

If fetuses aren’t persons, they are at least potential persons, meaning they could and would become persons. This is true. This, however, doesn’t mean that they currently have the rights of persons because, in general, potential things of a kind don’t have the rights of actual things of that kind : potential doctors, lawyers, judges, presidents, voters, veterans, adults, parents, spouses, graduates, moral reasoners and more don’t have the rights of actual individuals of those kinds.

Some respond that potential gives the right to at least try to become something. But that trying sometimes involves the cooperation of others: if your friend is a potential medical student, but only if you tutor her for many hours a day, are you obligated to tutor her? If my child is a potential NASCAR champion, am I obligated to buy her a race car to practice? ‘No’ to both and so it is unclear that a pregnant woman would be obligated to provide what’s necessary to bring about a fetus’s potential. (More on that below, concerning the what obligations the right to life imposes on others, in terms of obligations to assist other people.)

5.1.5 Abortion prevents fetuses from experiencing their valuable futures

The argument against abortion that is likely most-discussed by philosophers comes from philosopher Don Marquis. 14 He argues that it is wrong to kill us, typical adults and children, because it deprives us from experiencing our (expected to be) valuable futures, which is a great loss to us . He argues that since fetuses also have valuable futures (“futures like ours” he calls them), they are also wrong to kill. His argument has much to recommend it, but there are reasons to doubt it as well.

First, fetuses don’t seem to have futures like our futures , since—as they are pre-conscious—they are entirely psychologically disconnected from any future experiences: there is no (even broken) chain of experiences from the fetus to that future person’s experiences. Babies are, at least, aware of the current moment, which leads to the next moment; children and adults think about and plan for their futures, but fetuses cannot do these things, being completely unconscious and without a mind.

Second, this fact might even mean that the early fetus doesn’t literally have a future: if your future couldn’t include you being a merely physical, non-conscious object (e.g., you couldn’t be a corpse: if there’s a corpse, you are gone), then non-conscious physical objects, like a fetus, couldn’t literally be a future person. 15 If this is correct, early fetuses don’t even have futures, much less futures like ours. Something would have a future, like ours, only when there is someone there to be psychologically connected to that future: that someone arrives later in pregnancy, after when most abortions occur.

A third objection is more abstract and depends on the “metaphysics” of objects. It begins with the observation that there are single objects with parts with space between them . Indeed almost every object is like this, if you could look close enough: it’s not just single dinette sets, since there is literally some space between the parts of most physical objects. From this, it follows that there seem to be single objects such as an-egg-and-the-sperm-that-would-fertilize-it . And these would also seem to have a future of value, given how Marquis describes this concept. (It should be made clear that sperm and eggs alone do not have futures of value, and Marquis does not claim they do: this is not the objection here). The problem is that contraception, even by abstinence , prevents that thing’s future of value from materializing, and so seems to be wrong when we use Marquis’s reasoning. Since contraception is not wrong, but his general premise suggests that it is , it seems that preventing something from experiencing its valuable future isn’t always wrong and so Marquis’s argument appears to be unsound. 16

In sum, these are some of the most influential arguments against abortion. Our discussion was brief, but these arguments do not appear to be successful: they do not show that abortion is wrong, much less make it clear and obvious that abortion is wrong.

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• America’s Abortion Quandary

1. Americans’ views on whether, and in what circumstances, abortion should be legal

Table of contents.

• Abortion at various stages of pregnancy 
• Abortion and circumstances of pregnancy 
• Parental notification for minors seeking abortion
• Penalties for abortions performed illegally 
• Public views of what would change the number of abortions in the U.S.
• A majority of Americans say women should have more say in setting abortion policy in the U.S.
• How do certain arguments about abortion resonate with Americans?
• In their own words: How Americans feel about abortion 
• Personal connections to abortion 
• Religion’s impact on views about abortion
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

As the long-running debate over abortion reaches another  key moment at the Supreme Court  and in  state legislatures across the country , a majority of U.S. adults continue to say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About six-in-ten Americans (61%) say abortion should be legal in “all” or “most” cases, while 37% think abortion should be  illegal  in all or most cases. These views have changed little over the past several years: In 2019, for example, 61% of adults said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 38% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.    Most respondents in the new survey took one of the middle options when first asked about their views on abortion, saying either that abortion should be legal in  most  cases (36%) or illegal in  most  cases (27%). 

Respondents who said abortion should either be legal in  all  cases or illegal in  all  cases received a follow-up question asking whether there should be any exceptions to such laws. Overall, 25% of adults initially said abortion should be legal in all cases, but about a quarter of this group (6% of all U.S. adults) went on to say that there should be some exceptions when abortion should be against the law.

One-in-ten adults initially answered that abortion should be illegal in all cases, but about one-in-five of these respondents (2% of all U.S. adults) followed up by saying that there are some exceptions when abortion should be permitted. 

Altogether, seven-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in some cases and illegal in others, including 42% who say abortion should be generally legal, but with some exceptions, and 29% who say it should be generally illegal, except in certain cases. Much smaller shares take absolutist views when it comes to the legality of abortion in the U.S., maintaining that abortion should be legal in all cases with no exceptions (19%) or illegal in all circumstances (8%). 

There is a modest gender gap in views of whether abortion should be legal, with women slightly more likely than men to say abortion should be legal in all cases or in all cases but with some exceptions (63% vs. 58%). 

Younger adults are considerably more likely than older adults to say abortion should be legal: Three-quarters of adults under 30 (74%) say abortion should be generally legal, including 30% who say it should be legal in all cases without exception. 

But there is an even larger gap in views toward abortion by partisanship: 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 38% of Republicans and GOP leaners.  Previous Center research  has shown this gap widening over the past 15 years. 

Still, while partisans diverge in views of whether abortion should mostly be legal or illegal, most Democrats and Republicans do not view abortion in absolutist terms. Just 13% of Republicans say abortion should be against the law in all cases without exception; 47% say it should be illegal with some exceptions. And while three-in-ten Democrats say abortion should be permitted in all circumstances, half say it should mostly be legal – but with some exceptions. 

There also are sizable divisions within both partisan coalitions by ideology. For instance, while a majority of moderate and liberal Republicans say abortion should mostly be legal (60%), just 27% of conservative Republicans say the same. Among Democrats, self-described liberals are twice as apt as moderates and conservatives to say abortion should be legal in all cases without exception (42% vs. 20%).

Regardless of partisan affiliation, adults who say they personally know someone who has had an abortion – such as a friend, relative or themselves – are more likely to say abortion should be legal than those who say they do not know anyone who had an abortion.

Views toward abortion also vary considerably by religious affiliation – specifically among large Christian subgroups and religiously unaffiliated Americans. 

For example, roughly three-quarters of White evangelical Protestants say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. This is far higher than the share of White non-evangelical Protestants (38%) or Black Protestants (28%) who say the same. 

Despite  Catholic teaching on abortion , a slim majority of U.S. Catholics (56%) say abortion should be legal. This includes 13% who say it should be legal in all cases without exception, and 43% who say it should be legal, but with some exceptions. 

Compared with Christians, religiously unaffiliated adults are far more likely to say abortion should be legal overall – and significantly more inclined to say it should be legal in all cases without exception. Within this group, atheists stand out: 97% say abortion should be legal, including 53% who say it should be legal in all cases without exception. Agnostics and those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” also overwhelmingly say that abortion should be legal, but they are more likely than atheists to say there are some circumstances when abortion should be against the law.

Although the survey was conducted among Americans of many religious backgrounds, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, it did not obtain enough respondents from non-Christian groups to report separately on their responses.

As a  growing number of states  debate legislation to restrict abortion – often after a certain stage of pregnancy – Americans express complex views about when   abortion should generally be legal and when it should be against the law. Overall, a majority of adults (56%) say that how long a woman has been pregnant should matter in determining when abortion should be legal, while far fewer (14%) say that this should  not  be a factor. An additional one-quarter of the public says that abortion should either be legal (19%) or illegal (8%) in all circumstances without exception; these respondents did not receive this question.

Among men and women, Republicans and Democrats, and Christians and religious “nones” who do not take absolutist positions about abortion on either side of the debate, the prevailing view is that the stage of the pregnancy should be a factor in determining whether abortion should be legal.

Americans broadly are more likely to favor restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy than earlier in pregnancy. Many adults also say the legality of abortion depends on other factors at every stage of pregnancy. 

Overall, a plurality of adults (44%) say that abortion should be legal six weeks into a pregnancy, which is about when cardiac activity (sometimes called a fetal heartbeat) may be detected and before many women know they are pregnant; this includes 19% of adults who say abortion should be legal in all cases without exception, as well as 25% of adults who say it should be legal at that point in a pregnancy. An additional 7% say abortion generally should be legal in most cases, but that the stage of the pregnancy should not matter in determining legality. 1

One-in-five Americans (21%) say abortion should be  illegal  at six weeks. This includes 8% of adults who say abortion should be illegal in all cases without exception as well as 12% of adults who say that abortion should be illegal at this point. Additionally, 6% say abortion should be illegal in most cases and how long a woman has been pregnant should not matter in determining abortion’s legality. Nearly one-in-five respondents, when asked whether abortion should be legal six weeks into a pregnancy, say “it depends.” 

Americans are more divided about what should be permitted 14 weeks into a pregnancy – roughly at the end of the first trimester – although still, more people say abortion should be legal at this stage (34%) than illegal (27%), and about one-in-five say “it depends.”

Fewer adults say abortion should be legal 24 weeks into a pregnancy – about when a healthy fetus could survive outside the womb with medical care. At this stage, 22% of adults say abortion should be legal, while nearly twice as many (43%) say it should be  illegal . Again, about one-in-five adults (18%) say whether abortion should be legal at 24 weeks depends on other factors. 

Respondents who said that abortion should be illegal 24 weeks into a pregnancy or that “it depends” were asked a follow-up question about whether abortion at that point should be legal if the pregnant woman’s life is in danger or the baby would be born with severe disabilities. Most who received this question say abortion in these circumstances should be legal (54%) or that it depends on other factors (40%). Just 4% of this group maintained that abortion should be illegal in this case.

This pattern in views of abortion – whereby more favor greater restrictions on abortion as a pregnancy progresses – is evident across a variety of demographic and political groups. 

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say that abortion should be legal at each of the three stages of pregnancy asked about on the survey. For example, while 26% of Republicans say abortion should be legal at six weeks of pregnancy, more than twice as many Democrats say the same (61%). Similarly, while about a third of Democrats say abortion should be legal at 24 weeks of pregnancy, just 8% of Republicans say the same. 

However, neither Republicans nor Democrats uniformly express absolutist views about abortion throughout a pregnancy. Republicans are divided on abortion at six weeks: Roughly a quarter say it should be legal (26%), while a similar share say it depends (24%). A third say it should be illegal. 

Democrats are divided about whether abortion should be legal or illegal at 24 weeks, with 34% saying it should be legal, 29% saying it should be illegal, and 21% saying it depends. 

There also is considerable division among each partisan group by ideology. At six weeks of pregnancy, just one-in-five conservative Republicans (19%) say that abortion should be legal; moderate and liberal Republicans are twice as likely as their conservative counterparts to say this (39%). 

At the same time, about half of liberal Democrats (48%) say abortion at 24 weeks should be legal, while 17% say it should be illegal. Among conservative and moderate Democrats, the pattern is reversed: A plurality (39%) say abortion at this stage should be illegal, while 24% say it should be legal. 

Christian adults are far less likely than religiously unaffiliated Americans to say abortion should be legal at each stage of pregnancy.  

Among Protestants, White evangelicals stand out for their opposition to abortion. At six weeks of pregnancy, for example, 44% say abortion should be illegal, compared with 17% of White non-evangelical Protestants and 15% of Black Protestants. This pattern also is evident at 14 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, when half or more of White evangelicals say abortion should be illegal.

At six weeks, a plurality of Catholics (41%) say abortion should be legal, while smaller shares say it depends or it should be illegal. But by 24 weeks, about half of Catholics (49%) say abortion should be illegal. 

Among adults who are religiously unaffiliated, atheists stand out for their views. They are the only group in which a sizable majority says abortion should be  legal  at each point in a pregnancy. Even at 24 weeks, 62% of self-described atheists say abortion should be legal, compared with smaller shares of agnostics (43%) and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” (31%). 

As is the case with adults overall, most religiously affiliated and religiously unaffiliated adults who originally say that abortion should be illegal or “it depends” at 24 weeks go on to say either it should be legal or it depends if the pregnant woman’s life is in danger or the baby would be born with severe disabilities. Few (4% and 5%, respectively) say abortion should be illegal at 24 weeks in these situations.

The stage of the pregnancy is not the only factor that shapes people’s views of when abortion should be legal. Sizable majorities of U.S. adults say that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the pregnant woman (73%) or if pregnancy is the result of rape (69%). 

There is less consensus when it comes to circumstances in which a baby may be born with severe disabilities or health problems: 53% of Americans overall say abortion should be legal in such circumstances, including 19% who say abortion should be legal in all cases and 35% who say there are some situations where abortions should be illegal, but that it should be legal in this specific type of case. A quarter of adults say “it depends” in this situation, and about one-in-five say it should be illegal (10% who say illegal in this specific circumstance and 8% who say illegal in all circumstances). 

There are sizable divides between and among partisans when it comes to views of abortion in these situations. Overall, Republicans are less likely than Democrats to say abortion should be legal in each of the three circumstances outlined in the survey. However, both partisan groups are less likely to say abortion should be legal when the baby may be born with severe disabilities or health problems than when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape. 

Just as there are wide gaps among Republicans by ideology on whether how long a woman has been pregnant should be a factor in determining abortion’s legality, there are large gaps when it comes to circumstances in which abortions should be legal. For example, while a clear majority of moderate and liberal Republicans (71%) say abortion should be permitted when the pregnancy is the result of rape, conservative Republicans are more divided. About half (48%) say it should be legal in this situation, while 29% say it should be illegal and 21% say it depends.

The ideological gaps among Democrats are slightly less pronounced. Most Democrats say abortion should be legal in each of the three circumstances – just to varying degrees. While 77% of liberal Democrats say abortion should be legal if a baby will be born with severe disabilities or health problems, for example, a smaller majority of conservative and moderate Democrats (60%) say the same. 

White evangelical Protestants again stand out for their views on abortion in various circumstances; they are far less likely than White non-evangelical or Black Protestants to say abortion should be legal across each of the three circumstances described in the survey. 

While about half of White evangelical Protestants (51%) say abortion should be legal if a pregnancy threatens the woman’s life or health, clear majorities of other Protestant groups and Catholics say this should be the case. The same pattern holds in views of whether abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of rape. Most White non-evangelical Protestants (75%), Black Protestants (71%) and Catholics (66%) say abortion should be permitted in this instance, while White evangelicals are more divided: 40% say it should be legal, while 34% say it should be  illegal  and about a quarter say it depends. 

Mirroring the pattern seen among adults overall, opinions are more varied about a situation where a baby might be born with severe disabilities or health issues. For instance, half of Catholics say abortion should be legal in such cases, while 21% say it should be illegal and 27% say it depends on the situation. 

Most religiously unaffiliated adults – including overwhelming majorities of self-described atheists – say abortion should be legal in each of the three circumstances. 

Seven-in-ten U.S. adults say that doctors or other health care providers should be required to notify a parent or legal guardian if the pregnant woman seeking an abortion is under 18, while 28% say they should not be required to do so.  

Women are slightly less likely than men to say this should be a requirement (67% vs. 74%). And younger adults are far less likely than those who are older to say a parent or guardian should be notified before a doctor performs an abortion on a pregnant woman who is under 18. In fact, about half of adults ages 18 to 24 (53%) say a doctor should  not  be required to notify a parent. By contrast, 64% of adults ages 25 to 29 say doctors  should  be required to notify parents of minors seeking an abortion, as do 68% of adults ages 30 to 49 and 78% of those 50 and older. 

A large majority of Republicans (85%) say that a doctor should be required to notify the parents of a minor before an abortion, though conservative Republicans are somewhat more likely than moderate and liberal Republicans to take this position (90% vs. 77%). 

The ideological divide is even more pronounced among Democrats. Overall, a slim majority of Democrats (57%) say a parent should be notified in this circumstance, but while 72% of conservative and moderate Democrats hold this view, just 39% of liberal Democrats agree. 

By and large, most Protestant (81%) and Catholic (78%) adults say doctors should be required to notify parents of minors before an abortion. But religiously unaffiliated Americans are more divided. Majorities of both atheists (71%) and agnostics (58%) say doctors should  not  be required to notify parents of minors seeking an abortion, while six-in-ten of those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” say such notification should be required. 

Americans are divided over who should be penalized – and what that penalty should be – in a situation where an abortion occurs illegally. 

Overall, a 60% majority of adults say that if a doctor or provider performs an abortion in a situation where it is illegal, they should face a penalty. But there is less agreement when it comes to others who may have been involved in the procedure. 

While about half of the public (47%) says a woman who has an illegal abortion should face a penalty, a nearly identical share (50%) says she should not. And adults are more likely to say people who help find and schedule or pay for an abortion in a situation where it is illegal should  not  face a penalty than they are to say they should.

Views about penalties are closely correlated with overall attitudes about whether abortion should be legal or illegal. For example, just 20% of adults who say abortion should be legal in all cases without exception think doctors or providers should face a penalty if an abortion were carried out in a situation where it was illegal. This compares with 91% of those who think abortion should be illegal in all cases without exceptions. Still, regardless of how they feel about whether abortion should be legal or not, Americans are more likely to say a doctor or provider should face a penalty compared with others involved in the procedure. 

Among those who say medical providers and/or women should face penalties for illegal abortions, there is no consensus about whether they should get jail time or a less severe punishment. Among U.S. adults overall, 14% say women should serve jail time if they have an abortion in a situation where it is illegal, while 16% say they should receive a fine or community service and 17% say they are not sure what the penalty should be. 

A somewhat larger share of Americans (25%) say doctors or other medical providers should face jail time for providing illegal abortion services, while 18% say they should face fines or community service and 17% are not sure. About three-in-ten U.S. adults (31%) say doctors should lose their medical license if they perform an abortion in a situation where it is illegal.

Men are more likely than women to favor penalties for the woman or doctor in situations where abortion is illegal. About half of men (52%) say women should face a penalty, while just 43% of women say the same. Similarly, about two-thirds of men (64%) say a doctor should face a penalty, while 56% of women agree.

Republicans are considerably more likely than Democrats to say both women and doctors should face penalties – including jail time. For example, 21% of Republicans say the woman who had the abortion should face jail time, and 40% say this about the doctor who performed the abortion. Among Democrats, far smaller shares say the woman (8%) or doctor (13%) should serve jail time.  

White evangelical Protestants are more likely than other Protestant groups to favor penalties for abortions in situations where they are illegal. Fully 24% say the woman who had the abortion should serve time in jail, compared with just 12% of White non-evangelical Protestants or Black Protestants. And while about half of White evangelicals (48%) say doctors who perform illegal abortions should serve jail time, just 26% of White non-evangelical Protestants and 18% of Black Protestants share this view.

• Only respondents who said that abortion should be legal in some cases but not others and that how long a woman has been pregnant should matter in determining whether abortion should be legal received questions about abortion’s legality at specific points in the pregnancy.  ↩

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How To Create A Best Abortion Argumentative Essay?

Table of Contents

The topic of abortion is highly debated among various groups of people all around the world. Abortion is a synthetic way of ending a pregnancy by extraction or removal of an embryo before it can live outside the womb.

Because of the moral subsoil of the question, it is fiercely discussed even in the countries where such medical procedure is allowed by the government.

Argumentative essay on abortion: what’s the thing about?

First and foremost you need to remember that the topic which has a medical aspect requires a careful and attentive approach to the research and presentation. Examine the question diligently in order to operate with the terminology you may need freely.

Keep in mind that many people are sensitive to your abortion argumentative essay topic, so be careful with the word choice in your essay not to offend anybody.

The structure for the essay on abortion is the same as for any of a kind.

You begin your essay with the introduction . Here you give the main definitions in case the reader is not aware of the topic. You also include some background information on the problem, describe the reason for your work and end the entry with a thesis. As a rule, a thesis contains your point of view on the subject.

A useful hint: to write a good thesis statement for abortion, you definitely have to be well acquainted with the topic, but also you need to be honest with what you write.

In the main body of your college research paper , you express all the points for and against the abortions. That means you will have two paragraphs for each group of statements. In this part, you place all the ideas you have.

Finally, you write a conclusion for the essay. Here you have to sum up all the thoughts you’ve already written, without adding anything new. Express your own point of view on the question of abortion.

In some cases, you may be asked to write an outline for your essay. It is a table of contents where you enumerate the paragraphs of your essay.

To make it as well-directed as possible, select the main ideas of every paragraph and note them down. It may look like this:

Introduction: The problem of abortions.

Main body: Everything considered on the topic of abortions, namely

• Paragraph 1: Advantages an abortion can provide.
• Paragraph 2: Disadvantages and negative consequences of an abortion.

Conclusion: Inference and personal point of view on the problem.

Argumentative essay on abortion examples and ideas

How about some examples and ideas for your research paper writing needs? Try one of the following topics:

• Will abortion illegalization increase the number of backstreet abortions?
• The attitude to abortion in different cultures.
• What are the effects of abortion on a woman’s health?
• What should be the lowest age for abortion?
• What are the reasons behind the decision of married couples to do an abortion?
• Can the unborn fetus feel pain during the procedure of abortion?
• Should abortion be considered as a murder?
• Why women do abortions?

A general argumentative essay on abortion pro-choice which fits the outline above may have the following structure:

Introduction.

• The definition of an abortion.
• The analysis of the social aspect.
• Thesis: “Should society’s disapproval break not only the women’s, but also the families and unwanted children’s lives?”
• Paragraph 1. An argument in favor of abortion (two, three, or more).
• Paragraph 2: An argument against abortion (same as in the previous paragraph).

Conclusion.

• A general deduction that confirms the thesis in the introduction.
• Expression of a personal vision of a problem.

What’s more, it may be of great help for you to search for some full free argumentative essays on abortion. This will help you to get a complete picture of an essay.

Supporting arguments for abortion

Here are some ideas of pro-abortion thesis statements. You may use them in your essay or make up your unique arguments.

• Everybody has a basic fundamental right to do anything with own body.
• It is crucial for a woman’s independence to decide whether she wants to have a child.
• Some scientists claim that personhood starts when a fetus is able to live outside the womb, so after the birth.
• Most neuroscientists believe that fetuses can’t feel pain when the abortion is done.
• Legal and professional abortions reduce women’s injury or even death from illegal backstreet abortions.
• Modern methods of abortion won’t cause infertility and other lasting health problems.
• Abortion is the chance not to give birth to a child with deviations.
• Women who can’t do an abortion may become unemployed, live below the poverty line, or become a victim of domestic violence.
• A child may not come to the world unwanted.
• Abortion is considered to be one of the methods of population control.

What to say against abortion?

If you’ve decided to adhere to the opposite side, here are some useful arguments against abortion. Take one of these or come up with own.

• Abortion is a murder of the innocent creature.
• Life begins in the womb of a woman, so the unborn child is a human who has the right to live.
• Many scientists believe that fetuses feel sufferings while abortion is done.
• Abortion contradicts God’s commandments.
• Abortion causes psychological problems.
• Abortions may reduce the number of children available for adoption.
• Abortion, because of the embryo’s abnormalities, can be regarded as discrimination of a physical feature.
• Abortion is not a form of contraception.
• Women have to accept the responsibilities that come with pregnancy.
• Originally, the Hippocratic Oath forbids abortion.
• Abortion popularizes the disrespect of life.
• According to the investigations of a Guttmacher Institute, black women are doing abortions more frequently than white, which means that it violates the balance of African babies.
• Abortion destroys the possible social contribution of an unborn child.
• Abortion may cause future health problems of a woman.

On balance…

The topic of abortion is highly discussed nowadays so it won’t be too difficult to make up your mind about the issue you’d want to cover in your essay.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Abortion — Persuasive Pro Choice Abortion Stance

Persuasive Pro Choice Abortion Stance

• Categories: Abortion Women's Rights

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Published: Mar 25, 2024

Words: 1127 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, body paragraph 1: bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, body paragraph 2: consequences of restrictive abortion laws, body paragraph 3: personal beliefs and abortion attitudes, body paragraph 4: specific abortion policies and their impact, body paragraph 5: additional consequences of restrictive abortion laws, body paragraph 6: further exploration of counterarguments related to the pro-life perspective, counterarguments: addressing the pro-life perspective.

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Argumentative Essay on Abortion – Sample Essay

Published by gudwriter on October 24, 2017 October 24, 2017

A Break Down of my Abortion Argumentative Essay

Styling format: APA 6th Edition

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Title: Abortion Should Be Legal

Introduction.

The introduction paragraph of an argumentative essay constitutes of 4 parts. Topic introduction, a reason why the topic is important, accepting there is a difference of opinion on this topic and lastly a statement that gives the writer’s main premises, popularly known as a thesis statement.

The body of my abortion argumentative essay contains reasons + evidence to support my thesis. I have also included opposing arguments to show the reader that I have considered both sides of the argument and that am able to anticipate and criticize any opposing arguments before they are even stated. I have made sure to show the reader that though I have written opposing arguments and that I do not agree with them.

The conclusion paragraph of this abortion essay constitutes of three main parts. The first part restates the main premises: The decision to terminate a pregnancy should generally lie with pregnant women. The second part presents 1 – 2 sentences which summarizes the arguments that support my thesis. And lastly my personal position.

I tried to use credible resources for this essay. Books from respectable publishers on this subject.  Peer reviewed articles and journals are also acceptable.

Argumentative Essay on Abortion

The abortion debate is an ongoing controversy, continually dividing Americans along moral, legal, and religious lines. Most people tend to assume one of two positions: “pro-life” (an embryo or fetus should be given the right to gestate to term and be born. Simply put, women should not be given the right to abort as that constitutes murder) or “pro-choice” (women should be given the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy).

When you are writing an abortion  argumentative essay , you are free to support any side that you want. Whichever position you take, make sure you have good points and supporting facts.

In this abortion essay, I have decided to take the pro-choice position: a woman carrying a fetus should be given the right to abort it or carry the baby to term. In fact, my thesis statement for this argumentative essay is abortion should be legal and women should have the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

My essay is divided into three basic parts, the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Read till the end to find the brief analysis of the parts /sections.

Here is my abortion argumentative essay. Enjoy!

Abortion Should Be Legal

A heated debate continues to surround the question of whether or not abortion should be legal. Those who feel it should be legal have branded themselves “pro-choice” while those opposed to its legality fall under the banner of “pro-life.” In the United States of America, not even the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case (Parker, 2017) that declared abortion as a fundamental human right has served to bring this debate to an end. The pro-choice brigade front an argument that abortion is a right that should be enjoyed by all women and one that should not be taken away by religious authority or even governments. They claim that this right cannot be superseded by the perceived right that should be enjoyed by a fetus or embryo. If not legalized, the pro-choice claim, women would resort to unsafe means. However, to pro-life, the life of a human being begins at fertilization and therefore abortion condemns an innocent human being to immoral murder. They further argue that the practice exposes the unborn human to pain and suffering. This paper argues that abortion should be legal and women should have the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

Perhaps you may find comparing and contrasting the higher education between England and Kenya interesting .

Just as was observed by the US Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, an individual should be allowed certain privacy zones or areas. The decision of a pregnant woman to terminate her pregnancy or not should fall within this fundamental right (Parker, 2017). Interfering with this right is a kin to deciding for a person the kind of people they may associate with or the kind of a person they may fall in love with. These kinds of private matters are very sensitive and any decision touching on them should be left at the discretion of an individual. After all, it is the woman who knows why they would want to terminate a pregnancy. It could be that seeing the pregnancy to its maturity and eventual delivery would endanger the life of the bearer. It could also be that a woman is not comfortable with having a baby due to some reason(s). Whatever reason a woman might have, it is their private affair; they should be left to handle it in private.

On the same note, women get empowered by reproductive choice as they get the opportunity to freely exercise control over their bodies. Just like male members of the society, women should be allowed to be independent and be able to determine their future. This includes the freewill of determining whether or not to have children. The ability to control their productive lives would ensure that women are well placed to take part equally in the social and economic matters of the society (Mooney, 2013). It should not be that upon conceiving, a woman has no otherwise but to deliver the baby. What if the conception was accidental? Even if it was not accidental, a woman can realize or determine before delivery that she is just not ready to have the baby as she might have initially planned. At that point, they should have the freedom to terminate the pregnancy.

The pro-life’s argument that abortion is murder is a bit far fetched. The fetus or embryo may be innocent as they claim. However, it is noteworthy that it is only after the fetus becomes able to survive outside the womb that personhood begins (Ziegler, 2015). This is definitely after birth and not during the pregnancy or at conception. In this respect, the claim that abortion kills innocent human beings is actually not valid. On the contrary, this stance or statement culminates in the victimization of innocent women who have committed no wrong but exercised their right of controlling their reproductive life. Ideally, an embryo or fetus should not be considered a human being just yet. There   should thus be nothing like “unborn babies” but fetuses or embryos.

Legal abortion also ensures that women may avoid maternal injury or death by securing professional and safe means of performing abortion. The point here is that illegalizing abortion would compel some women to resort to unsafe abortion means. In the process, they might sustain life threatening injuries or even lose their lives (Schwarz & Latimer, 2012). Whether legal or not, a woman would make up their mind and terminate her pregnancy! The only difference is that in a “legal” environment, she would be safe. Why then endanger the lives of pregnant women who may like to have an abortion by illegalizing the practice? In addition, the pro-life argument that a fetus feels pain during the procedure of abortion is less convincing. It may be that the reason a mother is terminating a pregnancy is to prevent the yet to be born child from facing the pains of the world. If a mother feels she may not accord her child all the necessities of life, she would be right to subject the child to the “short-term pain” during abortion.

Those opposed to abortion further argue that the practice brews a traumatic experience for women as it involves the death of a human being. Specifically, they contend that the experience emanates from a woman witnessing how she intentionally and violently condemns her unborn child to death by physically destroying it. They hold that it also subjects the woman to unacknowledged grief and thoughts of severed maternal attachments and as well violates her parental responsibility and instinct (Major et al., 2009). According to this argument, this experience can be as traumatic as to plunge a woman into serious mental health problems, in what may be called post-abortion syndrome (PAS). This syndrome may attract symptoms similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they say. Anti-abortion crusaders further contend that the aftermath of undergoing the procedure may see a woman experience such PTSD related symptoms as substance abuse, guilt, shame, anger, grief, depression, denial, and flashbacks (Major et al., 2009). While all these may seem to be sensible to some extent, they fail to recognize that a woman who willfully secures an abortion would not have to worry about having “killed” her unborn baby. Instead, she would appreciate that she was able to successfully terminate the pregnancy before it could grow to maturity.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy should generally lie with pregnant women. It is a private decision that should not be interfered with. Women should be able to determine when to have a child. If she deems it not yet time, she should be allowed to abort. A woman actually kills nobody by aborting but rather prevents the fetus from being able to survive outside the womb. The reason for aborting should not be questioned, whether medical, involving incest or rape, or just personal. Whatever reason it might be, it falls within the right of a woman to determine and control their productive life.

Major, B. et al. (2009). Abortion and mental health.  American Psychologist , 64 (9), 863-890.

Mooney, C. (2013). Should abortion be legal? San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint Press, Incorporated.

Parker, W. (2017). Life’s work: a moral argument for choice . New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Schwarz, S. D., & Latimer, K. (2012). Understanding abortion: from mixed feelings to rational thought . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Ziegler, M. (2015). After Roe . Cambridge , MA: Harvard University Press.

Argumentative Essay against Abortion 2, with Outline

Abortion argumentative essay outline.

Thesis:  Abortion is wrong and should not be legalized since its disadvantages far outweigh its advantages, if any.

Paragraph 1:

It is wrong to condemn an innocent human being to murder.

• Human life begins at conception and this implies that at whatever stage a pregnancy may be terminated, an innocent being would have been killed.
• The fetus is a human being and should be allowed to grow and be born and live their life to the fullest.
• A fetus has a unique genetic code and thus it is a unique individual person.

Paragraph 2:

It is wrong to deliberately cause pain.

• Whatever process is used to secure an abortion subjects the developing human to untold suffering before they eventually die.
• By 18 weeks, a fetus has undergone sufficient development to feel pain.
• Aborting a fetus is the same as physically attacking an innocent person and causing them fatal physical bodily harm.

Paragraph 3:

Abortion increases tolerance of killing which is a wrong precedence for the human race.

• To legalize abortion and to view it as being right is like to legalize killing and see nothing wrong with it.
• The respect people have for human life would be reduced if killing would be legalized.
• Loss of society’s respect for human life may result into increased murder rates, genocide, and euthanasia.

Paragraph 4:

Abortion is can seriously harm a woman’s body and in some cases lead to the death of that woman.

• It yields both anticipated physical side effects as well as potentially more serious complications.
• In other instances, a woman may experience serious complications that may even threaten her life as a result of having an abortion.

Paragraph 5:

People who believe abortion is not morally wrong argue that the fetus should not necessarily be considered a person with the right to life.

• This is wrong because the collection of human cells that is the fetus, if given the opportunity to grow, eventually becomes a complete human being.
• The beginning of human life should be considered to be at conception.
• A conceived human should be allowed to see out their life.

Paragraph 6:

The pro-choice group argues that pregnant women have moral rights too and that these rights may override the right of the fetus to live.

• This argument fails to acknowledge that the moral rights of one human being should not deny another human being their moral rights.
• Both the woman and fetus’ rights should be respected.

Abortion is absolutely wrong and no arguments can justify its morality or legality. It kills innocent human beings before they can develop and experience life. It also causes untold pain and suffering to an innocent fetus. It further increases tolerance to killing.

Argumentative Essay against Abortion Example 2

People across the world have strong opinions for and against abortion. Those who argue for its legalization fall under the “pro-choice” group while those who oppose its legalization are under the “pro-life” group. Even after the practice was declared a fundamental human right in the United States by the  Roe v. Wade  Supreme Court case, the debate about it is still going on in the country. According to pro-choice arguments, all women should enjoy abortion as a human right and no religious and/or government authorities should take that away from them. On the other hand, pro-life brigade argue that abortion immorally murders innocent human beings since the life of a human being begins at fertilization. This paper argues that abortion is wrong and should not be legalized since its disadvantages far outweigh its advantages, if any.

The major reason why abortion is wrong is because it is wrong to condemn an innocent human being to murder.  Human life begins once they are conceived  and this implies that at whatever stage a pregnancy may be terminated, an innocent being would have been killed. The fetus is in itself a human being and should be allowed to grow and be born and live their life to the fullest. As pointed out by Kaczor (2014), a fetus has a unique genetic code and thus it is a unique individual person. It is a potential human being with a future just like people who are already born. It would be wrong to destroy their future on the account of being killed through abortion.

Abortion is also wrong because it is wrong to deliberately cause pain. Whatever process is used to secure an abortion subjects the developing human to untold suffering before they eventually die. By 18 weeks, a fetus has undergone sufficient development to feel pain (Meyers, 2010). Thus, aborting it would be the same as physically attacking an innocent person and causing them fatal physical bodily harm. Under normal circumstances, such an attack would attract condemnation and the person or people involved would be punished accordingly as per the law. This is the exact same way abortion should be viewed and treated. It should be legally prohibited and those who do it should be punished for causing pain on an innocent person.

Further, abortion increases tolerance of killing and this is a wrong precedence being created for the human race. Just as Kershnar (2017) warns, to legalize abortion and to view it as being right is like to legalize killing and see nothing wrong with it. The respect people have for human life would be reduced if killing was legalized. It would be wrong and detrimental to reduce society’s respect for human life as it may result in increased murder rates, genocide, and euthanasia. Just like such measures as vaccination and illegalization of murder are taken to preserve human life, prohibiting abortion should be considered an important way of increasing human respect for life. Society should not tolerate killing in whatever form and should discourage it through every available opportunity.

Another detrimental effect of abortion is that it can seriously harm a woman’s body and in some cases lead to the death of that woman. It yields both anticipated physical side effects as well as potentially more serious complications. Some of the side effects a woman is likely to experience after securing an abortion include bleeding and spotting, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and cramping and abdominal pain. Worse is that these side effects can continue occurring two to four weeks after the procedure is completed (“Possible Physical Side Effects,” 2019). In other instances, a woman may experience serious complications that may even threaten her life as a result of having an abortion. These complications may include damage to other body organs, perforation of the uterus, the uterine wall sustaining scars, the cervix being damaged, sepsis or infection, and persistent or heavy bleeding. In the worst case scenario, a woman undergoing the abortion process might lose her life instantly (“Possible Physical Side Effects,” 2019). While such cases are rare, it is still not sensible to expose a woman to these experiences. A practice that has the potential to endanger human life in this manner should be considered wrong both legally and morally. It is the responsibility of individuals to care for and not expose their lives to harm.

People who believe abortion is not morally wrong argue that the fetus should not necessarily be considered a person who has the right to life. They hold that the fetus is just a collection of human cells and thus does not deserve the express right to live (Bailey, 2011). This argument is misinformed because the fact is that this collection of human cells that is the fetus, if given the opportunity to grow, eventually becomes a complete human being. This is why the beginning of human life should be considered to be at conception and not at birth or after some time after conception. A conceived human should be allowed to see out their life and only die naturally.

Another argument by the pro-choice group is that pregnant women have moral rights too and that these rights may override the right of the fetus to live under certain circumstances. These rights, according to this argument, include the right to take decision without legal or moral interference, the right to decide one’s own future, the right to ownership of one’s own body, and the right to life (Bailey, 2011). This argument fails to acknowledge that the moral rights of one human being should not deny another human being their moral rights. Even in cases where carrying a pregnancy to delivery would endanger the life of a pregnant woman, the fetus should be separated from the mother and be allowed to grow through such other mechanisms as being placed in an incubator.

Abortion is absolutely wrong and no arguments can justify its morality or legality. It kills innocent human beings before they can develop and experience life. It also causes untold pain and suffering to an innocent fetus. It further increases tolerance to killing, a precedence that would make people throw away their respect to human life and kill without a second thought. Even worse is that the practice exposes aborting women to serious bodily harm and could even claim their lives. Those who do not consider the fetus as a moral person who deserves to live are wrong because upon complete development, the fetus indeed becomes a human being. Similarly, those who feel the moral rights of a pregnant woman should override those of the fetus ignore the fact that both the woman and the fetus are human beings with equal rights.

Bailey, J. (2011).  Abortion . New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Kaczor, C. (2014).  The ethics of abortion: women’s rights, human life, and the question of justice . New York, NY: Routledge.

Kershnar, S. (2017).  Does the pro-life worldview make sense?: Abortion, hell, and violence against abortion doctors . New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Meyers, C. (2010).  The fetal position: a rational approach to the abortion issue . Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

“Possible Physical Side Effects after Abortion”. (2019). In  American Pregnancy Association , Retrieved July 5, 2020.

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Argumentative Social Media

This essay about creating an effective hook for an argumentative essay explores various strategies to engage readers from the outset. It emphasizes the importance of the hook in making a strong first impression and sustaining the reader’s interest throughout the essay. The essay describes several techniques for crafting a compelling hook, including the use of personal anecdotes, startling statistics, rhetorical questions, and poignant quotes from well-known figures. Each method is designed to draw readers into the conversation, making them eager to explore the argument further. The essay underscores the significance of understanding both the topic and the audience to tailor the hook accordingly, ensuring it is both relevant and thought-provoking.

How it works

Starting off an argumentative essay with the right hook is a bit like landing the first punch in a friendly boxing match: it needs to be strong, surprising, and strategic, making sure to grab your reader’s attention and keep them engaged. Think of your hook as the first taste of a meal—it should be delicious enough to intrigue the diner and make them crave more. Let’s break down how to concoct a hook that does just that.

Let’s say you’re writing about the impact of climate change on local communities.

You might kick off with something personal and vivid: “Last year, the rising sea levels turned the streets of my childhood beach town into a wistful underwater museum.” This isn’t just another climate statistic—it’s a snapshot of life altered by environmental change, inviting the reader to view a global issue through a deeply personal lens.

If personal anecdotes aren’t quite right for your topic, striking statistics can do wonders. They throw hard facts into the mix right from the get-go, setting a foundation that’s hard to ignore. For instance, if you’re discussing digital privacy, you might start with, “Imagine waking up to find out that 70% of the apps on your phone could be peeking into your personal life without your clear consent.” It’s a statistic, but it’s also a call to arms, nudging the reader to think about their personal stakes in a broader debate.

Rhetorical questions can also be a dynamite choice. They pull readers into a state of reflection, urging them to ponder the essay’s subject matter before you’ve even presented your argument. An essay on the ethics of animal testing might begin with, “What if the price of your favorite lipstick was not just a few dollars, but a few animal lives as well?” It’s provocative, pushing readers to consider the moral dimensions of everyday choices.

And let’s not underestimate the power of a good quote. A well-chosen line from a notable figure can lend credibility and set the stage for your argument. Opening your discussion on civil liberties with a quote like Benjamin Franklin’s, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” frames your argument within a historical context, challenging readers to consider their own values in light of past wisdom.

Ultimately, the secret sauce to crafting an irresistible hook is knowing your topic and your audience well. It’s about sparking curiosity and framing your argument in a way that’s impossible to ignore. Whether you use an anecdote, a startling fact, a rhetorical question, or a poignant quote, your opening should make the reader not just want but need to read on. After all, the best conversations start with a great opening line, and your essay deserves nothing less.

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