In 1955, the anthropologist George Devereux demonstrated that abortion had been practiced in almost all-human communities from the earliest times. The patterns of abortion use, in hundreds of societies around the world since before recorded history, have been strikingly similar (Devereux). The 1800's brought and era of change; people began to turn their attention in a new direction the fetus. They began to protest abortion as cruel, inhumane, and murderous. Filled with a new sense of purpose and the glory of a fresh righteous cause to uphold this new morality swept the countryside enveloping almost everyone in its wake (Prentice17).

Abortion is an extremely complex and highly debated public issue that has consumed much of the American social a

Roe v. Wade is the landmark case that legalized abortions for women all over the United States. Norma McCorvey was divorced, poor, and a single parent and felt she couldn't support another child. Her doctor told McCorvey that she couldn't have an abortion in Texas, because according to the state law, abortion was only legal if her life was endanger. Ms. McCorvey decided to lie about her circumstances, making up a story about being raped by four people, in hopes of obtaining an abortion (Terkel 13). She filed class action suit against Henry Wade, the District Attorney in Dallas, in an effort to prevent him from enforcing the Texas State anti-abortion statute on the grounds that it violated the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court finally rendered its decision in January 22, 1973, in a seven to two ruling, voting that the right to privacy included abortion (Terkel 14,15). The decision affected every state; some states had to rewrite because of moderate standards, while others anti-abortion had to rewrite to conform to the national standards. Roe v. Wade often is misrepresented by some as giving women the right to terminate their pregnancy for any reason through their nine months. This is not so; the decision held that a woman has the right to choose abortion until fetal viability. It's suppose to be an equal balance of the right of a woman to choose and the interests of the states in protecting potential life in later stages.

There are now many ways to get your opinion to others or to find information about an issue. This is one of the main ways that pro-choice and pro-life groups get their message to others. There are at least thousands of abortion websites and pages. Pro-life and pro-choice groups have the common goal of minimizing the number of abortions, but have different approaches to accomplishing this goal. Pro-lifers believe that pregnancy starts at conception, while pro-choicers believe it starts at birth. Pro-life groups are active heavily at the state level and have successfully influenced legislators and governors into creating many laws that restrict abortion. Today opponents of choice have tremendous power. They hold the balance of power in the United States Congress. Anti-choice lawmakers have used appropriations process to restrict access to reproductive health care. Pro-life groups note that ninety-three percent of women faced with an unexpected pregnancy consider only two choices: keeping the child or aborting (Emmens 31). What pro-choice supporters have on their side is the Roe v. Wade decision, which gives them a big advantage over pro-life. Pro-life does not advocate abortion over birth- they simply defend the right of women to choose for themselves.

In recent events in the 2000 Presidential Elections Al Gore and George W. Bush were asked to talk about their abortion views. George W. Bush (Republican) said pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. He wants to set the goal that all children should be welcomed in life and protected by law. He also supports restrictions such as parental notification, no use of taxpayer funds for abortion and a ban on partial birth abortion. He also feels states should have the right to enact reasonable laws and restrictions particularly to the inhumane practice of ending a life that otherwise could live. When he got to office a bipartisan group of law makers mounted a drive in the House and Senate to overturn the new Bush administration policy on international family planning assistance, which they argue is counter productive and cruel (February 15, 2001). The issue is an order President Bush signed on his third day in office, re-imposing the "Mexico City Policy." The policy bans federal aid to organizations that use their own money to perform or "actively promote" abortions, whether through counseling, public information campaigns, or lobbying to legalize abortion.

The earliest laws that dealt specifically

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)