Abortion should remain legal in the United States

I look forward to a very exciting debate on a very heated and touchy subject. Thanks for the challenge. “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother. ” ― Margaret SangerSafety issues- Abortion should be made as safe as possible, considering it will always be around. “Throughout history, women have had unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. And throughout history, women have found ways to terminate those pregnancies. But what has not always been guaranteed is whether they can do so legally, with the medical care necessary to protect their health–or if they must seek illegal, "back-alley" abortions. In the years just before abortion became legal in 1973, hospital wards were filled with women seeking abortions–who either had been injured or become sick obtaining an illegal abortion under dangerous conditions, or who had tried to induce the abortion themselves. Desperate women used a number of dangerous means to terminate pregnancies. Some sought abortions from back-alley abortionists, with usually humiliating and sometimes deadly results. Other women tried to induce abortions with homemade means–such as a bleach douche, or inserting sharp instruments into her cervix. This is why the now almost forgotten image of the wire coat hanger became the symbol of the abortion rights movement. ”[1] "In Chicago, at Cook Country Hospital, there were about 5,000 women a year coming in with injuries bleeding resulting to illegal abortions, mostly self-induced abortions," Leslie Reagan, the author of When Abortion Was a Crime, said in an interview. "They had an entire ward dedicated to taking care of people in that situation. Those wards pretty much closed up around the country once abortion was legalized. "[1] Human Rights Issue- Women should be in control of their birthing rights. "The right to abortion, both concretely and ideologically, symbolized a control of one’s body," explains Cohen. "If one couldn’t make decisions oneself about whether you wanted to be pregnant–what to do if you got pregnant when you didn’t want to be pregnant–you couldn’t control your life. You couldn’t control what was going to happen to you–where you could get resources to take care of yourself and your children, you couldn’t finish school, you couldn’t get the jobs you wanted…They’re the ones who have the capacity and have always had the responsibility to think about the consequences of pregnancy and childbirth, and make decisions. That’s actually a moral responsibility and duty women have always had, and taken quite seriously. That kind of history comes out a lot more into the public in the ’60s and with the legalization of abortion. " [1] Democracy demands it- The US has an overwhelming majority of those who are support Roe V Wade. In a poll of 1,007 voters, one third of the pro-life voters voiced their opinion that Roe V Wade should not be overturned—showing that one can be pro-life and pro-choice. “Quinnipiac University’s annual voter survey shows that supporters of the landmark Supreme Court ruling now outnumber opponents by a two-to-one margin. Some 64% voiced support for Roe v. Wade in last year’s poll, up from 60% in 2010. Only 31% said they opposed the Roe decision, down from 35% two years earlier. ”[2] Another poll by The Pew confirms the large majority at 63% support for Roe V Wade. [3] [1] . http://www.counterpunch.org... [2] . http://tv.msnbc.com... [3] . http://www.reuters.com...