Compromise

The debate on abortion will continue whether it is legal or not. It is a topic that everyone has an opinion on but there is no real consensus on a solution. The best option to appease both sides is to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. If we can increase the availability of contraception and implement more sex education for the public at large we may be able to make a dent in the current abortion rate. There also needs to be early pregnancy screening and adequate prenatal care to prevent pregnancy-related complications and to increase the health of the babies in utero. These measures combined would be steps in the right direction for pro-life and pro-choice advocates. The ultimate goal of pro-choice activists isn’t to promote abortion but to protect the right to a safe and legal means to terminate a pregnancy if need be, while pro-life supporters want to protect life at all stages of development. Preventative education, increased prenatal care, and widespread contraception would meet the objectives of both groups by limiting abortions and preserving unborn lives. This topic goes beyond the argument of abortion itself and enters the realm of women’s rights and reproductive freedom.

No matter what steps we take, abortions due to unwanted pregnancies will continue to occur as well as abortions related to legitimate medical complications (i.e. fetal anomalies and other pregnancy-related health issues). What we do have the ability to accomplish is reducing the overall rate of abortions by the above mentioned measures. These cases require the legal option of abortion to protect women’s health and their reproductive rights. Reversing Roe v. Wade would be a step backwards for our country, forcing women to have illegal and risky procedures performed often at the cost of their own lives.