I promise everyone who reads this that this is my own essay. I actually wrote it for a school paper in high school and received a 98%. I did not include the works cited page, however I have included the names and pages of books, etc. If you want any more information, I'm assuming there's a way to contact me and ask for it.

Women and Abortion
In the early 1960's, Texas laws stated that a woman could get an abortion only in a life-or-death situation. Because of that law, 149 out of 150 abortions were performed illegally (Herda 13). But two young lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, both fresh out of law school, were determined to change that. They met with a young woman, Norma McCorvey, who wanted an abortion, but could not get one because of the law. After hearing McCorvey's story, Weddington and Coffee knew she was their plaintiff, the complaining party in a lawsuit. The two lawyers decided now was the time to go to court. On January 22, 1973, three years after Weddington and Coffee started their fight on abortion, the U.S. Supreme Court found the Texas law banning abortion unconstitutional. As a result, a woman should always have the right to decide whether or not to have an abortion. A woman who decides to have an abortion is not making a selfish decision. A woman also has the right to get an abortion if she is a victim of rape. Some people believe that abortion is murder and some believe that parental consent laws are necessary for under-age abortions.

It is not a selfish act for a woman to get an abortion. Merle Hoffman says, "Abortion is a mother's act. It is an act of sacrifice, love, power, and necessity..." (Bender and Leone eds. "Abortion Is" 55). Pregnancy is a great joy to some women, but an emotionally and physically stressful time for others. Some women cannot handle the emotional stress that pregnancy puts on them and that makes them very harmful to themselves and their unborn children. For example, say a woman knows that she cannot provide the necessary care for her unborn baby. By getting an abortion, she is showing that she cares too much for her baby to let him be born into a world that will look down upon him. The woman could have the baby and give him up for adoption, but that is not a very good alternative to abortion because there is a chance that her baby would not find a loving home. How could anyone say a child is better off to be born and not have a home or loving family, than to be aborted and thus not have to go through

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