Why should abortion be legal?

Denying women choice can

lead to poverty
Almost exactly 45 years ago, the US supreme court recognized the right to abortion
as law of the land. But abortion rights never really stopped being under threat.

The latest move against them comes from the government’s tax bill of 2017, which
uses the label “unborn child” for fetuses, a terminology coming straight from anti-
abortion advocacy that recognizes personhood before birth, opening the way to
criminalizing abortion.

This is something that especially penalizes lower-income women. In 2013, an

important study of nearly 1,000 women surveyed the most common reasons to lead to
an abortion. Be it a single mother who “didn’t have money to buy a baby spoon,” or
the unemployed wife of an unemployed man who didn’t “want to go back to living
with other people,” financial reasons were the most commonly cited by women who
sought abortions, followed by it not being the right time to have a baby, and reasons
related to the partner (who might be absent, unsupportive, or abusive).

A new study published today in the American Journal of Public Health provides
important evidence to expand this claim, showing opposing abortion harms the poor,
not just because it’s often lower-income women who decide to get abortions, but
because being denied an abortion is linked to long-term consequences.

The research, led by Diana Greene Foster, the director of research in gynaecology at
the Brixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, at the University of California in
San Francisco was conducted on 813 women who requested an abortion in 30 clinics
across the US between 2008 and 2010. The researchers recorded these women’s
socioeconomic situation for five years after being offered or denied the procedure—
for the first time in the US, Foster explained to Quartz, the study looked at the links
between abortion and economic outcomes, not preconditions.
The participants—over half of the whom already lived below the poverty line—were
divided in four groups: Those who received an abortion at the first trimester; those
who did around limit gestational age; those who were turned away from the facilities
but did not end up giving birth, having found access to abortion elsewhere or suffered
miscarriages; and those who ended up having a child.

The findings painting a very different picture of the lives of women who were denied
the abortion and ended up giving birth compared to the others. Even accounting for
baseline differences, the authors of the study write, they “found large and statistically
significant differences in the socioeconomic trajectories of women who were denied
wanted abortions compared with women who received abortions,” in that those who
gave birth against their will suffered more economical hardship than the other groups.

Although the majority of women were already living in poverty when entering the
study, carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term was associated with a fourfold
increase of the likelihood to be living below the federal poverty life.
Women who didn’t manage to have an abortion and gave birth were also less likely to
have full-time employment, and more likely to be completely out of a job.
 IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT
 Thesis Statement :

The denial of abortion practice could lead women to poverty

 Supporting Arguments:
1. Abortion rights never really stopped being under threat
2. Criminalization against abortion heavily penalizes lower-income women
3. Being denied an abortion is linked to long-term consequences.
4. Women who were denied wanted abortions compared with women who
received abortions, in that those who gave birth against their will suffered
more economical hardship than the other groups.

 Backing Facts:
1. Socioeconomic Outcomes of Women Who Receive and Women Who Are
Denied Wanted Abortions in the United States. (2017)
 SUMMARY ANALYSIS
(Introduction)
“Why should abortion be legal? Denying women choice can lead to
poverty” is an article from www.quartz.com that discusses about why abortion
should be legal and argues mainly about the financial impacts caused by
abortion. By citing a study that was led by Diana Greene Foster from the
Brixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. The article also states that
women who didn’t manage to abort and gave birth were less likely to have a
full time employment, and more likely to be fired. And earns less than women
who manage to abort, women who carried unwanted pregnancy also had a
fourfold increase of the likelihood to be living below the federal poverty life.

(Body 1)
The author stated that criminalizing abortion penalizes heavily upon
lower-income women. The author provides the data from an important study
in 2013 that surveys the most common reason that leads to an abortion. Based
on my understanding, i agree with the author about criminalizing abortion
penalizes heavily upon lower-income women. Because by criminalizing
abortion, lower-income women would have no choice but to work double the
effort to ensure her basic needs and her unborn or born child needs to be
fullfiled, which is really stresfull.

(Body 2)
The author stated that the poverty ratio between the lives on women
who were unable to abort and end up giving birth are very significant
compared to women who aborted, I personally agree with the author because
based on the data provided by Diana Greene Foster’s team research, the ratio
of household income is significantly different between woman who manage to
abort and who don’t, with women who abort had 2000$ monthly income
compared to 1500$ monthly income from women who gave birth,

(Body 3)
 Tbe author also said that women who gave birth against her will
suffered more economical hardships than others, And once again I agreed with
the author because the mother of the child would be overwhelmed with her
significant increase of her duty and responsibilities. The study from Diana
Greene Foster also found that carrying an unwanted pregnancy leads to a
fourfold increase of likelihood to be living below the poverty line.

(Conclusion)
In conclusion, the argumentations that are provided by the author and
based on my personal understandings and scientific data provided. Abortions
should not be criminalized although it may not be always the best option. But
to some, especially to victims of rape and incest or unwanted pregnancies.
Abortion might be their best option because forcing birth to a baby you don’t
want or can’t handle isn’t a great idea as well. There might be another
alternatives besides abortion, but the option to abort should always be
available to every women.