Source+2

Lee, M., & Sprague, N. (2011). //Point: Abortion Is a Women's Health Issue and Should Be a Constitutional Right.// Retrieved May 7, 2012, from EBSCO Industries, Inc.

1. Abortion did not become legal in the United States until 1973.

2. Before 1973, a few states did have legal abortion, but then it was only allowed when the woman's health was at risk.

3. It was decided in Roe v. Wade that anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional.

4. This court case changed the way Americans viewed abortion; they began to see it less of killing a human being and more of an integral part of women's right to privacy.

5. This right to privacy is similar to others, such as the right of Americans to refuse medical care.

6. When abortion is banned, statistical evidence proves that women will turn to unsafe alternatives when faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

7. These unsafe alternatives include going to unprofessional abortion providers or even attempting at preforming the procedure themselves.

8. These unsafe alternatives have many health implications, including infertility, infection, hemorrhages, and inflammation.

9. Of the 20 million unsafe abortions that take place worldwide, 78,000 result in maternal death.

10. Even if abortion is only legal under certain circumstances, doctors may still not be properly trained in the safest, most modern techniques that are most beneficial to the mother's health.

11. Many times, abortion accessibility discriminates against lower-class women.

12. Poorer women may not have the economic means that are needed in order to pay for a safe, legal abortion.

13. The Hyde Amendment, which was passed in 1976, limited the abortion funding for only special cases, including rape and incest.

14. Mifepristone is an abortion-inducing drug that anti-abortion activists are pushing to be removed from the market due to its effectiveness.

15. Only sixty percent of pregnancies worldwide are planned.