Abortion is indubitably a very controversial issue. When this topic is brought up, many jump to the conclusion that abortion is synonymous with murder therefore rendering it to be unjust and unethical. I'll tell you what's unethical: disregarding the rights of women to their own reproductive system is unethical. Believing that government institutions or the law should interfere with the personal lives and decisions of women is unethical. Jumping to conclusions and assuming that women who choose to get an abortion is merely irresponsible,, or heartless is a faulty logic that should be taken into further examination. I stand here before you today, to offer you a different perspective, my perspective, in hopes that you will understand or try to understand why women carry out carry out abortions, instead of solely arriving at assumptions.
  Abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures for women in the United States. Fewer than 0.5% of women obtaining abortions experience a complication, and the risk of death associated with abortion is about one-tenth that associated with childbirth. Access to a safe, legal abortion procedure is an option that all women should have. Many people tend to believe that abortion is equivalent to killing a life. In this point of view when looking at the value of a life, some may not consider the life of a women. If a woman already suffers from a chronic condition that requires medication, that medication may not be compatible with pregnancy, which means you’re asking a woman to sacrifice her own health. Demanding that women — primarily young, underprivileged women — go through pregnancy and birth is risking her life. When the value of a life comes into play, there is nothing wrong with women valuing their own lives over that of a fetus. A fetus is not living, breathing, sentient being. It is a possibility of a living thing.
And what about the women who didn't even choose to be pregnant? Women who are raped or victims of incest should not be forced to carry out a pregnancy. Odds are that 1 in 3 women will be victims of sexual violence in her lifetime. My aunt falls under the 1, in 3. As a young woman, she was a victim of rape during the atrocities of the Vietnam War had gotten an abortion. Her circumstances at the time were unfit for a child to be in. It is not fair to bring a child into a world when you lack the necessities such as money, and a safe environment for the child to have a good life.
Adoption is a popular alternative that is brought up in regards to abortion. I would like to inform you that adoption is actually not a direct alternative to abortion. It’s an alternative to parenthood. Abortion, at the most simple definition, is a form of birth control. By performing it, you prevent birth. Having an abortion in the first trimester (where 88% of them take place according to the guttmacher institute) [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html]  is VERY different from continuing the pregnancy and giving the baby up for adoption. People who don't see this” are completely ignoring the physical, financial and mental tolls of pregnancy. It is NOT easy. If you work a minimum wage job, or don’t have sick days, you probably can’t afford to take time off because of morning sickness. If you don’t have healthcare, you can’t afford nine months of prenatal appointments. If your job doesn’t have paid maternity leave, you can’t afford to take time off to recover from the birth. If you have complications and are required to go on bed rest… how would most young people afford that? How would you pay rent and bills and buy groceries if you had to stay off your feet for three months or longer? Furthermore, the mental toll of giving up a child for adoption is immense. Not only do you have to go through the physical distress of labor, you don’t get to take home a baby afterward. And you have to explain your decision to family members and friends for the rest of your life. On the other hand, abortion is a private decision that has a relatively low chance of mental health complications. It shouldn't be an issue, because the personal lives of women and what they choose to do with their own bodies, as long as it's with no intent to inflict harm, should be respected. We all have women in our lives that we respect, so why not respect their right to their own bodies?