Legalizing abortion in Philadelphia.

The controversial issue surrounding the abortion debate has raised concern that demands
critical analysis on whether women should have the right to terminate the pregnancy or not.
Abortion is not a new topic but it has been an ending debate for many decades not only in
Philadelphia but also across the globe. Today, no single social-related problem that prompts
arguments more than the abortion debate. The recent policy and legal changes, as well as
increased advanced medical technology in the health care sector, are among the aspects
contributing to the centrality of this debate. Thus, this study attempts to offer insight into the
negative and positive implications of abortion in the state. The topic is of great significance
because it seeks to find answers to this provocative issue in order to determine if abortion should
remain legal or the state should abolish it. Although there have been many arguments for and
against the legalization of abortion in Philadelphia, abortion has reduced crime rates, unsafe
abortions practices and lessened maternal rates for women in need of abortion services, as well
as enhanced their reproductive health.
Arguments
Several arguments have risen from different scholars including legal experts and health
and religious leaders among other concerned professionals regarding the legalization of abortion

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in Philadelphia. Abortion is already legal in Philadelphia but still, there is an on-going debate
with pro-choice supporting it and pro-life demanding the abolition of this law. Hence, the main
argument section seeks to answer the research question of “what have been the positive and
negative impacts of the legalization of abortion in Philadelphia?” In this way, it will help the
target audience to weigh both sides and determine whether the state government should eliminate
this policy or not. Despite the controversial status and state differences in regulations, unsafe
abortions have reduced in Philadelphia and women in need of it are now able to make effective
reproductive rights of their health.
Legalization of abortion in Philadelphia has been a positive thing; thus, the city and state
should leave it to remain legal due to varied reasons. First, legalization of abortion where
necessary would reduce unsafe abortions and help health care providers, as well as women in
need of it, to reach a concise arrangement concerning reproductive health. Most women that are
at risk of losing their lives due to ectopic pregnancy and fetal deformity are likely to benefit from
legal abortion. Ectopic pregnancy commonly known as tubal pregnancy is one of the life-
threatening pregnancies that affects 1 out of 50 women across the U.S (Haney 31). However,
many women have benefited from safe abortion by terminating this pregnancy; thus saving them
from risks of losing their lives.
Secondly, the legalization of abortion saves women from the danger of conducting unsafe
abortion practices. Even if the city and state make abortion illegal, women will still practice it
especially in case of rape and unwanted pregnancies. Prohibiting abortion is going against the
rights of women and barring those that are in need of these services. Most pregnant women do
not necessarily practice abortion without a reason. Some of them require it for health and
economic reasons, such as the need for a healthy life and balancing the number of children that

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they are able to raise (PA Pro-Life Federation, 2019). A thematic research analysis conducted on
the restriction of abortion laws in Texas found that this policy led to considerable implications on
the health of women and adversely affected public health (Fuentes et al. 292). Hence, denying
women the rights over their bodies by forcing them to have children that they do not want may
affect their psychological well-being and pose challenges to the public health care system.
Lastly, legalizing abortion has positive consequences of reducing crime-related issues.
The logic behind this impact is simple because the less the population, the better economy and
ultimately reduced crime rates. Experts that supports the legalization of abortion have linked
abortion laws with lower crime rates. Since 20 years of abortion law after the landmark ruling of
Roe vs. Wade in the Supreme Court in the U.S, the number of illegal unsafe abortion and crime
rate have decreased immensely (Donohue and Steven 379). Although this case was about the
reproductive of women over their bodies, it provided a new perspective on crime reduction.
Crime began to stabilize in 1998 and the quality of living and life births began to increase
steadily (Donohue and Steven 380). Hence, this argument makes sense women need legal
abortion services to make the decision of raising the number of children they can manage to feed
clothe, and offer shelter.
However, those who are against abortion policy claim that legalization of abortion is
morally wrong because it is akin to murder and may pose future health risks to the murder. Most
religious experts argue that abortion is ethically wrong and they use the phrase that only God is
the giver and taker of life. They further claim that life begins from conception stage and nobody
should cause harm to human life. They argue that terminating a fetus is like involving in murder.
Nonetheless, some argue that legalizing abortion might pose health complications especially side
effects, such as excessive bleedings, perforation of the uterus and other serious complications

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(Haney 31). The objection on this case is that since something is alive, that does not mean that it
has a right; thus morally unjustifiable.
Conclusion
Abortion is not a new subject in Philadelphia because it is already a legal policy but this
topic is undeniably difficult for one to discuss. Abortion is a provocative matter that has evolved
for many years in history since the U.S Supreme court case of Roe vs. Wade. It is a tough time
for the city and state trying to make this long historical case happen. There have been different
opinions from legal, health, policy and religious leaders with differing opinions about the stances
that the state could have taken regarding this subject. There are those who argue that abortion
should be illegal and the government should abolish it. Nonetheless, despite the divisive issues
and the state differences in this law, legalization of abortion has had positive consequences on
women in need. It has enhanced their health due to the reduction of unsafe abortion and helped
those with life-threatening pregnancies to access to safe health services. It has also reduced
crimes rates and enabled women to raise the number of children that they are able to raise
without economic strain. As a result, it is clear that the good consequences of legalizing abortion
outweigh the bad ones; thus, it should remain legal.

Works Cited

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Donohue, John J., and Steven D. Levitt. “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime.” The
Quarterly Journal of Economics 116.2 (2001): 379-420.
Fuentes, Liza, et al. “Women’s experiences Seeking Abortion Care Shortly after the Closure Of
Clinics Due To a Restrictive Law in Texas.” Contraception 93.4 (2016): 292-297.
Haney, Johannah. The Abortion Debate: Understanding the Issues. Enslow Publishing, LLC,
2009.
Richards, Esther. “The Catholic Church and Reproductive Health and Rights in Timor-Leste:
Contestation, Negotiation and Cooperation.” Culture, Health and Sexuality 17.3 (2015):
343-358.
PA Pro-Life Federation. The Law on Abortion in Pennsylvania: A Fact Sheet of the PA Pro-Life
Federation. Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. 2019. https://www.paprolife.org/pa-
abortion-law (Accessed 13 December, 2019).