When you hear abortion, it is associated with pro-choice or pro-life arguments, but are you truly informed on what an abortion is? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Abortion is a simple health care intervention that can be safely and effectively managed by a wide range of health workers using medication or surgical procedure (Abortion, 2024)”. The topic of abortion is so stigmatized through the pro-life and pro-choice arguments that we forget that the important concept of abortion is for everyone to have access to a safe and well-informed abortion.
Throughout history, we have seen the devastating effects that illegal abortions have caused due to the lack of access to safe abortions. With the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, we will unfortunately see how many women’s lives have been impacted by this change. There will be an upsurge of complications, including deaths, from unsafe abortions in states where abortion is illegal. According to the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, “about one in four women in the United States will have an abortion in their lifetime (“Abortion,” 2023, #301).” By analyzing access versus choice, the historical context of abortion rights, along with the procedure and its side effects, it will acknowledge the importance for women to be able to have access to a legal abortion.
Many women may have the option to seek an abortion, but there is a lack of access. Access involves the availability of trained professionals, affordability, cultural competency, and essential information. As Sister Song states, “There is no choice where there is no access.” High costs, a lack of local medical providers, and stigmas around abortion can affect marginalized groups, leading to unsafe procedures. WHO, the World Health Organization, reports that 45% of abortions globally are unsafe, with serious physical and psychological risks for women. Social and cultural beliefs can further complicate access, with certain communities facing shame and exclusion for seeking abortions. Historical context shows that when access is restricted, women often resort to dangerous alternatives, yielding high mortality rates. The Hyde Amendment has impacted marginalized communities, limiting access to safe abortion services, particularly among Native women reliant on IHS for healthcare (Smith, 2015). Before Roe v. Wade, groups like the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union provided underground abortion services, underscoring the lengths to which women will go to ensure access to safe procedures (O’Donnell, 2017). These women used the pseudonym of “Jane” and performed abortions with no medical training as a result of restricted regulations against abortions. Women found a way to create an inclusive coalition of underground abortions to create access for all women to a procedure that only white, middle-class, and upper-class women could afford.
Women must have access to safe abortions, as women will have an abortion for a variety of reasons. Women should not have to put their lives in jeopardy to obtain a human right. As Andrea Smith states, “David Stannard points out that control over women’s reproductive abilities and destruction of women and children are necessary to destroy people (Smith, 2015, 79).” Marginalized communities are the most affected without having access to a safe abortion, putting women of color’s lives in jeopardy as they must resort to obtaining an underground abortion.
In conclusion, women experience physical, emotional, and societal side effects when they have any type of abortion. Women do not have access to abortion when it is financially not affordable, no availability to clinics or abortion doctors, and when the risks outweigh the benefits. History has shown us how women will find a way, such as the “Jane” group did, to obtain an abortion. By having restrictive abortion laws, we are not protecting women, instead, we are forcing them to find illegal ways to obtain an abortion. We are forcing women to resort to extreme measures when we could legalize an accessible way to have abortions.
