The Truth about Abortion
The Bloodstained Past and the Current Controversy
Before Roe v. Wade
Before 1973, thousands of women would die seeking illegal abortions. Studies have shown that criminalizing abortion doesn't prevent it, since developing countries with anti-abortion laws have the highest abortion rates while the lowest abortion rates are in European countries where it is largely unregulated. Women had several reasons for wanting an abortion, ranging from economic instability to life-threatening conditions. But the abortions they got very often unnecessarily painful and traumatic; hospitals would more often than not had a number of patients suffering from botched abortions.
The majority of abortionists in that time weren't medical professionals would use crude methods such as puncturing the uterus with a sharp object or poisoning the mother to induce a miscarriage, often resulting in horrifying side effects. Illegal abortions happen, and they are almost always unsafe.
A Matter of Necessity
A common misconception is that women who have unplanned pregnancies are irresponsible or stupid. Most were on birth control, but a little carelessness, a small mistake, or even some bad luck can result in a pregnancy. Many methods are 97% effective or something to that extent, and people forget that those 3% exist. Of course, there are also cases where rape, incest, or mental illnesses are involved.
The Moral Dillema
However, in the second and third trimester, it begins to get more tricky. It's still quite small, but at that point it starts looking more and more like a human child. At 20 weeks, the fetus reaches the size of a banana. At that point, abortions become far more expensive and dangerous. The ones who delay it to this point are usually younger and less financially able. Younger girls often don't realize they're pregnant for months, especially since they often have irregular periods, and women on the pill don't always notice either. But luckily, only about 1.5% of abortions happen after 20 weeks, with about 70% happening during the first 12.