Abortion is a complicated topic that has various sides for analysis and argument to support or criticize. Therefore, it is essential to develop a strong abortion thesis statement to reflect the complex nature of the topic and state your position. We have gathered some helpful examples for you, backing them up with a sample essay on abortion that you can use as a source for inspiration.

 

Examples of Thesis Statement about Abortion

Example 1: Feministic view on abortion support

Abortion refers to the right of a woman to treat her body in the way she considers the most appropriate; therefore, it is for a woman, not her partner or state, to decide whether she wants to leave the pregnancy or terminate it.

Example 2: Religious view against abortion

The majority of religions consider abortion a sin: each life is a precious divine intention, so people cannot decide whether to terminate it or not.

Example 3: Basic argumentative essay

Abortion should be allowed in all countries as it allows women to receive professional help in case they wish to terminate the pregnancy, decreases the social suppression of abortion, and prevents the increase of the number of children raised in a negative environment.

Example 4: Scientific view against abortion

As scientists cannot state precisely when life and consciousness begin, abortions cannot be held until there is proof that this procedure cannot be regarded as an act of killing.

Example 5: The middle way

Abortion cannot be fully legalized; however, it should be regarded as an accepted procedure in the early stages of pregnancy — until the 12th week.

You can also check check examples of abortion informative speech and abortion outline. 

Abortion Essay Example

The essay about abortion should not be regarded as an argumentative paper only; you can choose cause-effect paper or a descriptive one. Nevertheless, if you are interested in an argumentative abortion essay, you can check our example here.

How the World Changes its Attitude to Abortion

    The discussion about abortion is usually presented as a categorical dispute between two large groups. Some allegedly advocate preserving the fetus at all costs, regardless of the circumstances of the mother's life, others highlight freedom of choice, and abortion in this coordinate system is just another decision-making tool. Nevertheless, the public attitude towards abortion itself is not so linear - especially in communities where motherhood is no longer perceived as a "sacred duty" of a woman, and her penchant for it is not considered "laid down" by default. Therefore, this paper aims to define the way the different countries change their attitudes to abortion and trace the results of such changes.

    In some countries, such as Russia or France, the legislation on abortion remains quite liberal: the woman herself decides whether she wants to terminate the pregnancy. In Paraguay and Chile, for example, abortion can only be permitted if there is a threat to the health of the woman. Furthermore, in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Malta, abortion is prohibited in principle. Since 2011, the United States has increased its movement to ban abortion. No American state has the power to ban abortion completely, but each of them can introduce its restrictions. Wyoming, West Virginia, Missouri, Mississippi, and other states began to impose strict requirements on gynecological clinics, and they started to close. Now every year in the United States closes about ten clinics. 90% of women in the southern states live in districts where abortion is not possible. But does the attitude of society towards abortion itself remain the same against this background?

    An example of countries where, as in Poland, artificial termination of pregnancy is in most cases prohibited, shows that a legislative ban leads to an increase in the number of illegal abortions and "abortion tourism." The problem does not go away, but goes deeper underground: the inability to have an abortion is unlikely to change the financial situation of a woman and her relationship with a partner or help change the environment in which the child is to grow up.

    A study of 220 children born in Prague in 1961-1963 as a result of an unwanted pregnancy (the authors of the study make this conclusion because women applied to the commission twice for abortion permission and were denied twice), compared with 220 children whose mothers were not tried to terminate the pregnancy, showed that children from the first group were less likely to be excellent students at school, they were more often sentenced to prison terms, and they often needed psychiatric care as an adult. Of course, the coincidence of these indicators does not mean that the attitude to pregnancy was the cause of everything, and an unplanned pregnancy may well end in a conscious decision in favor of motherhood - but the importance of having a child grow up in a loving family can hardly be overestimated.

    Moreover, a ban for abortion has also created a phenomenon of abortion tourism. In 2018, Ireland lifted the ban on abortion. Now the most stringent prohibitions on abortion among European countries apply in Poland. The operation is legal only in three cases: if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or if there is a threat to the life of the mother. Approximately eighty thousand shelves per year cross the border to have an abortion abroad - most often, they travel to Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. Another state where abortion tourism is widespread is Malta. Every year, three hundred to four hundred women leave the country to terminate their pregnancy. Like the residents of Poland, they mostly choose Britain - according to the testimony of English doctors, about sixty Maltese patients come to them in a year.

    Thinking that those who support the freedom of choice encourage or promote abortion is a powerful simplification. It is more about the right of women to freely dispose of their bodies and of conscious motherhood, which is achieved primarily through sexual enlightenment and reliable contraception (in such circumstances, the need for abortion is often unnecessary). A survey by Vox showed that 18% of American respondents, when asked to decide whether they are "for life" or "for choice," say they hold both views, another 21% are not ready to choose either.

    Besides, the legal opportunity to have an abortion in practice does not always mean that a woman is free in her decisions. In the USSR, for the first time in the world, abortion was legalized at the request of a woman. However, before the widespread use of contraceptives, as in many other countries, it became almost a common occurrence in the USSR and the leading way to control fertility. Despite the prevalence of abortion, they were widely condemned, and women resorted to abortion precisely because often they had no other choice and reliable method to prevent pregnancy.

    With the advent of the right to independent reproductive choice, the attitude towards motherhood and childhood changes: people begin to more consciously treat children whom they decide to have, and not just this very possibility. Special "children's" measures introduced by modern societies also help this. Many states are changing policies regarding parental leave, introducing gender-independent "decrees" and extending the guaranteed payment for such holidays — so that both parents could be engaged in a child in the first months, it would cease to be exclusively a "female" affair, and birth the child would not have collapsed career. For example, in Sweden, the opportunity for both parents to go on maternity leave was introduced back in 1974, and in the UK similar measures appeared in 2015: the first two weeks of leave after childbirth are assigned to the mother, and the remaining 48 parents can distribute among themselves. The private business also follows the same path: in intense competition for qualified employees, both mothers and fathers are offered a flexible scheme of work and caring for the baby.

    Such incentives not only destroy false stereotypes about the distribution of roles between partners but also balance the load in the couple who decided to have a baby. Motherhood is even becoming "fashionable" in the women's community, which previously denied it, focusing on self-development, career, and the fight against the imposed canon. In a situation where staying with a child is also compensated financially (that is, absence from work does not mean her loss), young, ambitious mothers, if they wish, can afford to extend the period of breastfeeding or not immediately resort to the services of nannies.

        In 2020, women still have to fight for the right to control their bodies - but it is essential to talk about voluntary choice in both directions. Where abortion is legal, and society ceases to condemn those who resort to them, and real freedom begins: a woman can choose whether to become a mother or not, when to do it, and on what conditions. And in this sense, the desire to have children or the unwillingness to do so becomes genuinely equal.