Did you know that right now in the United States, women's choice about what to do with their own bodies in matters of reproduction could be taken away from them? Although controversial, abortion is a medical procedure that allows a woman to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. This is usually done during the first trimester, the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Abortion has been legal since 1973, after the Roe v. Wade court case. This Supreme Court case struck down all U.S. state laws restricting women's access to abortion procedures during the first trimester of pregnancy and during the second trimester in an emergency. It seems that abortion should be legal because women should be free to choose what to do with their bodies and there are various circumstances in which the procedure can be a good, but difficult, choice for a girl or woman. Abortion was illegal before 1973 except when the mother's life was in danger, but that did not mean the procedure was unavailable. This simply meant that abortion was carried out in secret and was more dangerous and harmful to the baby and the woman. If women wanted an abortion, they found illegal abortionists. These illegal practitioners were untrained and performed the procedure without medical equipment, often in unsanitary environments. Complications can occur with abortions even today when performed by professionals, but back then, when they were performed in secret, complications were common. At the time, an abortion could result in the death of the mother or harm to the surviving baby; but it was a risk many were willing to take. Five thousand women died each year from abortion before Roe v. Wade, but the number of deaths per 100,000...... middle of paper ...... adopted, he will grow up without a mother or father and not have the life he deserves. How is it better than abortion if the child is alive but unhappy? Overall, women should be able to choose what they want to do with their own bodies. Even if you don't believe abortion should be legal, a woman in a different situation might think differently and have different needs. She may have a strong reason, such as rape or incest, or a medical reason why she would suffer terrible harm due to her pregnancy. The world should not return to the days of illegal abortion, where five thousand women died every year because of illegal and unsafe abortions. Ultimately, all lawmakers should think twice before rolling back abortion and understand how this rollback would take away a woman's rights and what she would suffer if access to abortion was not available or was very limited..