Reproductive freedom is essential to all people in our world. Pro-Choice advocates argue, saying not only is forced pregnancy a violation of human rights, forcing people to remain pregnant against their will is infringing on our basic bodily autonomy (Shaw & Lee 361-362). A person is entitled to decide the direction of their life and shouldn’t be controlled by someone who has no access to their life, further supporting the idea of “the personal is political (Shaw & Lee 5).

At the end of it, women are faced with the tough decision to go through with an abortion for many reasons. Some of these reasons include, not being in a healthy relationship, not financially stable, not emotionally stable, failed birth control, have preexisting health conditions, conceived the child through unwanted sexual acts, they simply do not want kids, among so many other things.

In countries with abortion legalization, data shows that “9 out of 10 procedures are categorized as safe, contrasting the alarming 1 out of 4 safe procedures in countries with restricted policies" (Lenzi Miori 363). With this data, the clear picture painted is that, without safe abortion access, abortions will continue to happen, further backing up the point that those who can conceive need to have a safe place for this type of care.

Not only should women and those who can conceive children not be forced to have a child against their will, a child should not be born into a world that does not offer it protections and viability of life if the parents are incapable or without resources to offer that child the life it should deserve as well.

With the oppositions arguing points comes statements, like it’s not our body we choosing to abort, we are killing babies and women need to abstain from sex. There are also arguments framed in pro-life individuals advocating for “abstinence-only until marriage” (Shaw & Lee 365). There are a few counterarguments that can be made here, one being the double standards for women and girls to abstain from sex, while boys will be boys. There is far too much value put on virginity as a means of women preventing pregnancy, and women’s sex life in general.

In The Cult of Virginity, Valenti talks about, "I hadn't counted on the meaning my peers, my parents, and society would imbue it with on my behalf (when referencing losing her virginity)" (Valenti 299). At the end of the day, the opposition doesn’t really falter from points that are infused in fallacies. At the end of the day, pro-life groups “believe the sanctity of human life outweighs the rights of mothers" (Shaw & Lee 362). When you look at this view of thinking in relation to American birthing statistics, an additional argument can be made. Every Mother Counts makes the argument that, “The United States has higher rates of maternal deaths than 45 other countries and is the only developed country with a consistently rising maternal mortality rate” (Every Mother Counts).

The backlash results in politicians and evangelical Christians spewing propaganda to young voters trying to sway them by telling them that pro-choice people are killing babies. "Does 'pro-life' include being 'for life' of these children once they are born" (Shaw and Lee 365)? In short, no. Instead of people who are pro-life advocating for things like free healthcare, access to birth control and comprehensive sex education, propaganda is a go-to. Pro-life politicians are often the same politicians who are voting no and blocking funding for services specifically for mothers, and women in general (Shaw & Lee 365). Is paints a poor perception of what healthcare is available for people who need access and continues to shame people to keep a pregnancy they don’t want or can’t afford.

When applying the intersectionality of feminism to this debate, the issue is not women needing an abortion, but instead the infrastructure that is failing them. “We do not live in a perfect world and instead of protecting young women, these laws have been shown to have serious consequences such as illegal and self-induced abortion, family violence, and suicide” (Shaw & Lee 369). Until the government discontinues its longstanding practice of controlling women and their bodies, this will continue to happen.