One Key Issue

In order to better understand the issue at hand it is important to look not only at the basic arguments of the abortion debate but the history that surrounds the topic. Answer.com defines abortion clearly as the "Termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus that is incapable of survival." Abortion, in one form or another, has been an option for women for centuries and has sparked debate within every decade since it's introduction into society. The earliest known evidence of abortion practices dates back to 2600 BC. Since then it has been a topic of religious and political debate within various cultures. In the 4th century A.D. St. Augustine addressed the issue, stating that, within the catholic faith, abortions were only acceptable if performed within a specific time frame after conception. Fast forward a few centuries and we see a more political side of the debate as Great Britain took legal action to outlaw abortion in 1803. It wasn't until almost two decades later, however,that any legal action was taken in the United States regarding the debate.
The united States has it's own complicated history of actions and opinions surrounding the abortion issue. In 1821 Connecticut outlawed abortions after the "quickening" of any pregnancy. By 1860 twenty different states had passed laws restricting the practice. Shortly after these acts of legislature, however, America embarked on a steady journey towards a shift in it's views of abortion. Where abortion had always been practiced in some realms of society, it had not always been accepted in main stream culture. Previous to this shift, abortion had been a shameful secret, but after the shift it became, to many, an understandable alternative. Pro-choice sentiments grew in the United States and eventually legislature began to reflect these ideas. abortion was completely legalized on January 22, 1973 in the Supreme court ruling of Roe vs Wade. (For a clearer and more specific explanation of the history of abortion in America. Please check out Abort73.)
Previous to the infamous Roe vs Wade ruling, abortion laws had been a matter of state legislation. The ruling made it so that no state could outlaw a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. Abortion became completely legal everywhere in the United States. If the topic wasn't controversial already, the Roe vs. Wade decision really polarized public opinion. The issue became even more divisive than whether Abortion was ethical or not. It became a matter of whether or not the federal government should be involved in the issue at all. Would it have been o.k. for the court to have decided the opposite, and outlawed abortion everywhere? Pro-abortionists argue no, not at all. Some anti-abortionists argue that it would be because abortion is morally wrong and therefore should be outlawed just as murder is. Others, however, argue that although they disagree with abortion, they also disagree with using the government to deny people the right to choose in such a personal decision. Ultimately I believe it comes down to one key issue: determining at what point life begins. If life begins at conception, then abortion is, in fact, murder. If abortion is murder, then the federal government has every right to uphold federal restraints against the act. It's been argued that abortion shouldn't be made illegal because women will resort to unsafe illegal abortion methods which are potentially traumatic to their own health. If abortion is murder, however, the government still has a moral obligation to hold certain ethical standards, such as the preservation of life, regardless of whether the citizens follow them. Even if it can not be confirmed that life begins at conception, aborting a fetus is, at the very least, taking away the potential for a human life. We must consider at what value we hold the possibility of being. There are those that would say this "possibility's" rights to be, should not overshadow the right of a woman to "choose." What if the woman's life was at stake for the sake of preventing the abortion of a "possibility?" In that instance, where the definition of the fetus is unclear, perhaps the government should not make abortion illegal. Perhaps abortion should merely be tolerated by the government and the decision be left to the discretion of the mother and situation. It all depends how the fetus is classified: alive...or not alive yet?