It is nearly impossible to find someone who does not have an opinion on the issue of abortion, and usually his or her opinion is very strong. When people debate on the issue of abortion they become frustrated, and tend to become even more committed to their position, of pro-life or pro-choice. Both sides of the issue make good cases; an unwanted child is a horrible thing and yet the thought of terminating something that, if left to nature, would become a person is a thought not even the hardest heart could bear to think about. So where is the argument? Those who are pro-choice say that the decision of aborting an unwanted child should be left to the mother; otherwise it is an infringement of her rights. On the other hand, pro-lifers would say that abortion is murder of an unborn child and that it is infringing upon the rights of that child. Still, if one studied all aspects of abortion, such as the history of abortion in the United States, the way a fetus develops, how ab!
             ortion affects the mother, religion, and laws dealing with abortion, he or she would find that, in fact, abortion is murder.
             The definition of abortion in the 1995 edition of the Encyclopedia is the termination of a pregnancy by loss or destruction of a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus before birth. A spontaneous abortion, also called a miscarriage, happens naturally. Most often the term abortion refers to induced abortion, which is intentional termination of a pregnancy prior to the time a fetus contains the capacity to live outside of the womb. Looking back in history, one will find that ancient cultures practiced abortion. The methods used to abort an unwanted child were cruel and harmful to the mother so they were scarcely used. The typical method was to poison the mother or physically abuse her abdomen. However, the most common method of dealing with an unwanted child, throughout history, was infanticide, which is killing the infant outside of the...