Should abortion be available to everyone?

Abortion is one of the most deeply felt and divisive questions in politics and ethics. People who disagree about it are often motivated by care for others, and they often disagree about what that care requires. The question is both moral, about the status of the unborn and the rights of the pregnant woman, and political, about what the law should do.

People who support legal access to abortion, often called pro-choice, usually argue from bodily autonomy: a person has the right to decide what happens to their own body, including whether to continue a pregnancy. They add that banning abortion does not end it but can make it unsafe, that circumstances such as health risks, rape, poverty or family situation can be grave, and that the state should not force someone to remain pregnant. Many also say that decisions are best made by a woman with her doctor and her conscience.

People who oppose abortion, often called pro-life, usually argue from the value of human life: they hold that a human being with a right to life exists from conception or early in pregnancy, and that taking that life is wrong except perhaps in rare cases such as a threat to the mother's life. They argue that the law should protect the most vulnerable, and that society should support women and families so that abortion is not seen as the only option.

Between these positions are many who support access with limits, for example by stage of pregnancy, or who hold personal moral views while disagreeing about what the law should be. Laws differ widely between countries and, in some, between regions, and they have changed in recent years [check: confirm any current law you mention].

If you take part in this debate, it helps to say which stage of pregnancy and which circumstances you mean, to listen to the strongest form of the other side, and to remember that real people with real experiences are involved.