There are thirty-four states currently enforcing parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking an abortion. The Supreme Court ruled that minors must have an alternative, such as the ability to seek a court order authorizing the procedure. When president Bush spoke at a major antiabortion rally, he endorsed the activists' cause but admitted that their primary goal--making abortion illegal--is not likely to be achieved anytime soon. He added, "A true culture of life cannot be sustained solely by changing laws. We need, most of all, to change hearts.” Bush was speaking perhaps more accurately than he knew. Around the globe, the presence or absence of legal restrictions has relatively little to do with whether women decide to have an abortion. The countries with the lowest abortion rates in the world are Belgium and the Netherlands, where abortion is legal and covered by national health insurance. Those countries each year report seven abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age. By contrast, in countries such as Peru, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, where law restricts abortion, the abortion rate is about 50 per 1,000 women. Those figures are more than twice that of the U.S (abortionfacts.com). In the United States, nearly nine in 10 abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and 56% occur in the first eight weeks. The availability of medical abortion the “abortion pill,” or mifepristone and new techniques that allow surgical abortions to be performed earlier in pregnancy are likely to reinforce the trend toward earlier abortions. The introduction of a new medical abortifacient, such as RU-486, added some new features in the debate. Unlike vacuum aspiration or curettage, RU-486 does not involve insertion of instruments into the uterus and thus poses no risk of accidental perforation and infection from unclean instruments. Furthermore, it does not require the same degree of technical skills as the surgical techniques used to terminate pregnancy. So, in this respect, a prescriptive method of abortion poses less risk to women than previous alternatives. With the development of mifepristone, known as RU-486 or the "abortion pill," abortion has become innocuous and reliable (abortionfacts.com). This product works 95.5% of the time when taken within the first seven weeks of pregnancy. According to abortion statistics from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 33% of gynecologists who do not perform surgical abortions say they would prescribe RU-486. In addition to the reduction of risk for pregnant women, it is easier for women to use. Women who have religious reasons for avoiding or restricting termination of pregnancy may use RU-486 after fertilization has occurred but before implantation of the embryo. Clearly, abortion is not detrimental to the health of the mother. The 56% of U.S. women having abortions are in there 20s(Jones RK). The overall abortion rate is 21 per 1,000 U.S. women. Black and Hispanic women have higher abortion rates than non-Hispanic white women do. The rates are 49/1,000 and 33/1,000 among black and Hispanic women, respectively, vs. 13/1,000 among non-Hispanic white women (Finer). Black and Hispanic women have higher abortion rates primarily because they have higher rates of unintended pregnancy. One may ask what is the cost of surgical abortion. In 2001, the average charge for a surgical abortion at 10 weeks’ gestation was $468; but since most abortions in the United States are performed at low-cost clinics, women on average paid $372 for the procedure. Some 74% of women pay for abortions with their own money; Medicaid covers 13% of abortions, and 13% are billed directly to private insurance. Some women who pay for the procedure themselves may receive insurance reimbursement later. There are total of 32 states and the District of Columbia prohibits public funding of abortions, except in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. South Dakota only provides public funding of abortions when necessary to protect the woman’s life, which is not in compliance with the federal Medicaid statute (abortionfacts.com), Another question one may ask is how safe is it? The risk of abortion complications is minimal when a trained professional in a hygienic setting performs the procedure: less than 1% of all U.S. abortion patients experience a major complication. The risk of death associated with abortion in the U.S. is less than 0.6 per 100,000 procedures, which is less than one-tenth as large as the risk associated with childbirth. (Henshaw) However, 68,000 women in countries where abortion is illegal die each year of abortion complications, and many times this number are injured by unsafe procedures. Between 1990 and 2000, there were between four and 11 deaths related to legal abortion in the United States each year. In 2002, a total of 357 women in the United States were reported to have died of maternal causes. The number of maternal deaths does not include all deaths among pregnant women—only those in which the cause reported on the death certificate is related to or aggravated by pregnancy or pregnancy management (cdc.gov). In developed countries, where the procedure is usually legal, abortion mortality is low 0.2-1.2 deaths per 100,000 abortions. But in developing regions excluding China, where abortion is often illegal, abortion mortality rate is hundreds times higher, 330 deaths per 100,000 abortions (cdc.gov). In conclusion, I feel that a women’s right to an abortion depends on her situation. I feel that if a woman should be able to have an abortion if her health is seriously endangered. I feel that a woman should not have an abortion just because she cannot afford the baby. There are other alternatives, such as adoption. School programs teaching adolescents about safe sex is not enough? Parents must be able to speak freely with their teen about sex at any given time. Abortion does not only affect the teen, but it affects everyone. Everyone has a right to believe in what they feel is right. We must respect a woman’s decision whether you consider it to be wrong or right. America is a country where everyone has the same rights. And one right, regarding bearing children, affect women. But for the anti-abortionists, who will hopefully be a little less narrow-minded and a little more considerate, Every woman deserves a right to choose . This is my research paper. And its due Thursday. I was not sure if it makes sense. So that’s y I asked to rephrase it. You don’t have to do it if u don’t want to. but does it make sence, you can atleast tell me that thanx