According to state reports, in the United States there were at least (some states don't report) 1,064,541 abortions in 2009. According to another report there were 4,130,665 births in 2009. Now I understand that in some cases having a child is a difficult issue, but the argument that abortion should be legal because in cases of rape, incest, or women's health shouldn't be enough to justify 1/5 babies being terminated. Abortion is the leading cause of death in the country (more than double that of second place) and its the law of the land.
Now before you tune me out as a right-wing one issue fanatic, here me out. I think the US government shouldn't necessarily tell its citizenry what to do in areas of right or wrong but it should serve a role to protect the weak and small of voice from those who have the power to oppress (read smaller military, antitrust laws, services for the poor, healthcare regulation). On this issue, however, the most weak and vulnerable are losing out, in the most extreme way.
We need to repeal this law. And we need to find ways to protect unborn babies (and support their mothers!). Steps taken in other states to reduce this number are encouraging to hear about, but they aren't enough. Continuing this trend is unconscionable regardless of its legality.
Sources:
http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/sta ... abortions/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22670489
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_06.pdf