Abortion is a highly sensitive and polarizing topic, which makes it difficult to write about. Even among other controversial themes, essay topics about abortion are in a league of their own, splitting people along and across the lines of partisan divide, religious affiliation, and other, usually strong predictors of their views. As a rule, you are expected to have a clearly defined position that you make known in the title and defend vehemently from the very first sentence of your essay.
However, in the abortion essay topics we suggest in this post, we tried to balance categorical stances with those more open to different ideas, ready to explore and take a step forward to meet the opposition somewhere in the middle. If we ever want to reach a consensus on this topic, we must keep the conversation going, even if, as it seems at the moment, it is going nowhere.
Persuasive Essay Topics on Abortion
In this section, find specific topics about abortion for a persuasive essay. Some of them are linked to the free samples you can read to inform your opinion or better understand the opposing side's arguments. If you need a sample on topics that a not linked, you can always request an individually customized model paper from our essay service.
- Prenatal screening and abortion: increased awareness and preparedness or eugenics?
- Should abortion be legal argumentative essay
- Pros and cons of abortion essay
- Kantian and utilitarian view on abortion
- Summary of the essays on why abortion is wrong and counterarguments to abortion proponents
- What can be done to reduce the number of abortions while keeping termination a safe and accessible option?
- Do you think morning-after pills should be legal or outlawed following the abortion ban?
- Do you think a woman seeking abortion in a state that does not allow the procedure should be permitted to travel out of state to get the abortion, or should it still be considered a violation of state laws?
- If abortion is made illegal and punishable by law, do you think it's appropriate to introduce punishment for forced impregnation (either rape or deceit like removing protection stealthily?) If so, what punishment would you deem fit in each case?
- Do you believe that the religious sentiments of the citizens should have a bearing on the abortion debate, or should it stay strictly in the legal and medical plains?
- Adverse effects of abortion on fertility and health should be made known to any woman seeking the procedure. Agree or disagree?
- Abortion restriction is a political tool punishing those who already face overlapping systems of oppression. Discuss.
- Unrestricted abortion will inevitably lead to eugenics as technology progresses, so it must be stopped
- Criminalizing abortion contradicts the constitutional right of the women
- Forcing pregnancy and childbirth on unwilling women hurts children as much as it does mothers
- In the abortion debate, the middle ground is sorely missing. Here is where we could start
- Can pro-life philosophy be reconciled with assisted reproduction technology that results in live birth but disposes of unimplanted embryos?
- If abortion is made illegal, do you believe it is ethical to sterilize nulliparous young women per their demand?
- The criminalization of abortion will bring all miscarriages under suspicion punishing women who already suffer gravely
- Bringing a child you are not able to care for into the world is disrespectful to human life; therefore, abortion must be allowed
Abortion Argumentative Essay Topics
Most abortion topics for argumentative essays are too categorical and fail to move the discussion forward. We offer you not only to express your opinion on the big question in a definite "yes" or "no" fashion but to explore the issue in all its complexity via a more nuanced approach. Below you will find essay topics on abortion and other closely related bioethical issues that invite a thoughtful discussion.
- Where do you stand in the abortion rights debate? What are the crucial arguments of your persuasion?
- Do you believe that better adoption policies could lead to more women choosing to give birth rather than terminate unplanned pregnancies?
- Do you believe we should focus our efforts on preventing unwanted pregnancies rather than criminalizing abortion?
- Do you agree that even if the fetus has a right to life, it does not have a right to use a woman's body without her permission?
- Do you believe that the development of an artificial uterus would solve the abortion debate? If not, what other issues would arise instead?
- Do you believe both parents must be involved in the abortion decision?
- Do you believe bodily autonomy trumps all other considerations, even in the case of selective abortion?
- You can only ban safe abortion: the dangers of illegal abortion and infanticide under the ban
- Do you believe there could be "reasonable regulation on abortion" without a complete ban?
- Do you believe abortions should be covered by health insurance policies?
- Do you believe that the state should take up all medical expenses and the responsibility for the child should it deny abortion to a woman?
- Do you believe in personhood from conception, from birth, or later in life? Prove your point
- Do you believe it's ethical to deny abortion to rape and child abuse survivors?
- If abortion is made illegal in your state, what punishment would you deem appropriate for perpetration? Who should be punished (the woman, the abortion provider, anyone who knew and failed to report)?
- When Roe is overturned, do you think Griswold v. Connecticut and Eisenstadt v. Baird could be the next targets? Would you support or oppose their overturn?
- Abortion is an issue of broader civil rights struggle, especially for low-income women and POC. Discuss.
- Do you believe pregnancy termination should be allowed in case of severe fetal anomalies?
- Do you believe there is a threshold to personhood? Where should it lie (conception, fetal heartbeat, sentience, viability)?
- Fetus as a patient: what are doctor's moral obligations to the mother and to the not-yet-born
- Do you believe there can be a consensus between conservative and liberal views on abortion? What would it look like? What would you suggest as a middle ground?
Ethics of Abortion Research Questions
The undeniable fact is that however polarizing the issue might be, we, as a democratic society, must come to a consensus acceptable to most citizens. In contraversial issues like abortion, where law, health care, morality, reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, religion, and intimate life are intertwined into the Gordian knot, the help of philosophers and ethicists is required for a nuanced solution. Here are some suggestions for research questions about abortion that look at abortion research topics from the perspective of ethics, philosophy, and morality:
- Ethics of abortion in case of detected disability of the fetus
- Ethics of abortion in case of life-threatening condition in the mother-to-be
- Ethics of selective abortion (sex, race selection, etc.)
- Abortion and mental health: tokophobia, postpartum depression, infanticide, and suicide
- Prenatal diagnosis, wrongful birth, and wrongful life: a global perspective on bioethical issues
- Ethics behind pro-life arguments and their main contradictions
- Ethics behind pro-choice arguments and their main contradictions
- Bioethics of IVF, savior siblings, stem cells, and genetic research in abortion rights debate
- Religion, morality, and reproductive decisions: moral dilemmas about abortion and spirituality
- Christianity and morality of abortion
- Islam and the ethics of abortion
- Judaism and morality of abortion
- The dilemma of defining acceptable cutoffs for abortion procedures: ethical vs. legal issues
- Moral decisions going into saving either mother or the child during traumatic and dangerous pregnancy and birth
- Ethics of parental involvement in teenage abortion: prior and beyond the age of consent
- Points to consider when covering abortion: ethical journalism, empathy, and respect
- Ethical dilemma for clinicians: respect for patient's autonomy vs. respect for country's law on abortion
- Quality of life consideration in medical abortion decisions (psychological wellbeing and physical health)
- What makes a human: moral arguments about the humanness of the fetus in the abortion debate
- The social construction of humanity and morality in the abortion debate: natural, immutable values vs. socially constructed
Abortion Controversy Research Paper Topics
Too often, abortion paper topics simplify the issue and search for one clear-cut solution that decides the debate once and for all. However, life is much more complicated. If you are not afraid of facing all the uncomfortable realities and finding nuanced answers, try exploring one of these topics:
- A historic low was reached in 2017. Why demand for abortion spiked at the anticipation of Roe overturn?
- Fifty years of anti-abortion campaigns: timeline of restriction policies
- Sexual orientation and exposure to violence among patients seeking termination
- Women prosecuted for miscarrying: the grey area of anti-abortion legislation
- Re-traumatization, stigma, and disability: Case studies of child abuse victims who were denied abortion
- The trauma of the unwanted: psychological impact for people whose mothers were denied abortion
- The vicious cycle of abuse: child brides and shotgun weddings in anti-abortion communities
- Denied abortion, co-parenting with your abuser: when biological fatherhood gives the rapist power over the victim's life
- Maternity homes for unwed mothers: the reality of sexual double-standards of the past
- Abortion, closed adoption, open adoption, single-motherhood: tradeoffs of each option for women dealing with unplanned pregnancy
- The role of ineffective sex education and abstinence-only programs in teenage pregnancy numbers and demand for abortion
- The adverse effects of the "global gag rule" and Helms Amendment on individual access to health care in underserved communities in the US and globally
- The disproportionate impact of Hyde's amendment on POC: uncovering racial health disparities
- Shaming, ideology, and misinformation: fake abortion clinics controversy
- Data misrepresentation in the abortion debate: a case study
- Adolescent's right to confidential care when considering abortion
- Abortion stigmatization via pitting "good" vs. "bad" reasons for abortion
- The Asian "missing women" generation and other consequences of selective abortions
- Down syndrome awareness and abortion laws
- Genetic research, unrestricted abortion, and the eugenics controversy
Demographics of Abortion Research Paper Topics
The following demographics-related abortion topics for research paper give a comprehensive outline of patient characteristics, their met and unmet reproductive needs, and analyze how policies influence the lives of various social groups, including the most disadvantaged ones.
- Reasons women seek abortion beyond gestational cutoffs
- Who gets an abortion in the US: a portrait of the typical patient
- Abortion numbers: age dynamics since (the 1980s to 2020s trends)
- Factors contributing to the decline in abortion figures in the past decades
- Income gap and health care access: economic factors in termination decisions
- Abortion perspectives in Red States post-Roe vs. Wade overturn
- Future of the IVF treatment and genetic research after the end of Roe
- Abortion law and statistics in each state
- Abortion vs. childbirth: Complications, morbidity, and mortality in young girls
- Politics of abortion: ensuring access to abortion, morning-after pills, and contraception post-Roe
- Abortion as contraception: verifying myths with data
- Traveling state lines for care: before and after Roe overturn
- State funding of abortion under Medicaid
- Gender-inclusive care for people who can get pregnant
- Reasons behind the reversal of the long-term decline in US abortion rates
- Abortion policies at the US prisons and jails
- Differences in abortion rates between US population by country of origin
- Disparities in abortion rates among your state's population by race/ethnicity, age, and income level
- Abortion issues in Latin America
- Reproductive rights on the African continent
These, of course, are only general suggestions. Feel free to narrow down any of the topics and tailor your research to your state, city, or community. If you need more inspiration, you are welcome to free samples from our library of essays. Also, we encourage you to avail of the personalized help of our writing experts for topic suggestions, unique model papers, editing assistance, and more. Stay curious and empathetic to keep this conversation going!
