Abortion?

For most of my life, I have never had a clear opinion about the abortion debate.There are an immense amoutn of ethical, political, and religious factors that play into the debate, and it can seem to be too much to handle. Furthermore, I feel less of a pressure to form an opinion because I am a male. After reviewing the website for  NARAL-Prochoice America , the leading organization of the Pro-Choice movement, I concluded that the abortion debate, in a sense, is a vicious war. Both sides attack each other furiously, while attempting to defend their own honor. I was surprised to see that the abortion section of the NARAL website started off by attacking the "Pro-Life" movement. Plus, in my exploration of the NARAL website, the basic structure of the text was to first explain what their opponent's attacks were, and then defend themselves through a plan of action or a rebuttal. On the "Bans on Abortion After 12 Weeks" page, the author first wrote about the Federal Abortion Ban of 2003 which, according to NARAL, "is a criminal ban on a safe abortion method". Then, the text goes into explaining the errors of the Federal Abortion Ban of 2003, and then explaining that politicians should not have a part in abortions at all. They believe that it is the women's rights to or not to have an abortion, rather than the rights of the government. Furthermore, NARAL argued that "person hood" should not be defined legally because it may lead to the ban of abortion, birth control, and stem-cell research.  Overall, the vibe that I got from the NARAL website was that they want nothing to do with politics or government decisions. It seems that the Pro-Choice movement is very much "doing their own thing", and it seems that they are trying to "save" women and their rights by giving them the option of abortion. The website made the government seem to be an evil factor that is limiting rights and chocking society's freedom.
On the other side of the issue, the National Right to Life, (the leading Pro-Life movement campaign), website seems to be very welcoming. It is not as aggressive as the NARAL website, which is very relieving. The Pro-Life website seemed to be very clean and fair sine it presented all of the facts very openly and easily. As one who does not yet have a clear opinion about abortion, I would probably side more with the Pro-Life movement because the National Right to Life website did not "scare me off" as much as the NARAL website. Furthermore, the National Right to Life website made it seem as if they obviously held the correct opinion, because the scientific facts of person hood and development supported their viewpoints. Overall, the Pro-Life website seems to be very effective because it is very easy to access scientific facts, and it did not shove the Pro-Life opinion in my face.
No matter what the law says, I feel that abortion is still influenced by ethics and religion. Furthermore, as a minor, I feel that parents and adults should also have a say in an abortion decision. Of course, no teenager wants to tell their parents that they got somebody pregnant, or that they are pregnant. However, abortion is a very serious issue that must be made aware by the parents of both parties. Abortion is not just another "stupid thing that we do as teenagers" such as getting drunk one night. It is a very demanding issue both mentally and physically. Therefore, as children I believe that parents are responsible to give consent for abortion, because it is a very demanding and potentially traumatic decision.
I also believe firmly that the father should be notified of the mother's decision to have an abortion. Although it is the woman who is holding the baby, the father's DNA is still in her baby. Even though it is the woman who has the final decision, the father should absolutely still get a voice. I do not know if he should be required to give consent for the abortion. On one hand, it is his baby too and he should be allowed to bring that baby to life. On the other hand, he is not the mother that will have to care for the child for nine months, and for potentially the next several years of her life. However, I do feel that the father should provide his strong input on whether or not to get an abortion.
Moving onto the political argument of abortion, it seems that Illinois's abortion laws are very fair. According to NARAL's website, the state of Illinois provides abortions to women of low income, both parent and spousal consent are required, and Illinois's constitution provides greater protection of women's rights to choose than the U.S. Constitution itself. However, the Illinois state also limits health care options on abortion, and overall Illinois government is very mixed in the topic of abortion. Overall, I am in favor of Illinois's abortion laws because it is fair and involves more parties than just the mother and her whom.