In the United States, women choose to end about 25% of their pregnancies through abortion. This number has been gradually declining since 1979. This is similar to the Canadian figure of 21%, 2 but is much lower than that of the former Soviet Union (60%) and Romania (78%) where contraceptives are in short supply.

A social consensus exists among pro-lifers and pro-choicers that when human personhood starts, the person must be protected. Many religions, organizations and individuals have passionately held but conflicting beliefs about when this happens. This naturally leads to opposing policies on whether a woman should have access to abortion.

In spite of what the media might say, this struggle cannot be reduced to a simple pro-choice vs.

Pro-life: A belief that life becomes human life at the instant of conception (or perhaps shortly after) and that it should be protected under law from that point. According to one Pro-life group, legislators who have vote in favor of a partial birth abortion ban are now calling themselves "pro-life":

In the U.S., the pro-life and pro-choice movements are both powerful and active. Pro-life groups are particularly active at the state level and have successfully influenced legislators and governors into creating many laws that restrict abortion. Many of the laws have been ineffectual; they are so broadly worded that they are usually declared unconstitutional shortly after having been signed into law. Those laws which survive are not particularly effective; they often merely have the effect of deflect abortion seekers to nearby states. Approval of the drug RU486 will forever change abortion in America. Doctors will be able to prescribe the pills and women may be able to take the pill at their homes. Rural women will not have to drive long distances to abortion clinics; women will not have to run the gauntlet of abortion protestors. At this time, compromise between pro-life and pro-choice supporters appears to be impossible.

To most pro-lifers, human person hood begins at the instant of conception. Thus, they see an abortion clinic as the ethical equivalent of a Nazi death camp. All or almost all abortions should be prohibited.

Fertilization: The process that starts when a sperm contacts an ovum. It ends with the intermingling of chromosomes from both the sperm and ovum to produce a full set of chromosomes - 46 in most humans. The result is a zygote, often popularly referred to as a "fertilized ovum." If it has two X chromosomes, then the zygote is a female; if it has an X and Y, it is male. This is generally regarded as the start of pregnancy within the pro-life movement. Physicians and the pro-choice movement regard the start of pregnancy when the fertilized ovum attaches itself to the wall of the uterus.

Various pro-life and pro-choice groups have different definitions for words such as pregnancy, human life, personhood, abortion, etc. For example, pro-life groups refer to a D&X (Dilate and Extract) procedure as a PBA (Partial Birth Abortion.) This confusion over terms makes dialog and debate very difficult. We will use the generally accepted medical definitions in this series of essays.

Some topics in this essay:
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