In 1997, there were 1,184,758 legal abortions. That's over a million unlived lives. Imagine; those children could have been lawyers, doctors, presidents… These children could have found the cure for cancer. Merle Hoffman, who practices abortion, says that “abortion is as American as apple pie.” But it isn't. For anyone, regardless of personal beliefs, that comment should be found disturbing. Abortion is destroying our culture by causing society to devalue the sanctity of life. It's murder and can have lasting physical and emotional side effects on women who have abortions. Abortion, at all stages of pregnancy, must become an illegal procedure. Abortion may play an important role in the decline of society's moral values, but it is certainly responsible for the deterioration of society's respect for life. An example of this occurred during an airing of Conan O'Brien on October 2, 2012. The celebrity, Chelsea Handler, repeatedly laughed at the thought of herself having a twenty-year-old daughter, who she miscarried when he was sixteen. The lack of respect for life has reached such a point that when a random group of individuals were asked to sign a petition to legalize fourth trimester abortion, many agreed. Abortion in the fourth trimester would mean the killing of a child after birth. Furthermore, when babies are born alive after abortion, many abortionists let them die or kill them themselves. This is also not uncommon. According to the NY Daily News, Dr. Kermit Gosnell will be tried on eight counts of murder after killing babies who were born alive. Many times a decision is made to have an abortion after medical personnel say that the baby will be born with a deformity. This “deformity” ranges from spina bifida to Down syndrome. Prochoice ac...... middle of paper ......med on an adult, then it should be no different than an unborn child. Sometimes babies are born alive from abortion. These children then end up dying painfully and alone after seeing the world for such a short period of time. Even pro-choice advocates seem to recognize that abortion is murder. Prochoice woman Merle Hoffman says: “There is no need to argue that abortion stops the heartbeat. It does. If the opposing party notices this, then what is at issue? An unborn child is not a potential life form; an unborn child is a life with potential. Bottom line, abortion should be as American as bombing or genocide, not as American as apple pie. Abortion is infanticide. It makes people devalue life and the procedure is unsafe, both physically and mentally. In due time, more and more people will come to see the other side of the issue and realize that abortion must become illegal.