Abortions are one of the many things everyone has an opinion on. As defined by the 2012 Merriam-Webster dictionary, an Encyclopedia Britannica Company, an abortion is “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or immediately followed by the death of the embryo or fetus as a spontaneous expulsion of a human being” . fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation: miscarriage, induced expulsion of a human fetus, or expulsion of a fetus by a pet often due to infection at any time before completion of the pregnancy. Abortions have always been and will likely always be a controversial topic that not everyone will agree with. In the midst of the controversy, two groups emerged. These groups are called pro-life and pro-choice. According to Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context, pro-life advocates say that life begins at conception, so abortion at any stage of pregnancy is murder. They believe that life has value and that the life of the unborn child has the same rights as the mother. Pro-choice advocates, however, argue that it is a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. These pro-abortionists argue that anti-abortionists are truly against women's rights and free choice rather than abortion of the fetus. Pro-life and pro-choice advocates differ in many of their opinions, particularly regarding when life begins, the effects abortions have on the mother, and the role politics and religion play in abortions. To fully understand any topic, a complete explanation is necessary. Therefore, the history of abortions and the different procedures used are no exception. Abortions have been around for thousands of years. However, in the 19th century, abortions in the United States became illegal. Due to the lack of medical training, procedures and surgeries such as abortions were very dangerous. As medical advances were made, women still had to rely on backlogged abortions that usually resulted in harm to thousands of women. Abortions remained illegal, although medical advances were largely due to doctors not wanting to share their patients with other professionals. The American Medical Association has said that abortions are wrong and dangerous. Therefore, according to the National Abortion Federation, abortions became a practice reserved for doctors only because they could be performed legally to save the woman's life..