The Issues of Abortion Abortion has become one of the most controversial topics of the twentieth century. The act of ending a pregnancy before birth is abortion. It is hard to find someone who does not have an opinion on abortion today. About ninety percent of abortions occur during the women's first trimester, which accounts for approximately 1.8 million abortions per year. Nine percent of abortions take place in the second trimester, and the last one percent occurs after twenty-one weeks (Callahan 145). Most people are either pro-choice or pro-life. On average, the pro-choice individual believes abortion is a private issue and the mother should have the right to choose