Why have an Abortion?

In the eyes of many the biggest fear of having sex is having a baby. Unfortunately they have developed a method to abort a pregnancy and relieve the minds and lives of many who do not want their baby. The reasons for abortion are as numerous as can be thought of, but should abortion really be allowed? Everyone knows that having an abortion is ending a life, a life that could have had a chance to live but because of some parents choices are quickly squelched. I am aware that due to extenuating circumstances such as rape, many parents/women would want to have an abortion...but for all the parents who do not want to have a baby due to selfish reasons, why destroy a life?
Americans, specifically, these days put too much emphasis on what their own personal happiness, rather than the older values of responsibility and integrity. We all know in the 1950s if you had a kid you were stuck with it forever, but now if a woman gets pregnant she can just run down to the nearest clinic and have the child aborted without a second thought. Is that really what America has come too, a bunch of self-centered people who if inconvenienced just look for the easy way out instead of owning up to their problems?
I believe that abortion should not be allowed except for certain situations because people these days have been shirking out of their responsibilities as parents due to their own selfish desires. The government should regulate and go through each case individually to make sure that parents are held responsible for their actions. Also there are thousands of couples around the country who are unable to have their own child and would be very excited to have the chance to be a parent. In the end what reasons are their to end a life?