In The Abortion by Alice Walker, the element of Southern literary murder captures one's attention at first glance. Imani and Clarence's unborn child is the victim in the story whose life is untimely terminated. The guilty parents of the child do not feel remorse upon aborting it and on the contrary obtain a calmer peace of mind. Clarence continues working alongside the towns political figures, leaving Imani alone to ponder the reasons for why the couple chose to abort the baby and of her previous abortions. Imani and Clarence's inability to care for more children financially and emotionally, besides Clarence and Imani's refusal to raise more children are key reasons contributing to why the unborn child was aborted.

The abortion began a chain of events. After the death of the fetus, Imani felt free enough to leave the family she had helped raise for years, her marriage with Clarence is terminated, Clarence has a vasectomy as a means of birth control - all of these are actions which are related and have the abortion as their key root.