Business
SHOULD ABORTION BE LEGAL?
Introduction
Abortion, when induced in the urbanized world according to local regulation, is among the safest medical procedure. However, risky abortions result in around thousands of maternal deaths along with millions of hospital admissions yearly worldwide. With all the studies and researches that have been conducted regarding abortion procedures, this act should still not be legalized. The provision of having abortion as a legal practice has been one of the most controversial topic or issue because it questions the ethical, moral, practical, and even the political power issues that go along with it. We show in this study that legalized abortion rate in some countries have the similar rate with other countries, where abortion is illegal. We also show that immoral act cannot be as supportive to build a happy family in which natural ways of contraception can be used to prevent moral and physical damage to a pregnant woman. Abortion should not be legalized as it may cause maternal deaths as well.
Argument
As mentioned, the rates between legally and illegally aborted fetuses are of the same ratio. This only show that a person commits not only because she kills a poor unborn child, but she also violates the law prohibits them from doing so (Rosenthal, 2007). Law becomes useless if abortion is still being practiced whether or not it is legal.
They say that prevention is better than cure, well that is correct. If saying will be applied to abortion issue, we can prevent it if we practice safe sex education. Cynthia Dailard (2005) argues that prevention from unwanted pregnancy reduces the need for abortion. She says that 98 percent of typical woman in The United States uses a contraceptive technique at some point of her life. In addition, the period during which a woman may require to use contraceptive is quite long that is because normally, an average American woman wants to have two children. She usually spends about four to five years being pregnant or trying to become one, and spends roughly around thirty years trying to avoid unwanted pregnancy (Dailard, 2005). In that case, a woman has a lot of time to practice how to avoid fertility rather than committing abortion later on. It is better to prevent fertility rather than killing a baby afterwards. There are a lot of contraceptives that a woman can choose from, which are proven to be safe and effective.
Abortion causes negative physical and psychological effects to a woman. Major et. al (2009) claims that abortion can bring a life event that is potentially full of stress within the series of other normal life stressors. This perception was derived from psychological theories of coping and stress by Lazaruz & Folkman (1984). This emphasizes that it is difficult to separate out psychological experience related to abortion from psychological experiences related to other aspects of unwanted pregnancy (Major et. al, 2009). In addition, abortion can cause a long-term negative effect to a woman. Susan A. Cohen (2006), asserts that despite, the scientific evidence saying that abortion is safe and the reality of having abortion as legal in some states for 33 years, they still cannot comport the thought that it is more dangerous for a woman's long-term mental health to have an abortion than to deliver a child and become a parent that she did not plan to have or placing her baby for adoption (Cohen, 2006).
It is known to many that abortion causes maternal deaths. In confronting the myths about maternal mortality and abortion, familywatchinternational.org says that abortion is not necessary to save of pregnant women. In fact, killing a baby will put a mother’s life in danger (familywatchinternational.org). Moreover, legalizing abortion may increase the maternal mortality rate. Based on World Health Organization (2007) report, it shows that International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the leading abortion provider, was alarmed because maternal mortality rate was higher in countries that have liberalized abortion than the ones that restrict it (WHO, 2007). This only shows that positive claims about legalized abortion cannot attest the safety of committing abortion.
Unwanted pregnancy can cause excessive stress to a woman. Annie Urban (2011) asserts that previous in mental health issues, women’s attitudes towards the pressure of having an abortion can add to increased mental health issues after the process. And, Urban’s claim shows that unwanted pregnancy should be supported psychologically, thus eliminating abortion as an option (Urban, 2011).
Counter Thesis and Counter Argument
A pregnant woman is responsible, together with her partner are responsible for their actions. They should have thought on earlier stage that another life can be developed as a result of their actions. However, along with getting pregnant is the financial security that they should be prepared of. Many women say that abortion saves financial future. Making abortion illegal means more risks of getting into financial trouble in the future. Best example would be a woman committing illegal abortion (unsafe abortion) may likely do it all by herself or with someone who does not have a proper medical training. As an effect, this woman will need more medical attention after the process, which will become more costly rather doing it through affordable yet safe legal abortion. In addition, availability of safe and legal abortion will provide positive implications towards a woman's and family's future financial situation in which they will be considered part of the great effort against poverty (womenonwaves.org).
A lot of researches and evidence show that abortion reduces health risks for existing health condition and even a woman’s life. Iqbal Shah (2013) argues that safe abortion should be practiced to reduce maternal mortality associated with abortion. Shah added that deaths increase due to barriers in accessing a safe abortion method, like the legal restrictions, service norms and procedures, and lack of information and support. If these barriers will be removed, women can be saved from health complication like sepsis, hemorrhage, trauma to cervix, or secondary infertility. One of the solutions to avoid the mentioned complications is to legalize and provide accessible safe abortion Shah (2013).
Response to Counter-Thesis
Although abortion may secure woman's future financial situation, it is still important that a child inside her womb must still be delivered. One thing is sure; killing is cannot be a solution to save a mother's life. Adrian Paul (2010) calls abortion as to be a sin that becomes frequent and can be aligned with massacre of innocent children and attack on the essence of life. Killing is a mortal sin. It is a woman's spiritual obligation to let her child live instead of aborting him to keep her life. Abortion can be considered a termination of being pregnant or murder of unborn human (Paul, 2010). Killing an unborn child may save a woman's financial future, but will not save her spirit for committing one.
Abortion may save a woman's life in some point. However, studies show that women who committed abortion are more at risks of experiencing physical and psychological problem. A woman who underwent an abortion procedure may experience a problem of having another pregnancy in the future. In addition, woman who experienced fetal termination or abortion had mental rate issues, which was thirty percent higher compared to other pregnancy outcomes like pregnancy loss, delivery after unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy having a primary undesirable reaction (Licia Maiocchi, n.d). Over all, it is not safe to say that abortion can save a woman's life.
Conclusion
It can be a fact that more and more women are being involved in abortion because of their personal or health reasons. In general, a man and woman should be aware how life can be so fulfilling if both of you can join together in creating another life, without looking at the situation as a barrier of success or a future financial risk. A woman's physical and mental health is very important in having a healthy family, yet considered vital aspects when it comes to abortion. In order not to tolerate adverse effects of abortion, policies and laws should come into action. Policy and lawmakers must rule out a personhood law that will protect unborn child from being killed as well as providing medical, psychological and medical support to pregnant women who are at risk of committing unsafe abortion. Terminating pregnancy is not a practical choice as it may costs more on the latter stage to sustain possible future physical and psychological health problems. It is obviously unethical because turning life to death is immoral.
References
Cohen, S. A. (2006). Abortion and Mental Health: Myths and Realities. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/09/3/gpr090308.html
Confronting the Myths About Maternal Mortality and Abortion. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.familywatchinternational.org/fwi/documents/fwipolicybriefMaternal_Mortality_and_Abortion.pdf
Dailard, C. (2005, May). The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/08/2/gr080201.html
Maiocchi, L. (n.d.). Women’s mental health: Unwanted pregnancy. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://anp.sagepub.com/content/47/6/585.extract#
Major, B., Appelbaum, M., Beckman, L., Dutton, M., Russo, N., & West, C. (n.d.). Abortion and Mental Health - Evaluating the Evidence. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/featuresamp-64-9-863.pdf
Paul, A. (2010). The sin of abortion and its anthropological implications on the destiny of humankind | Paul | Revista Romana de Bioetica. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://bioetica.ro/index.php/arhiva-bioetica/article/view/186
Rosenthal, E. (2007, October 11). Legal or Not, Abortion Rates Similar. The New York Times [New York City]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/news/12iht-12abortion.7863868.html
Safe abortion saves women's lives — Women on Waves. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/380/safe-abortion-saves-women-s-lives
Shah, I. (2013, January). Making Safe Abortion accessible: The Public Health and Human Rights imperative. Retrieved August 7, 2013, from http://www.womenhealth.or.th/iwac/download/speaker_presentation/PL2%20%20Iqbal%20Shah.pdf
Urban, A. (2011, December 12). Abortion vs. Unwanted Pregnancy: The Impact on Mental Health | Care2 Causes. Retrieved August 7, 2011, from http://www.care2.com/causes/abortion-vs-unwanted-pregnancy-the-impact-on-mental-health.html
World Health Organization, UNICEF, United Nations Fund for Population Activities, & Verdensbanken (2008). Maternal mortality in 2005. Geneva: Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization.
