Abortion is defined as the act of clinically or surgically terminating pregnancy. A clinical abortion involves the use of medication to get rid of a pregnancy while a surgical abortion is carried out in the operating room whereby surgical equipments are used. There are many concerns on whether abortion should be permitted. Some people equate abortion to murder while others are neutral. This has resulted in two schools of thought; pro-choice and pro-life. Pro-choice are those who believe the woman should make a choice. On the contrary, pro-life are who believe abortion to murder. Therefore, it should not be legalized. Consequently, abortion is legal in some countries whereas it is illegal in other countries. It is noteworthy that abortion is legal in most developed countries with advanced democracies since they believe in rights and freedoms. This paper seeks to discuss abortion with a view of persuading the reader that the decision to procure an abortion should be a personal decision.
This paper is of the opinion that abortion should be legalized. The government should introduce safe abortion training programs for health practitioners. In this way, abortion related deaths will be unheard. Health facilities that carry out abortion will have no reason to hide from the law. Therefore, it will be easy to regulate them. Besides, the clinics will be equipped with skilled professionals who can identify that women genuinely need the procedure and which ones simply want to escape responsibility of parenthood. They can save mothers whose health could be in jeopardy due to pregnancy.
The decision on whether to abort should be left purely in the hands of a woman carrying the pregnancy. Every person has the freedom of choice as provided for in the constitution irrespective of the society's moral position on any issue. In fact, a society that shuns a woman because she has undergone an abortion is not considered free. Pointing fingers and infringing on a woman`s freedom of choice is equal to domination. For a long time now, society has left major decisions concerning pregnancy and child care upon the man. This practice faced a lot of criticism since women felt discriminated in a way. They felt subordinate in every societal issue. Leaving the decision of whether to abort upon the woman gives her a sense of empowerment. She feels like her opinion count and can make choices influencing her body without any interference.
The woman in question should be left to make a decision on her own because the choice to reproduce is usually made willingly. Pregnancy and childbirth happens to be a physical ordeal that impacts a woman`s health both in the short term and long term. Raising a child is no easy task either; it involves numerous personal and financial sacrifices. The task becomes even harder when the woman is forced to do it alone. Without the support of her partner, family and friends, such a woman may go to great lengths in order to survive. For example, the woman may become a prostitute in order to provide for her child. Hence, a woman should only bring a child to the world when she has enough support from the man responsible for her pregnancy as well as her family members. If she can cope with such challenges, she ought to be free to deliver the baby. On the other hand, if her gut convinces her; otherwise, she can choose to abort. It is all an issue of free will.
Single parents face numerous problems while raising their children. They have to play simultaneous roles of both the father and mother. They also have to cater for education, health and other basic needs of the children. Providing for the children becomes almost impossible especially when she has no substantial source of income. Rather than getting into single parenthood, a woman ought to consider abortion. The woman ought to avoid getting pregnant again until she lands a stable job or a financially supportive spouse. Moreover, if the act is outlawed, financially stable ladies will simply fly out of the country and get the procedure done in another nation where it is legal. However, their poor and disadvantaged counterparts are left in the cold. Therefore, outlawing the act will leave the ladies languishing in poverty with no fair alternative. They may even end up looking for underhand and illegitimate doctors to terminate their pregnancy. As a result, they risk death due to risk factors such as excessive bleeding especially if the practitioners are not well trained. To avoid this scenario, the act ought to be legalized.
The government should not just stop at legalizing abortion. It ought to ensure that the services are affordable for the good of women who experience poverty. The services ought to be placed even in the remotest of villages so as to ensure that every lady needing abortion is catered for. This will go a long way to assist women, both poor and rich, to undergo safe abortion that follows all the legal guidelines. Women who are unaware of the intricacies of abortion should also be educated. This education should not just target women who want to have it done. It should target all ladies especially those between the ages of sixteen and thirty. Schools may also consider introducing such initiatives.
Religious groupings sometimes argue that abortion is an evil act. However, it is noteworthy that good and evil is relative. What one individual considers good may not necessarily be good to all people. It is better to argue the issue on the basis of responsibility. For instance, a woman may be a victim of rape that left her pregnant. Her decision to abort is incomparable to the inhuman act she has gone through. It is better to abort than bring an innocent baby into a community that may call it names and dwell on the fact that it is a product of rape. The mother may end up despising that baby as it will always remind of her rape ordeal. Both the mother and child will be saved from unnecessary ridicule. The thought that an abortion is equal to taking away human life is questionable. Some religious denomination state that life begins after conception while others believe that it begins after birth . Basing the appropriateness of abortion on these factors is a miscalculated move. This is because not all expectant mothers hold such beliefs concerning human lives. A mother may even decide to believe that life begins after birth thus her choice to abort does not take away human life.
Many countries, especially third world are grappling the problem of overpopulation . The countries face poverty, ignorance and disease. Outlawing abortion means that many poor mothers in such nations will bring children that they cannot take care of into the world. Abortion gives a solution to this problem. Abortion is not merely a solution to overpopulation. Instead, it is a way out for a woman from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. Not that they are given a license to conceive and abort repeatedly. They are simply given a solution that they can run to when they are totally unable to prepare for childbirth and everything that comes with it.
In some cases, abortion may be the only way to save the mother’s life. Conditions such as Preeclampsia may develop at the late stages of pregnancies. Symptoms of the disease include proteinuria, seizures and in worse stages, the patient may die. The only way to save the mother may be through abortion. Such a decision is arrived upon after the doctor ascertains that the foetus is delivered will not be viable in that it will not survive on its own. A woman may also develop cancer during pregnancy. This situation may make her choose abortion to save her own life. The decision is also arrived upon when the doctor states that the cancer treatment to be administered may adversely affect the foetus. Additionally, there are risks associated with the process of giving birth. Delivery through the vagina may cause neoplastic cells to diffuse into lymphovascular canals. It may also lead to haemorrhage and cervical cuts. Worse still, malignant cells may implant themselves in her reproductive system thereby causing untold pain and suffering to the mother. To avoid all these, abortion is inevitable. In some cases, the cancer kills both the mother and her unborn child in case the woman is left to carry her pregnancy to the very end. Therefore, the practitioner finds it appropriate to save the mother rather than lose both the mother and her baby.
Laws relating to abortion must be enacted to consider all the possible scenarios the expectant lady is in. As earlier mentioned, she may have undergone the rape. This brutal act normally leaves a woman traumatized for a long period. It gets worse if she got pregnant in the process and does not know her perpetrator. The criminal may even be carrying unwanted genes; the victim does not know the criminal's family history. It is right to abort in such a case because the trauma a woman suffers is just too much to bear. A child got out of rape is simply additional baggage that the traumatized woman should not bear.
Teenage pregnancy is another valid argument for abortion. A teenage girl is normally under the care of her parents and guardians. On her own, she cannot make it. So when she gets pregnant, probably by accident, parents from her side and that of her partner need to take full responsibility. Should they all back down, she may consider abortion. Nevertheless, parents from either side should never leave their loved ones unattended to especially when the issue of pregnancy arises. The parents ought to consider other options such as giving up their grandchild to adoption in case the girl does not want the baby, but is willing to undergo childbirth. They should not forget that there is usually a strong bond between mother and child hence forcing their daughter into abortion should be out of the question.
The choice is not a bad one since she takes into account all that is at stake if she decides to keep the baby. She may be forced to drop out of high school or college to give her baby proper maternal care. This will have detrimental effects on her studies as she will be unable go to school. Consequently, her dreams may be shattered. Either way, the girl, her family and the boy`s family must prove beyond doubt that her current situation cannot allow her to bring forth a child into the world. Parents are not supposed to force their daughters to undergo an abortion irrespective of the circumstances. Forced abortion has a negative physical and emotional impact on the child. Again, it is a matter of choice. She should not feel any pressure whether it is coming from people who are pro-life, or those who are prochoice.
In some instances, the foetus may have a lot of genetic defects and may not live to their first birthday. It may be severely crippled, and its internal organs may have irreversible defects that lead to death even before the child sees his first birthday . Termination would be the best way out in this case. If safely done, the mother and her family will be saved from having to endure pain of losing a child when he or she is barely a year old. However, not all genetic and bodily disorders are irreversible. Thanks to science and technology, a mother can safely give birth to a baby and the baby undergoes corrective surgery when the time is right. On grounds of the baby`s health, a mother should consider abortion only when there is no way out of the predicament.
It is better to deal with birth control issues before conceiving instead of after conception has already occurred. Outlawing the act is more or less taking the quickest way out instead of dealing with the root of the problem. Lawmakers ought to consider the emotional, physical and psychological pain associated with teenage pregnancy. They ought to question they have done to reduce the rate of such pregnancies.
One action they can take is working with the community to carry out vigorous campaigns that encourage abstinence and safe sex. Teenage girls and boys alike should be told about the consequences of their actions. The girls ought to be empowered such that they do not engage in indiscriminate sexual behaviour that may ultimately lead to pregnancy. The boys, on the other hand, should be advice not to give in to peer-influence since it is the main cause of indiscriminate sexual vices. After doing all this, the lawmakers ought to legalize abortion but provide stringent rules on the same so that only genuine cases can be considered.
It is not just teenagers who need guidance. Youths in their twenties attending college ought to be considered in the campaigns. Safe abortion is a great solution since with or without laws against abortion; some ladies will undergo it. The same applies to safe sex. In as much as abstinence is preached, the youth will engage in it. Hence they are taught safe contraceptive methods to avoid the abortion dilemma that comes with unwanted pregnancies.
There are good abortion clinics out there that provide safe services. Hence, it would be unfair to do away with the practice. The owners earn a decent living from carrying out abortion, and the women get a haven to terminate pregnancy instead of suffering in silence. Recognizing the facilities that provide good services is a wise step towards encouraging safe abortion.Underhand and corrupt abortion doctors ought to be rounded up as they spoil the name of good ones in the medical field. Cases of abortion related deaths are normally as a result of negligence from the illegal abortion practitioners. Separating the legal ones from the illegal ones will help curb the deaths. Ultimately, abortion will be a safe procedure. The best way to detect bad professionals in this field would be to carry out random checks at all the available abortion clinics. Persons who are not licensed will be discovered and dealt with accordingly after the checks are conducted. Illegal medics should also be prosecuted in a court of law as they are responsible for a number of abortion related complications.
My view on abortion makes me pro-choice. While society may consider this view as a disregard of family values, I tend to think otherwise. This is because abortion a mother who undergoes an abortion must be having valid reasons for the act otherwise she would have chosen to keep the baby. Her actions do not necessarily make her a bad mother. She may be a warm and welcoming person is principled and respects traditions. The woman can exercise her freedom of choice and still uphold values such as morality and respect for human life. All in all, abortion is not a crime. Neither is it an evil act. The abortion question is simply a matter of ideology. There are those in support of the abortion and those who are pro-life. The two sides have a right to their opinion. They should respect opinions held by the opposing side even if they do not necessarily share the same views. A woman who decides to be pro choice is simply being liberated. The woman refuses to be tied down by what the community considers ‘normal` when it is her life that is at stake.
Regardless of the views, the decision to undergo it lies exclusively on the mother. She should not face discrimination based on her life choices. Instead, she ought to be counselled on the risks involved and whether the procedure is necessary after the doctor examines her situation and finds a safe way to carry out the process. It is of the essence for the lady to ensure that the medical doctor is not only licensed, but also recognized by the country's medical association. This is because when anything goes wrong, the doctor will be easily tracked down to indicate what caused the mishap. Nonetheless, a trained doctor is usually so careful that there is no likelihood of anything going. The doctor will use his expertise as well as experience in the field to detect any risks that may arise. Good abortion doctors can be found by a simple online and offline search. There are a couple of medical blogs that provide unbiased reviews regarding their services. Carrying out a simple background check will ensure that the woman intending to abort is in good hands. When she goes back to her community; she ought to be embraced like any other human being. The society ought to understand that everyone makes mistakes, and they too have their faults. Abortion should not be treated as a vice yet it reduces the burden on women and saves lives of those whose pregnancy places them in danger of death.
Works Cited
Haney, Johannah. The Abortion Debate: Understanding the Issues. illustrated. New York: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 2008.
Mascle, Deanna. "Why I Believe Abortion Should Be Legal, Safe, and Rare." 3 January 2008. http://goarticles.com. 19 February 2014 <http://goarticles.com/article/Why-I-Believe-Abortion-Should-Be-Legal-Safe-and-Rare/741496/>.
Schwarz, Stephen. Understanding Abortion: From Mixed Feelings to Rational Thought. Chicago: Lexington Books, 2011.
