Pregnant women have the right to multiple options on whether to keep their pregnancy to term or to terminate it depending on the prevailing circumstances. The right to have an option to choose what to be done with the pregnancy is referred to woman’s autonomy that needs to be respected by all; however, these options can be very detrimental to women, which can as well undermine their autonomy (Abadian, 2013).
Autonomy of women is promoted when women are given the right of choosing whether to have an abortion or not. This is because an opportunity to abort enhances the autonomy of women who have pregnancies that are not planned. There are those pregnancies that are not intended especially among the adolescents, there should be measures put to intervene such cases to reduce cases of autonomy in abortions (Abadian, 2013). Most commonly used interventions for conception include; creation of awareness among the teenage on the factors relating to sexuality, educate women on how contraceptives can be safely and consistently used, and carrying out training on personal development. Most of these intervention measures can be used collectively or one at a time depending on the person and the circumstance. Intervention measures will ensure that only wanted pregnancies are conceived and, therefore, fewer cases of abortions will be realized (Chervenak, 2010).
Even though women have the autonomy to decide whether to abort or not, there are ethical issues that must be considered. The doctors carrying out abortion must ensure that the benefits and harm are balanced between the two patients. The greater good need to be the guiding factor when thinking of carrying out abortion and not only the autonomy (Chervenak, 2010).
References
Abadian, S. (2013). Women's Autonomy and Its Impact on Fertility: World Development. New York: University Press.
Chervenak, A. (2010). Ethics in Obstetrics and Gynecology. New York: Oxford University Press.
