Abortion is defined as the termination of a pregnancy by the removal of an embryo or the fetus prior to its delivery outside the uterus (Web MD: Abortion). For purposes of this paper, the abortion to be discussed here is the “induced” abortion, as opposed to a natural abortion, or a miscarriage. The premise of this paper is that abortion should stay legal, based on the following: that first, abortion may help save the life of the mother; that abortion may be the result of the mother’s decision based on her right to decide for her own health, and finally, that the mother or the parents of the child may not have the mental or financial capacity to raise a child at the moment.
Abortion can indeed help save the life of the mother. Many women who are pregnant are in danger of losing their lives due to complications brought about by their pregnancies. Among these complications are severe infections, pre-eclampsia and heart failure. In the case of pre-eclampsia, a pregnant woman could develop very high blood pressure and could be at risk for a stroke. There in fact was the case of a woman from Pennsylvania who was carrying twin boys, but due to her severe pre-eclampsia, one fetus had already died. Her liver and kidneys had already shut down, and the seizures were already beginning to occur and hurt her even more. Thus doctors performed an emergency abortion on her while she about to experience seizures. While she regretted losing the other fetus, she and her husband were able to have a healthy daughter several years later (USA Today: Doctors Say Abortions do Sometimes Save Women’s Lives).
The legality of having an abortion is supported by the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v. Wade. This 1973 case is important for abortion, as it brought to the fore first of all a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, and that courts were instructed to perform a “balancing test” between the right to have an abortion based on the protection of one’s reproductive health, and the right to life. Thus in the decision, the right of a woman to have an abortion is granted under the Constitution’s provision of the right to privacy (US Law: Roe v. Wade). Therefore under this ruling alone, abortion under the provided circumstances has a legal basis as stated in the US Constitution.
Finally, abortion should be made legal because a pregnant woman may not have the mental or financial capacity to raise a child in this chaotic world. One can only take note of and observe the number of children who die of hunger, malnutrition and poverty today. In fact, recently the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has estimated that one child dies of hunger or poverty today around the world in 10 seconds! This is indeed a horrible statistic (BBC: Does a Child Die of Hunger Every 10 Seconds?). It is said that the basis of this report was a paper that noted the deaths of three million children around the world in 2011 due to these reasons.
The strong reasons stated above make for a compelling argument to make abortion remain legal. By doing so, one not only respects the laws of the land, but also helps save the lives of pregnant women in danger of death. Also, this prevents the needless deaths of many children around the world as well.
Works Cited
Alexander, Ruth. Does a Child Die of Hunger Every 10 Seconds? 2012. Web. Accessed 20 February 2016.
Painter, Kim. Doctors Say Abortions do Sometimes Save Women’s Lives. 2012. Web. Accessed 20 February 2016.
US Law. Roe v. Wade. 2016. Web. Accessed 20 February 2016.
Web MD. Abortion. 2016. Web. Accessed 20 February 2016.
