Abortion is a term that brings chills to many people and the world at large. The debate on whether abortion should be legalized or banned still rages with opponents and proponents of the issue airing their different opinions. In simple terms, abortion is simply the deliberate annihilation of the growth of the unborn in the womb of its mother.
However, in some cases, people mistake miscarriages as abortions where abortion occurs unintentionally sooner than 24 weeks of expectancy. An abortion that is done intentionally for the purposes of getting rid of pregnancy is known to be a therapeutic (also known as induced abortion) abortion. The rates of abortion are increasingly high in the countries where the act itself is illegal.
Additionally, abortion is considerably safe when performed by a medically trained doctor. In America alone, the act of abortion has been considered officially authorized since the Supreme Court of 1973 decided on it under the authority of Roe Wade. According to statistics, a third of every form of pregnancy in the world is not planned. In addition, almost 50% of expectancies that happen annually are unwanted with half of these women playing a central role in the termination. As the paper reveals, though the subject of abortion has aroused much debate not only in America, but also in the entire world, it has its pros and cons.
Cons of Abortion
Abortion in no doubt looks like an unpleasant crime by every account. It clearly gives the implication that a potential person is being deprived of life. Just for the reason that the odds are not in favor of the mother or the father, the baby is deprived of the golden chance of existence on earth. Is it possible to justify the actions by ending someone’s life? Children should be always regarded as remarkable gifts from God. It is always believed that, for every birth taking place, there is a reason that signifies the birth and existence of the newborn.
By interfering with the life of an individual, are mothers not going against the wishes of the Creator? Performing an abortion has always carried the risk that the mother might not conceive again. In addition, abortion may as well result to health complications that can be serious to the mother. In some cases, death can result from it. In fact, it is considered as the most horrible scenario that can result from abortion. Luker says that, in most cases, abortion can result to memories that are not needed, and which can bring about trauma and despair (109).
Some females who go through abortion experience the sentiment of guiltiness, which will remain in their memories throughout their lifetime. Abortion also carries the risk that it might be done incompletely. This case might result to damaging of the womb if not rectified at the right time. The act of abortion creates the possibilities of euthanasia being permitted later following the ignorance of the mother.
From a different perspective, claims have been put across that children who are born following a change of mind of their mothers not to abort them have ended up being prominent figures in the world. There have been many talented people raised by single mothers. The current president of the US is among such kids. Chances are that single mothers think of aborting their unborn following the logistics associated with raising a kid.
If the claim is proved to be true, abortion will therefore be declared as a way of depriving the world some of its illustrious people-to-be whose existence would help the lives of many others since mothers will be viewed as getting rid of a significant person who might positively influence the world. For instance, if Martin Luther King Jr. had been aborted, what would have happened? With abortion, people tend to be less accountable concerning sexual matters.
The situation can bring about diseases related to STIs, STDs, and or even AIDS. According to Luker, studies have also proven that women who had done an abortion are prone to experiencing miscarriages, early or untimely birth, and expectancy or problems in delivery in the days to come of their lives (145). Other promising side effects that might last longer when abortion is done include the cervix being complicated and the placenta developing abnormally. In some special cases, a number of women commonly use abortion as a method of birth control.
This method in some way endorses infidelity in which women can engage in several sexual encounters that would result in to abortion. Abortion also encourages an unbecoming behavior amongst individuals since they do not want to be held responsible for their deeds. This irresponsibility provides them with the liberty of engaging in careless actions that might lead to their death.
The Pros of Abortion
In many scenarios, abortion plays a key role in safeguarding the life of the mother. Diseases such as heart complications, kidney complications and stern hypertension can be critical in life. Therefore, abortion in many cases has played a key role in helping in the avoidance of serious medical difficulties that have arisen from childbirth.
However, Intecon wrote that abortion should always be done after an appropriate medical recommendation, as it is capable of resulting in possible miscarriages in the impending days of the mother (156). In patriarchal societies where males are chauvinists, women are forced to bear children. With this in mind, an abortion right provides her with an individual distinctiveness where she can make a decision on the destiny of her infant. From time to time, abortion assists significantly in the checking of the extent of the family.
It can act as a strong key that will help in the undoing of mistakes thereby putting a stop to mothers who are forcefully engaged in the raising of an infant when they are not ready. Intecon argues that, with abortion in place, parents are left with the option of bearing and raising the unwanted child (223). Without abortion, any kind of pregnancy that is regarded as not wanted would result to giving rise to new individuals who have high chances of experiencing a pathetic life following the lack of attention of their parents. Such individuals turn into street kids and or thieves who engage in forceful killings in an attempt to secure their daily bread.
Is it right to force a woman to produce life? Giving birth to an unwanted infant might call for a world of difficulties for both the mother and the infant thus hamper social sections of humanity besides having unenthusiastic implications particularly on the consciousness of the infant. Furthermore, in rape cases, an expectant woman might be advised to abort if she so wishes since a child born out of rape might not be loved not only by the mother but also by the entire society.
Therefore, abortion comes in as a way of ensuring that mothers give birth to children whom they are willing to raise and offer the necessary care and needs until they are able to sustain themselves. With this in mind, the pro-choice advocators see abortion as the most suitable way to get rid of the brutality. Thus, they would not be bodily or psychologically ready in the taking care of the infant. It will be unfair for such victims to undergo the torment of bearing a baby, which in this case is a creation of some ill-fated happening of their existence.
With the presence of technology, it is now possible to detect diseases in the unborn infants. Intecon added that most mothers and doctors prefer abortion as a way of avoiding giving birth to an unhealthy child and thereafter watch it grow with sufferings every single day of its life (365). This case can be highly risky for the family and to the infant also. Some mothers cannot withstand to see their infants suffer due to financial reasons. Therefore, they abort the baby as the only option than giving away the baby for adoption purposes.
Some mothers also develop the fear of transmitting STDs, STIs, and AIDS to their infants if by any chance they were ailing from such diseases. They opt to conduct an abortion to save their infants from being orphans since they believe no other person will take care of the baby better than they would do. A number of individuals may support that abortion has become a subject of the modern way of life though some people may disregard it. The reality is that most of the researches done on abortion never give a picture of satisfaction. In fact, abortion has been a heated area under discussion amongst a bunch of individuals who have their personal school of judgment concerning it. What do opponents of abortion say about it?
My Opinion
Abortion is a vice. My stance is attributed to the fact that life is precious and abortion interferes with right to life, which is enshrined in our constitution. Besides, abortion may lead to infertility and other complications. Some reasons that people cite when embracing abortion such as population control can be managed by the use of contraceptives like condoms and pills rather than abortion. Even though the Roman Catholic are strictly against the use of contraceptives, contraceptives play a critical role in reducing instances of abortion.
Some proponents of pro-choice have argued that morality of abortion relies on the fetus’ mental capability. However, the fetus is a human being and as such, it has a right to life whether it has full mental capacity or not. Besides, those women who carry out abortion should be treated as criminals. Other people will contend that abortion is justified in the event of rape. However, it should be noted that criminal responsibility should be directed toward the rapist and not the innocent fetus. It will be morally wrong to punish an otherwise innocent victim just because someone else has wronged an individual. Thus, abortion is wrong and should not be allowed in any society and its promoters should face the law.
In conclusion, abortion will forever play a dynamic role in people’s culture. In the United States alone, more than 3000 cases on abortion are witnessed every day. The implication here is that there is a need to come up with mechanisms of informing the partakers of the act on the consequences of the same and the steps they can embrace to secure their lives such as the use of contraceptives and protections with an aim of reducing cases of unwanted pregnancies and the rate of abortion.
Works Cited
Intecon, Michael. Abortion! Pros and Cons: Arguments, Views, Facts & Information. Bloomington, IN: Lightning Source Inc, 2004. Print.
Luker, Kristin. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Print.