Against Abortion Shelby Taylor Harrison College Medical Law and Ethics John Heppner December 8, 2013 Abstract Over several centuries and in different cultures, there is a rich history of women helping each other to abort. Until the late 1800s, women healers in Western Europe and the U. S. provided abortions and trained other women to do so, without legal prohibitions. The State didn’t prohibit abortion until the 19th century, nor did the Church lead in this new repression. In 1803, Britain first passed antiabortion laws, which then became stricter throughout the century.
Abortion became a crime and a sin for several reasons. A trend of humanitarian reform in the mid-19th century broadened liberal support for criminalization, because at that time abortion was a dangerous procedure done with crude methods, few antiseptics, and high mortality rates. But this alone cannot explain the attack on abortion. For instance, other risky surgical techniques were considered necessary for people’s health and welfare and were not prohibited. ‘Protecting” women from the dangers of abortion was actually meant to control them and restrict them to their traditional child-bearing role.
Antiabortion legislation was part of an antifeminist backlash to the growing ovements for suffrage, voluntary motherhood, and other women’s rights in the 19th century. Human life begins at conception when the egg and the sperm unite. A single person should not have any right to tear apart a babys body. The unborn child has a heartbeat at the end of the third week of pregnancy. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010) By the end of the first trimester, the baby has arms, hands, feet, toes and fingers. People argue that forcing someone to have a child leads to more child abuse. eported ninety-one percent of child abuse has happened to children that were very uch wanted before birth. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010) Society that is all for abortions argues that there is not enough land, water, and food to care for everybody, therefore this is one way to control the human population. We should never kill a child because we as a society perceive them to be too numerous for the planet. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010) Every day this silent horror kills more babies than Americans that were killed on September eleventh. Since Roe vs.
Wade in 1973, more than fifty million babies have been slaughtered. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010) Each year the number of American babies illed due to abortions, is roughly equal to the number of United States military deaths in all of the wars the US has ever been involved with. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010)ln New York City, it has been reported that forty-one percent of pregnancies end in an abortion. (“Prolife vs. ,” 2010) Organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, spend millions upon millions of dollars trying to convince people that there is nothing wrong with having an abortion. Snyder, 2012)There is no hope for American as long as this mass slaughter of more than fifty million children continues to grow across the country. During the year of 2010, Planned Parenthood received more than 48. 7 million dollars from the federal government. (Snyder, 2012)Seventy-two percent of Planned Parenthood “customers” have incomes that are equal to or below the federal poverty level. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, once said, “The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it. (Snyder, 2012)Eighty-six percent of abortions are done for the convenience of the woman. A Philadelphia abortionist was charged with killing seven babies that were alive when born. Witnesses claim he has slaughtered hundreds of living newborn children by slitting their necks, and severing spinal cords. The heart of a baby starts beating around the eighteenth day. Brainwaves have been detected at forty days after conception. At eight weeks the organs and nervous system have formed and the unborn child will have sleep and wake periods. “Against the eleventh week reactions to touch and sound start. At 22 weeks of gestation, a child can exist outside the womb with the help of medical technology. (“Against abortion,”)Babies being aborted go through torturous pain. A aby in the womb, during the operation, have limbs being torn off, brains sucked out, and are being slowly starved to death. Abortions being performed can increase the risk of developing several health issues whether it be mentally, emotionally, or physically. Women who have these procedures done can cause severe or even permanent damage to their bodies.
Not only is there physical damage, but psychological effects can be a major concern. (“Against abortion,”)Depression, anxiety and eating disorders, anger, relationship problems, breast cancer, ectopic pregnancies, and pelvic inflammatory disease can evelop after the operation has been performed. A child being in pain should deter a mother away from the thought of getting an abortion done. Options are available to the females, no matter the age, race, or circumstance, who want and need them. (“Against abortion,”)The acceptance of murder is very dangerous.
Americans need to be woke up when it comes to this and take little time to think about issues that matter. (Snyder, 2012) Abortion laws vary by state. According to Washington Post, New Hampshire, Vermont, District of Columbia, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Oregon do not ban abortions at all. (Institute)Abortion is banned in thirty-four states post-viability. At 22 weeks gestational age, fourteen states have banned abortions.
North Dakota is the only state to ban abortions from six weeks of pregnancy on. (Institute) Thirty-nine states require an abortion be performed by a physician with a license. (“Abortion laws by,”)Nineteen of the thirty-nine states require the procedure be don’t in a hospital setting after a specific point in pregnancy. Of the nineteen, eleven states require a second physician to participate in the procedure. “Abortion laws by,”)Of the fifty states, seventeen states do not have public funding even if it comes to life endangerment, rape, or incest. “Abortion laws by,”) Seventeen states use their own funding to pay for all or almost all medically necessary abortions. District of Columbia, along with thirty-two states, prohibit state funds except in cases where federal funding is available. (“Abortion laws by,”)South Dakota is the only states that limits finds to cases of life endangerment. Forty-one states do not allow abortions, except when medically necessary to rotect life, after a specific point in pregnancy. (“Abortion laws by,”)This policy is known as gestational limits.
In the first trimester, usually up to about nine weeks, are completed by a medical abortion or aspiration curettage (referred to as dilation and curettage of D&C). (“Gestational ages and,”)From the second trimester on abortions are completed by dilation and evacuation (D&E) or induction termination. (“Gestational ages and,”) A partial birth abortion is a later term abortion of the fetus that has already passed away or is killed before being completely removed from the mother. Nineteen states have laws in effect that prohibit these types of abortions. Three of those laws apply only to the post-viability.
Seventeen states mandate a woman be given counseling before an abortion that will include information on the purported link between abortion and breast cancer, the ability of the fetus to feel pain, and long- term mental health consequences. (“Abortion laws by,”)There are waiting periods that come along with the counseling. Twenty-six states require a woman wait a specific time period, usually 24 hours, between counseling and the procedure being erformed. Of the twenty-six states, nine of them require a women make two trips to the clinic to obtain the procedure. “Abortion laws by,”) In thirty-nine states, there is requirement for some sort of parental involvement if an abortion is a minor’s decision. Twenty-one states require one or both parents consent for the procedure to be performed. While thirteen states require one or both parents being notified, five states require consent and notice from the parent or legal guardian. (“Abortion laws states restrict coverage of abortion in private insurance plans. Most insurance plans limit coverage only to when the women’s life is in danger if pregnancy was carried to term.
Most states will have the option to purchase additional abortion coverage for an additional fee. (“Abortion laws by,”)Forty-six states allow an individual health care provider to refuse to participate in states, sixteen of which limit the refusal to private or religious institutions. (“Abortion laws by,’) References Abortion laws by state. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/ special/politics/us-abortion-map/ Against abortion. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http:// www. bortionfacts. com/ Gestational ages and trimesters. (n. d. . Retrieved from http://californiaabortionlaw. com/wpnpage_id=120 Institute, G. (n. d. ). An overview of abortion laws. Retrieved from http://www. guttmacher. org/statecenter/spibs/ spib_OAL. pdf Prolife vs. prochoice. (2010, August 25). Retrieved from http:// wholeworldinhishands. com/world/pro_life_vs_pro-choice_arguments. html Snyder, M. (2012, February 10). 19 facts about abortion in America that should make you very sick. Retrieved from http://endoftheamericandream. com/archives/19-facts-about- abortion-in-america-that-should-make-you-very-sick