Proposed Legalization of Abortion and its Cause and Effects I. Introduction II. Advantages of Legalized Abortion III. Disadvantages of Legalized Abortion IV. Causes and Effects V. Conclusion I. Introduction Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced. Abortion as a term most commonly refers to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy, while spontaneous abortions are usually termed miscarriages.
Abortion has a long history and has been induced by various methods including herbal abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, physical trauma and other traditional methods. Modern medicine utilizes medications and surgical procedures to induce abortion. The legality, prevalence, and cultural views on abortion vary substantially around the world. In many parts of the world there is intense public debate over the ethical and legal aspects of abortion. The approximate number of induced abortions performed worldwide in 2003 was 42 million, which declined from nearly 46 million in 1995. www. wikipedia. com) History of Abortion The practice of abortion dates back to ancient times. Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. Abortion laws and their enforcement have fluctuated through various eras. Many early laws and church doctrine focused on “quickening,” when the initial motion of the fetus can be felt by the pregnant woman, as a way to differentiate when an abortion became impermissible.
In the 18th–19th centuries various doctors, clerics, and social reformers successfully pushed for an all-out ban on abortion. In the 20th century various women’s rights groups, doctors and social reformers successfully repealed abortion bans. While abortion remains legal in many Western countries, it is regularly subjected to legal challenges by pro-life groups. (www. wikipedia. com 1845) Types of Abortion 1. ) Spontaneous Abortion – is the natural or spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation.
Miscarriage is the most common complication of early pregnancy. 2. ) Induced Abortion – A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in many ways. The manner selected depends chiefly upon the gestational age of the embryo or fetus, in addition to the legality, regional availability, and doctor-patient preference for specific procedures. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or elective. (www. wikipedia. com) Abortion Methods 1. Surgical – In the first 12 weeks, suction-aspiration or vacuum abortion is the most common method.
Manual Vacuum aspiration (MVA) abortion consists of removing the fetus or embryo by suction using a manual syringe, while electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) abortion uses an electric pump. These techniques are comparable, and differ in the mechanism used to apply suction, how early in pregnancy they can be used, and whether cervical dilation is necessary. MVA, also known as “mini-suction” and “menstrual extraction”, can be used in very early pregnancy, and does not require cervical dilation. Surgical techniques are sometimes referred to as ‘Suction (or surgical) Termination Of Pregnancy’ (STOP). www. wikipedia. com) 2. ) Medical – is a type of non-surgical abortion in which a drug is used to induce the abortion. (www. wikipedia. com) II. Advantages of Legalized abortion 1. ) Laws against abortion kill women. Even though abortion may be illegal doesn’t mean that women won’t go through with the abortion. Look at the case of Becky Bell for example. She was an innocent girl that did not want her child and died because of an illegal abortion. 2. ) Legal abortion protects women’s health.
For tens of thousands of women with heart disease, kidney disease, severe hypertension, sickle-cell anemia and severe diabetes, and other illnesses that can be life-threatening, the availability of legal abortion has helped avert serious medical complications that could have resulted from childbirth. Before legal abortion, such women’s choices were limited to dangerous illegal abortion or dangerous childbirth. 3. ) A woman is more than a fetus. Though a woman might be pregnant with a child, she still is her own person and has every right to decide what she wants to do with her baby. . ) Outlawing abortion is discriminatory. Anti abortion laws discriminate against low income women who are forced to back alley abortions, where they can become infected. Rich people can travel to anywhere they need to go to find the proper care that they need. 5. ) If abortion is outlawed then more “children” will be having children. Abortion should not be a form of birth control, but if something does happen there should be the option of abortion there so the wrong mother doesn’t have to raise a child at such a young age. 6. ) Every child should be a wanted child.
If abortion is illegal then there would be a lot of children brought into this world that weren’t wanted. This could cause more damage to the child than anything. 7. ) Abortion should be legal for those women who are raped. Women who are raped sometimes can not even bare the thought of bringing that child into their lives and sometimes the option of abortion is the best one to chose. (www. tiger. towson. edu. com) The often-stated advantage of legal abortion is for improved health of women and an economic security through reproduction apart from patriarchal domination. (www. jsonline. com) © 2008, Journal Sentinel Inc.
Nigeria’s restrictive abortion laws are major contributors to the country’s high maternal mortality rate, according to a draft report of the Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria discussed at a recent stakeholders meeting by Secretary General Professor Innocent Ujah, This Day/AllAfrica. com reports. The report analyzed clandestine abortions in the country, where abortion is illegal except to save the life of a woman. Providers who violate the law can face up to 14 years in prison. At the meeting, Ujah told participants — which included members of the National Council of Women Societies and IPAS
Nigeria — that the government should legalize abortion and establish health facilities to provide abortion services to safeguard the lives of women who undergo clandestine abortions. He added that many people in Nigeria are ignorant to the advantages of legalizing abortion because of the restrictive laws against it. Ejike Oji, country director for IPAS Nigeria, said that contrary to popular belief, the problem of legalizing abortion in the country is not a religious issue because women who seek abortions are from all religious groups.
Oji said that the recent actions to liberalize abortion laws in Romania, South Africa and India have lowered maternal mortality in each of the countries. (www. nationalpartnership. org)© 2008 National Partnership for Women & Families. Abortion on demand should be legal for many reasons. In countries where abortion is absolutely not tolerated it is a fact that women continue to receive abortions, from unqualified back-street abortionists or the village massage abortionist. Both of these individuals risk putting the woman through painful and potentially fatal tortures just in an attempt to abort a child.
Each year 84 000 women die worldwide from failed abortion attempts. Because of anti-abortion legislation women avoid going to the hospital, often until it is too late, to avoid prosecution from police. In the cases of rape and incest the very idea of being forced to have the child of the woman’s abuser is repulsive. There are also cases when a woman’s health is put in jeopardy by having a child at all, forcing such a woman to bring a child to term, would be no less than attempted murder.
If a woman is forced to give birth to a child she does not want, if left in that woman’s custody, the child could potentially face hatred and resentment from the mother for the rest of it’s life. In countries all over the world, children are found dead and abandoned in places as degrading as garbage dumps. The only effective method of preventing unwanted births is abstinence, and this is just not a realistic objective. There is no 100% effective form of birth control, and even men and women using birth control have unwanted pregnancies.
Some women for financial, occupational, social, and maturity reasons, see pregnancy as cessation of their lives. (www. essaysample. com) © 2008, Essay Sample. III. Disadvantages of Legalized Abortion 1. Abortion does not give the child that is in the womb a chance at life. It is wrong and looked down upon by a lot of religions. 2. Some women use abortion as a type of birth control. They sleep with men and do not use protection and think nothing of it to go to the clinic as many as five times in their life to have an abortion. 3.
A con against abortion is the nagging thought that a woman went to a clinic, had an abortion, and thus the world was prevented from seeing the birth of the only person capable of attaining a leadership role and initiating a peace accord between warring factions in the Middle East, thus preventing decades of strife and murder. A stable home life is not a guarantee of talent, and illegitimate children have shown themselves to be very bright on occasion, Lawrence of Arabia for one. 4. Another con, is that the child who never lived, may have invented a cure for cancer (had he lived).
Think about that, if you’re for abortion, the next time you walk into a hospital to have a mysterious growth on your breast checked out. 5. Having an abortion always lessens your chances for having children later in life. Even though it doesn’t happen to many women, you could be the one to miss out on your once in a life time chance to have your baby. 6. There are other options. You can give your baby up for adoption and give your child a chance at life. 7. If looked at at the religious aspect, God gave you the opportunity to have a baby for a reason, you should not throw that chance away. 8.
If you laid down in the bed and weren’t responsible, you should take responsibility for your actions and take care of the child you created. Abortion is the lazy way out. 9. If you have an abortion you will always wonder what if, and feel guilty for the rest of your life about the child you could have had. (www. abortionfacts. com) IV. Causes and Effects Causes of abortion. The main problem of the abortion is psychological and is fear: 1. Fear for Financial difficulty to raise the child This is a consequence of lack of confidence in God since the most beautiful and desired for a mother should be her own son. 2.
Fear to what people or parents might think or say (When getting pregnant during the engagement). Actually, human concepts and reasoning’s, including those of parents or third parties must not prevent a creature from coming to this world. Life is given by God and God is above all concept. 3. Fear to the 9 months of pregnancy and to the pain during the labor actually, the greatest mission of every woman, is to be mother and to bring children to the world. If animals that are irrational do not deny this right, why is the woman going to be scared, if it is a natural function that corresponds to her feminine nature? . Health problems 5. Rape is a horrible abuse with traumatic effects for many of its victims. For a woman who carries in her entrails a creature fruit of a rape is not helpful at all, to know that pregnancy rarely happens in these cases. Nevertheless, Should we make an innocent creature pay for his father’s crime? 6. Hormonal contraceptives A Woman who takes tablets, injections or implants, has certainly determined not to have a child and if she gets pregnant then she feels frustrated in her intentions and often she resorts to abortion. These contraceptives are one of the main causes of abortion nowadays. (www. anael. rg) Published by Centro Gnostico Anael, 2005 ® Effects Of Abortion Psychological Effects of Abortion It has been discovered that there are many emotional aspects that can affect the psychological well being of women who undergo an abortion. These emotions include guilty feelings, anxiety, depression, loss, anger, and even suicide. Clinical research has found that when women are in trusting, sharing relationships, they report deep seated feelings of exploitation over their abortion experience. (Alliance Action Inc 1993, 1) A woman reports, “I was unprepared for the maze of emotions that hit me after I had the procedure.
Instead of feeling relieved, I was awash in anxiety and confusion. ” (www. cirtl. org. com) Anticipated side effects following an abortion: The following is a list of side effects that are frequently experienced following an abortion. It is possible that you may experience these side effects for up to 2 to 4 weeks following the procedure. • Abdominal pain and cramping • Nausea • Vomiting • Diarrhea • Spotting and Bleeding • Heavy or persistent bleeding • Infection or sepsis • Damage to the cervix • Scarring of the uterine lining • Perforation of the uterus • Damage to other organs Death (www. americanpregnancy. com) © 2000- 2008 American Pregnancy Association VI. Conclusion Did you know that each human being has a body and a soul and that they are united by a silver cord? Did you Know that when a human being is about dying, an angel of death is given an order by God to cut the silver cord that unites the body with the soul? This soul is judged and must return like inhabitant of the Earth to this valley of tears; it is then when an angel of life connects the silver cord to the head of a fecundating sperm and that soul returns in a new body.
The Earth laws have legalized the abortion, but this will never be legal before God and its laws. Actually, human life begins with the ovule fertilization stage and nobody is authorized to take the life of that developing human being. The pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute estimates that approximately 40 percent of teenage abortions take place without parental involvement. As a result, these teens’ parents have no advance warning about the physical or emotional complications their children may experience.
When the abortion causes subsequent emotional reactions that are not understood–such as depression, anger, and substance abuse–parents may react with anger and confusion, exacerbating the problems of the teen and her family. The cost of such concealment can be dreadfully high. Both 16-year-old Erica Richardson of Maryland and 13-year-old Dawn Ravanell of New York died from complications after they had abortions without telling their parents. Sandra Kaiser, a 14-year-old St. Louis girl with a history of psychiatric problems, committed suicide three weeks after her half-sister took her for an abortion without telling Sandra’s mother.
Sadly, abortion advocates have continued to fight laws that could help prevent tragedies like these. Most recently, the pro-abortion lobby has vigorously opposed attempts in Congress to pass legislation that would make it a federal offense for anyone to evade a state’s parental notice laws by taking a teen for an abortion in another state that does not have such laws. This legislation wouldn’t prevent all teen abortions, but at least it would protect the rights of parents and their daughters.
As shown in this brief literature review, numerous studies have found that, compared to older women, younger women–especially adolescents–are at significantly higher risk of physical and psychological complications following abortion. But this information is not generally known by the public, and certainly not by the parents who pressure their daughters into abortions. In many of these cases, the parents truly believe they are helping to protect their daughter’s future. They have no idea that they are subjecting her to a physical and psychological trauma that will forever scar her life.
Nor will the abortion clinics, who have a vested interest in keeping the dangers of abortion secret, explain the full range of risks to teenagers, their parents, or–in the case of judicial bypass–the judges who stand in the place of the parents. Abortion is fraught with dangers and risks, especially for younger women who are at greater risk of suffering both physical and psychological complications. The deceptive business practices of abortion clinics–which conceal these risks from these teenaged girls, their parents, and even judges–are nothing less than criminal.
The Pill is used by about fourteen million American women each year and sixty million women internationally. Thus, even an infinitesimally low portion (say one-hundredth of one percent) of 780 million Pill cycles per year globally could represent tens of thousands of unborn children lost to this form of chemical abortion annually. How many young lives have to be jeopardized for prolife believers to question the ethics of using the Pill? This is an issue with profound moral implications for those believing we are called to protect the lives of children.