The term abortion is used to define the ending of a pregnancy by removing the embryo or the fetus from the body of a female. An abortion either takes place intentionally or unintentionally. Safe abortions, those allowed by the law, are known as one the safest methods and involve medication and surgery. However, unsafe abortions are just as dangerous due to the use of dangerous equipment and unhygienic environment and facilities. Earlier, abortions were performed through herbal medicines or with sharp tools at home. Majority of the abortions are performed with the help of suction aspiration but to be able to get the abortion done, a woman needs to be in her first trimester of pregnancy. In this type of abortion, the cervix of a woman is widened moderately with the help of rods after which a tube is inserted into the uterus which helps remove the fetus with gentle suction. The entire process is performed within 15 minutes (Gillon 5).
An abortion holds great significance because it helps in getting rid of those pregnancies that can be harmful to either the fetus or mother or both. Also, victims of rape and incest do not have to go through the trauma of giving birth to an illegitimate child and then raising it on their own. A large number of women die every year because they choose to opt for unsafe ways of abortion. Unsafe methods of abortion have a high risk or injuring or killing the woman. Whereas, safe abortions are reducing the number of deaths and is also keeping the population in control. Because abortion is safe, British have now accepted it as a part of their life. More than five million women in Britain have been able to benefit from safe abortion ever since the 1967 Abortion Act became law in 1968 (Gillon 6).
Types of Abortion
There are two types of abortion which include Induced and Spontaneous. Majority abortions in the world are a result of unintended pregnancies. One-third pregnancy in the world is unintended and one-fifth result in induced abortion. Induced abortion can take place in several ways depending on the gestational age of the fetus. The procedure is then selected by the pregnant woman depending on the legality and availability of the procedure. There are two chief reasons for getting an induced abortion done known as therapeutic and elective (Gillon 7). Therapeutic abortion is done to save the life of the woman or the fetus, whereas, elective abortion is done at the request of the pregnant woman due to a number of reasons.
Spontaneous abortion is a term used for miscarriage. It is used to explain the unintentional ejection of the fetus from the female body. The most usual and common reason of spontaneous abortion is abnormalities in the chromosomes of the fetus. Some other reasons are diabetes, infection, vascular diseases and hormonal problems. At times, spontaneous abortion is also the result of trauma or stress. (Nobis 262)
Legal and Moral Views on Abortion
Abortion is a topic that usually starts debates concerning the legal and moral views. Abortion is not considered a light issue to this date and is still taken very seriously. Majority of the people believe that every life has a special moral status and taking the life of another person or not giving a chance to a fetus to be a born is a heinous sin. Most debates that take place concerning the abortion are focused primarily on law and morality. The questions that are mostly asked are ‘should abortion be treated as murder?’ or ‘should abortion be made a legal choice to the pregnant women.’ Abortion is a process that gives rise to countless ethical questions like the nature of rights, nature of personhood, personal decisions and personal autonomy. These questions prove how abortion is a huge ethical issue that needs to be resolved. Science, which is considered a solution for everything, suggests that a fetus is not conscious until four months which means no life exists in the fetus and it does not feel anything. Thus, it is safe to say that 99% of abortions that take place in the United States of America and are performed before the period are not really ‘murdering’ a life. According to the research, abortion is justified. However, this does not make abortion completely ethical (Nobis 265). It can be considered ethical under unavoidable circumstances. Secondly, a question arises if the pregnant woman has any ethical obligations to the fetus. A woman is ethically obligated to the fetus only when she consented to sex and did not use either protection or contraception. However, in case of rape, incest, hormonal abnormality, infection or disease, a woman is not ethically obligated to the fetus. Laws for abortion concerning the cultural and religious views vary all around the globe. In some countries, abortion is illegal, whereas, in some countries, it is legal in specific cases.
Analyzing Social Impact of Abortion
Abortion has a great social impact on the society. Its impacts differ from society to society, in some societies it has a good impact whereas, in other societies, it has negative impacts. For example, in most Muslim countries, the social impact of abortion is highly negative. However, we are going to discuss the positive social impact of abortion. Legal abortions have decreased the divorce rate. Secondly, domestic abuse has decreased as well because children or the risk of having children made women inferior to men. Furthermore, orphanages are now less packed than before. Abortion puts an end to children being born in extremely poor conditions. Hence, fewer children would have to see the walls of an orphanage. In addition to that, lesser children have to face child labor in order to feed themselves.
Argument
In my opinion, abortion should be made legal all around the world to avoid any severe consequences which may arise due to unsafe methods of abortion. Even now when the abortion is illegal in many parts of the world, women still choose to get an abortion done to avoid further issues. However, the process that they opt for is illegal and dangerous to the health of the woman and the fetus as well. Legalising it would save so many lives, reduce the number of children trapped in child labor, decrease the number of mouths to feed for a low-income family and population would be controlled too which would result in lesser habilitation centers. The government could save a lot of money by building lesser orphanages and habilitation centers and invest it somewhere else. Furthermore, it would help rape and incest victims in avoiding the trauma of giving birth to an illegitimate child and then raising it on its own. Lastly, for some women, pregnancy can bring a lot of health issues. To avoid these issues and to make sure that the pregnant woman is healthy, it is crucial to make abortion legal.
Addressing an Objection
The most widely raised objection when it comes to abortion is the right to life. Most people in the world, especially in the United States of America argue that a baby that is to be born is lawfully recognized as a human being. However, this does not make sense because as mentioned above, until a fetus is twelve weeks old, it does not develop the capability to feel anything or be conscious. The consciousness starts to develop in a fetus after twelve weeks. An abortion before this period is completely safe and does not necessarily takes someone’s ‘right to life.’ As we know, the field of medicine is advancing day by day, and more methods and technology are being introduced, abortion is also made easy and less painful. The entire process of abortion takes less than 15 minutes if done legally and safely. Legalization of abortion would only make things better and in favor of human beings around the world. However, as I continue to support abortion, I do not, by any means, support abortion that takes place as the result of consensual sex without contraceptives. Abortion should only be legalized for women with unavoidable circumstances like rape or incest. The legalization would also help in preventing the honor of rape victims, and lesser children will be born due to incest, hence, preventing the honor of children of incest as well. There are numerous reasons as to why abortion should be legalized, moreover, the positive impacts of abortion outweigh the negative impacts.
Works Cited
Gillon, R. “Is there a ‘new ethics of abortion’?”. Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 27, no. 2, 2001,
pp. 5-9.
Nobis, Nathan. “Abortion, Metaphysics and Morality: A Review of Francis Beckwith’s
Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice”. Medicine " Philosophy, vol. 36, no. 3, 2018, pp. 261-273.
