Abortion is an issue that divides the population along moral lines. The supporters claim that each person has the right to choose what they do with their lives. On the other hand, those against the idea cite immorality of the practice in killing of the innocent child. In traditional times, the doctors procured abortions through strenuous chores, which led to miscarriages. Later, the doctors begun using medical concoctions created from an assortment of herbs with questionable safety. Therefore, legalization improved the practice by reducing the number of dead mothers due to infections or injuries received during the process.
Abortion
Introduction
Abortion is the intentional elimination of a pregnancy before the child is in a position to live independently outside the body of the mother. The legality of the issue depends on the laws and regulations implemented in the country. In the United State, abortion is permissible in states such as Colorado and Texas. However, some countries such as Colombia and Jamaica permit abortion only under circumstances where the life of the mother is at stake. In the fourteenth amendment, every person has the legal right to choose what he or she needs to do with his or her life. Similarly, abortion falls within the bracket, and the legalization of the process was to avoid limiting the rights accorded to the population by the constitution. Since the first abortion, it is right to accept that significant improvements are the reason behind the considerable reduction on the number of fatalities associated with the practice.
History of Abortion
The first cases of abortion occurred in Egypt in 1550 BC as recorded in the Papyrus reeds (Atighetchi, 2007, p. 127). During the time, the doctors procured abortions by engaging the women in strenuous activities, fasting or pouring hot water on the abdomen. Most of the upcoming medics learned the art of abortion through observation. Apart from Egypt, countries such as Japan used similar strategies and created statues in memory of the process. In ancient Greek, abortion became a gynecological procedure performed by midwives. However, it was illegal for the women to procure abortions without permission from the husband. The medical practitioners used herbs such as silphium and birthwort to obtain the abortion.
In the United States and Britain, professional women assisted the pregnant women to procure abortions by mixing concoctions such as black hellebore and savin. The women combined the boiled products with milk and drunk it. During the time, both the government and the church did not pay attention to the practice. However, in the mid-19th century, humanitarian reforms in the world necessitated the enactment of rules to curb the practice. During the time, the scientific development in medical procurement of abortion was poor. Therefore, many people suffered primary infections necessitating the need for regulation. In Greece, for example, some of the medics procured abortions through the perforation of the womb to get out the child. In the process, the crude weapons used in the process inflicted injuries on other parts of the body leading to death.
Besides, the poor medical anesthetics available could not disinfect the tools safely. Therefore, the patients suffered from infections and injuries, which were very severe. In other cases, the medics gave the patients concoctions with toxic elements (Bennett " Davies, 2015, p. 92). The inadequate chemical knowledge in the society could not verify the exact effect of the plants on the human body. Therefore, cases of people dying in the process of procuring abortions were high. For example, a woman in Colorado died after consuming pennyroyal essential oil meant for abortion. However, the medical advancement improved the procedures to safer practices and the enactment of regulations aimed at preventing misuse.
Politics of Abortion
In the political scene, abortion is a subject of interest for the presidential aspirants. In the United States election of 2012, the issue created considerable rifts in the population between the supporters and those against it. In the Democratic Party, the people pushed for the legalization of abortion while the Republicans opposed the move. The subject of contention revolved around the reasons surrounding the practice. For example, a majority of the Democrats believed that a rape victim should procure an abortion to avoid the psychological trauma associated with the bearing the child. However, most of the Republicans proposed that the practice should be illegal irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy. The divisions of the population on the issue signified the varied ideas and the reasons behind the beliefs.
The political leaders consider abortion to be an issue that can affect the performance of the candidate in the elections. In 1960, women in the civil rights movement championed for equal rights with their male counterparts. The issue of abortion came up during the time. Women, who were the leading proponents of the idea, held demonstrations as they rallied for support from other groups to push for legalization of abortion (Rose, 2008, p. 128). Other teams such as the civil liberties and liberal clergy supported the women by pushing for reforms in the laws making the practice illegal. From the push, a few states allowed the practice. However, the rules outlined some reasons, such as child pregnancy, which made the practice legal. The state placed the role of deciding on the doctor. Despite the legality, women complained of the high costs incurred on the method.
In 1970, New York joined the states, which permitted abortion (Williams, 2016, p. 302). However, the law allowed the practice before the child was twenty-four weeks old. More so, the process should occur in an equipped medical facility with qualified doctors. In anticipation, the hospitals experienced a high number of patients procuring the service. The nongovernmental organizations invested financial support for the women. The groups gave women huge loans to obtain the service while pushing the government to reduce the cost. The part of the population against the service went to court to stop the practice. In 1973, the courts directed that all human beings have a right to personal choices as accorded by the fourteenth amendment. In the ruling, the courts decided that women have a right to choose what to do with the pregnancy provided it was on the first trimester.
The Catholic bishops opposed the ruling from a moral ground aimed at protecting the life of the unborn child. Despite the opposition, the safety of women changed immensely. For example, the cases of unsafe abortions reduced. The doctors guaranteed the women optimal care and high health standards during the process. Positive changes regarding reduced deaths and infections were evident. The health facilities procuring the services increased with most of the financiers being women. Most of the hospitals in the states desisted from offering the services despite the legality. Therefore, persons with low incomes had no option but to procure the services from the quack doctors. In 1980, feminists in the country equipped private hospitals with the necessary facilities to provide the services. The low costs clinics gave the women an opportunity at enjoying their right despite the financial constraints.
Benefits of Abortions
In the twentieth century, the United States transferred power to declare abortion legal on the respective states in the country. Therefore, the laws vary depending on the rules implemented in the country. Medically, abortion assists women in maintaining strong mental health. One of the reasons why the population supported abortions was to eliminate pregnancies acquired through sexual assault. Such pregnancies expose the women to psychological torture, as the child is a constant reminder of the ordeal. Abortion assists such people to recover from the trial and move on with life. Procurement of safe abortion assists in improving the health services in the department. Medical institutions record information from the patients and the data assists in enhancing the services that do not deliver the expected results. For example, doctors can identify abortion medicine with the fastest recovery and fewer side effects leading to better services.
Abortion helps in the preservation of the life of the mother (Cates " McIntosh, 2001, p. 100). Some pregnancies are problematic to the point of risking the lives of the mother. For example, in an ectopic pregnancy, the fertilization and attachment of the egg occur in the fallopian tube. If the doctors left such a pregnancy to mature, both the mother and the child would die since the organ cannot sustain the child. In such cases, the most logical step to take is terminating the pregnancy. Therefore, the abortion prioritizes the safety of the mother before the child. Abortion guarantees the protection of the mother on cases where the pregnancy is problematic. Statistically, more women die from childbirth as opposed to abortions since the enactment of laws supporting the practice. Thus, medical abortion improves the mental health of the mother and guarantees the safety of the mother when the pregnancy is full of issues.
Side Effects of Abortion
Abortion pills are safe. The technological improvement in the medical field allowed scientists to study medicine and come up with safe pills for the process. In the past, the unqualified doctors damaged the uterus during the procedures. In such cases, the patients suffered from excessive bleeding and acquired infections that risked the life of the mother. In such times, it became impossible for the woman to get a child in later years. The damage to the uterus weakened the ability of the womb to hold the child for the entire period of maturity. Medically, the legalization of the process presented the scientists with enough time to invest in studying the procedure for safer methods. However, some patients suffer from mental health after abortion (Lee, 2003, p. 24). The mothers feel that the process broke the bond between them and the child. The feeling of guilt pushes them to emotional breakdown and stress.
Conclusion
Abortion is a medical process that begun thousands of years ago. Although the evidence is minimal due to the inability of the people to read, write and keep records, the oldest records originate from Africa. During the time, most people did not consider the immorality of the actions but rather a successful completion of the process. In time, different states discuss the process at the local and political platforms. The population engaged the services of the judiciary in determining the legality of the issue while the politicians used the vice as campaign material. However, it is right to appreciate that legalizing abortion is the primary reason behind the safe procedures through reduction of the rate of infection and death of the mothers. Currently, governmental hospitals provide the services at a cheaper rate making it affordable for a more significant part of the population to discourage quack doctors from practice.
References
Atighetchi, D. (2007). Islamic bioethics : problems and perspectives. New York: Springer.
Bennett, L. " Davies, S. (2015). Sex and sexualities in contemporary Indonesia : sexual politics, health, diversity, and representations. London: Routledge.
Cates, C. L., " McIntosh, W. V. (2001). Law and the Web of Society. Georgetown University Press.
Lee, E. (2003). Abortion, motherhood, and mental health: medicalizing reproduction in the United States and Great Britain. Transaction Publishers.
Rose, M. (2008). Abortion : a documentary and reference guide. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Williams, D. (2016). Defenders of the unborn : the pro-life movement before Roe v. Wade. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
