Abortion issues in America - Essay Example

OF THE PAPER: RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON ABORTION ISSUES IN AMERICA WORD COUNT: 2038 REFERENCES WORD COUNT: 439 Abortion is a thorny issue in most of the countries, especially so in America. People are passionate in expressing their points of view and this debate has always remained sensitive. People like Fr. Frank Pavone had been forcing media to show the horrifying effects of an abortion on a baby and had been working through his "Priests for Life." On the other side of the picture, abortion clinics and workers are frightened of Christian workers, whom they call Christian terrorists, working against abortion with religious fervor. There is another issue of gender abortion, mainly amongst people from Asian countries settled in America, though female infanticide is not limited only to Asian countries. Abortion is a social problem in America. People with modern viewpoints are comfortable with it and others with rigid and fanatical views are against it. There is also a minority, who supports both, rather apologetically and argues that the issue should be tackled according to the situation without being suffused by emotional turmoil. Instead of bristling with moral fanatism, it is beneficial to keep an open mind on the issue and act as circumstances dictate. Before 1973, abortion was illegal in America, unless the mother's health or life was threatened, but now it is legalized making it the choice of the mother to decide with the well known Roe vs. Wade decision. Today, even though legalized abortion has become a part of everyday life, arguments for and against have not stopped raging. There are public education projects, so that woman does not develop guilt and regret and they encourage women to take it in their stride. It is reported that nowadays abortions are mainly performed due to men, and women are sometimes forced into it. "Abortion has turned into something that women are being coerced into from boyfriends/husbands unwilling to be fathers, out of fear of the financial pressure, out of panic from losing their jobs, out of panic from having to quit school, or become homeless, or out of fear of their parents kicking them out into the street," http://www.afterabortion.com/social.html There is no doubt that number of abortions had been steadily increasing. Before 1972, there were 184 and after 1972, there were 189 abortions per 1000 live births. Pro-abortion people always point out at the decrease of child abuse. "Supporters of Roe v. Wade said legalized abortion would reduce the incidents of child abuse by reducing the number of unwanted children; but the statistics clearly demonstrate that the reverse is true." http://www.alislam.org/library/links/abort.html American President Bush, who romped back to Whitehouse with anti-abortion as one of his vehicles, said: "I don't think the culture has changed to the extent that the American people or the Congress would totally ban abortions," Bush said in answer to a question at a news conference. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-10-28-bush-abortion_x.htm There are women who could undergo abortion without any sense of remorse and they are happy that this choice is available to them legally. Then there are women, who get affected for life, scarred for months and years and go through life with guilt, remorse and repentance. There are men who would like to take the responsibility of their children, even if it is out of wedlock. There are enough men, who would not like to do so, and when the mother goes for Child support, it antagonizes them and sometimes, the acuteness of it drives them farther away from the child. Many women complain that they are threatened by the father of the baby against keeping the child. "As Daniel Callahan puts it, "If legal abortion has given women more choice, it has also given men more choice as well. They now have a potent new weapon in the old business of manipulating and abandoning women," http://www.afterabortion.com/social.html The research proposal I want to present is based on the assumption that unnecessary abortion should be avoided as far as possible, when simple safe sex could be the answer. Carelessness, ignorance and irresponsibility should not lead to the death of a budding life. But there might be extraordinary circumstances that might demand an abortion. Whatever it is, the decision belongs to the woman, as it is her body, her health, her future and her discomfort that is involved here. As it is her responsibility to bring up the baby, decision should entirely belong to her. Abortion is an important issue that could affect mankind in many ways. It could be argued that it is inhuman, unkind and sinful. It is a sentimental issue that could haunt for years with a practical overtone in it. Men and women are acutely affected by it in different ways. Teenage and unwed pregnancies, change of plans about marriage or co-habitation, pregnancy resulting out of unprotected sex and rape, unplanned pregnancies, and pregnancies in low income groups, all end up in abortion. It will show the present percentage of men and women for and against it, once the research is complete. CONCEPTS: I am trying to link Concept of rights, key to the abortion issue and the Ethical concept in this research. It is proved that educated cultures are more prone to abortion. Whites, who cover 69% of the population, have 41% of national abortions, Blacks, who are 32% of the population, have 12% of abortions, Hispanics are 13% of the population and are responsible for 20% of the abortions. http://theologica.blogspot.com/2005/11/abortion-in-america.html I feel that Rights and its Ethical side are two major concerns in the issue of abortion. HYPOTHESIS: I want to examine the Child Abuse angle. I feel that if abortion is prohibited, resentful pregnancies and unwanted babies will result in child abuse, thereby creating further complications and unfulfilled lives. Nothing, absolutely nothing could be as horrendous as child abuse. A helpless child in the hands of cruel and unthinking parents is the worst scenario in the society; perhaps much worse than the murder of an unborn child. I would like to probe this angle in relevance with prohibition laws, possibilities and modifications. DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: I want to keep Religion as independent variable, and morality as dependent variable. Religion plays perhaps the most important role in issues like abortion. Even modern people, untouched by the religious issues, still have a mindset, handed over to them by the previous generations, who were definitely influenced by religious upbringing, and they decide on emotional and ethical issues according to this mindset. "The teaching of a religious body may invoke revelation, claim authority, employ symbolism, which make the moral doctrine it teachers binding for believers in the religion but of academic concern to those outside its boundaries. The moral teaching of a religious body may also embody insights, protect perceptions, exemplify values, which concern humanity," says Noonan (1977, p.3). The numbers reflect an interesting religious matrix. Escaping religion as an issue in abortion is almost impossible. "Catholics are 24% of the population and have 27% of the abortions. Protestants are 49% of the population and have 43% of the abortions. 13% of those having abortions are self-described Born-Again or Evangelical Christians http://theologica.blogspot.com/2005/11/abortion-in-america.html If we go through the already existing literature on abortion, the flavor of religious fanaticism is highly apparent. "Roe vs. Wade was both a manifestation of that disintegration and a powerful catalyst of its acceleration. It is a sign of the death of Christian culture. And this death is no more evident than in that foundational institution of society, the family." http://www.patriarch.com/article.phpop=Print&sid=165 Dependent variables are scores from a test or results from a research or ratings on questionnaire. These could be converted into another dependent issue and my aim will be to see how much of it is morality and how much is a habit. Many times, a habit, an accepted norm, a time proved way of life becomes our moral point of view. People adapt it automatically without pausing to think, or to question why. It is time honored and hence it should be the next thing to God. From religious concept, we can derive the dependent variable of morality and the actual strength of it. "The rapid advancement in medical practice in caring for the unborn, and present and future possible ways to render him "born alive" long before the normal time of human birth, are depriving us of "birth" as a seemingly significant distinction in our moral reflection upon the care to be extended to new life," Noonan (1977, p.87). There is no denial that morality as part of society is invaluable. It is the corner stone that carries cultural societies forward. An immoral society could only be regressive. "Yet a person's understanding of morality will in good measure shape his understanding of the common good; and people will disagree about action which contributes to or injures the as deeply as they disagree about the feature of actions that are "sin." Noonan (1977, p.63). MEASURING THE CONCEPT: Concept of Rights mainly concerns with the rights of the unborn child, rights of the mother, and sometimes the rights of the father. It is important to convert this theory into operational concepts that could make it work and give research results. Ethical concept raises questions about killing a child that cannot be called ethical. It could be an unborn fetus; but it hopes to come into this world and it is still a life, born or not, and destroying life is unethical. I feel that concept of the rights should be seen in the context of concept of ethics and only then they co-relate with one another. Without each other's support, they are rather empty and meaningless. They can operate side by side and these concepts have to be established by research. Concept of rights has many dimensions. First step would be assessment of rights of the father, mother and mainly, that of the unborn child. Does society have a responsibility towards unborn children or not What is the right of unborn children against humanity This has to be measured from moral, legal and social viewpoints. These concepts could be covered by sampling, research, and workshop and group discussions. VARIABLE MEASUREMENT: Measurement is the process by which we assign numbers to indicate the amount of some variable. Sometimes they are difficult to understand and named as male and female. Variables have to be clear in any research and if they have to be effectively manipulated, confusion and false conclusions should be avoided. Numerical data wherever available, could be used. There are four levels of measurements depending on the type of variables: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio and these levels, as applicable to present research, could be used without much of contradiction. The dependent variable (DV) is that variable which the experimenter is seeking to exert an influence over. http://www.chssc.salford.ac.uk/healthSci/resmeth2000/resmeth/depvars.htm RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF MEASUREMENT: Reliability more or less depends on the social elements and the groups through which the research has to be carried out. Some people become emotional and present a wrong picture at times, though they are very sober while not being interviewed. Some manipulate their answers according the circumstances and form their own judgments. Concept and perspective of concepts too can change. As this is not a pure scientific subject it is tough to be depending on numerical study. Social subjects involve feelings, prejudices, bias, maneuvering and constraints, emotions and sometimes are too easy to be manipulated. Reliability should be established with repeated research methods. Validity of the issue will be a very long one. Though many laws on abortion and child rearing have changed and updated, basic thinking of the people has not altered much. No doubt, modern tendencies like gay marriages, homosexuality have been sweeping the western world. But it would take centuries before the society accepts complete changes unconditionally without resentment and hence, validity should be for a long period. RESEARCH DESIGN: It is better to keep the Research design as simple as possible to avoid confusion. Diverse sampling, repeated measurements, interviews, group studies culminating in assessment of all measures are needed. It is advisable to get responses from women at the threshold of an abortion and also immediately after the abortion so that all doubts and negative reactions could be assessed properly. Usually stress and emotion comes across the research framework. Wild relief, unhappiness, guilt are always easy to assess through these groups. National sampling is another way of getting excellent results. Research would mainly concentrate on emotional upheavals and physical discomforts, which at times, depends on emotional well-being. Research has to assess the psychological response against and for abortion. Psychological risks the concerned people go through during and after abortion are not small. ADVANTANGES AND DISADVANTAGES: Advantages are that while researching, first hand information is available not just through words, but by the body language and feelings that come across. There is no better alternative in a research of this kind to talking to the actually affected people. The disadvantages are manipulation of facts, lying, contradicting themselves, forgetting what was told in the first interview, giving the best poses, trying to influence or impress the researchers with self-righteousness and selective memory - all these could be disadvantages. Yes, I would like to sample, not just for abortion, but for the resultant child abuse too as explained in the research method. For child abuse, researcher can depend on affected children, psychologists, parents, teachers, siblings, peers, fellow students, social workers, and physicians. If there are reported cases, police authorities, law enforcement officers could be contacted. There will be many social problems like the resentment of fanatic and militant religious groups. There are ethical issues that could present problems. Religious groups could pose much more concerns. Hindus mostly are against abortion, even though the trend is changing now quite fast. Still there are fanatic pockets that are vehemently against it. Buddhists and Jains are totally against abortion as the religion is against any form of killing and destroying. We are well aware of the views of Christian fanatics. Muslims are not comfortable with abortion either, as they have not yet reconciled with family planning itself. Morally and ethically people are uncomfortable with destroying children, even though they are yet to be born. I feel that it is a timely, useful and meaningful research that could convey many issues across the country, by trying to establish a middle path. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Noonan, John T. Jr. (1977), The Morality of Abortion, Legal and Historial Perspectives, Harvard University Press. 2. Tribe, Laurence H. (1992), Abortion, The Clash of Absolutes, W.W. Norton & Company, London. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.afterabortion.com/social.html 2. http://theologica.blogspot.com/2005/11/abortion-in-america.html 3. http://theologica.blogspot.com/2005/11/abortion-in-america.html 4. http://www.chssc.salford.ac.uk/healthSci/resmeth2000/resmeth/depvars.htm 5. http://www.patriarch.com/article.phpop=Print&sid=165 6. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-10-28-bush-abortion_x.htm 7. Read More