Abortion Rights - Essay Example

?Introduction Abortion in the United s is a contentious issue, which has existed over a period of more than 200 years. It is an important issue as it relates to the welfare of women, especially their right to exercise control over their reproductive life. In years preceding the Roe vs. Wade case and the Doe vs. Bolton case of 1973, majority of the states either prohibited abortion completely or with exceptions in cases where the pregnancy was as a result of rape, incest, or where the pregnancy posed danger to the health of the mother in addition to situations where the child was deformed. These exceptions however did not have proper definition especially in the context of the health of the mother. The Doe vs. Bolton case ruled by the Supreme Court helped to widen the definition of mother’s health to include psychological, emotional and physical impacts of a pregnancy on the mother thus creating an environment favorable for more abortions. This is due to the fact that Georgia and Texas prohibited abortions that did not pose any threats to the life of the mother especially if the pregnancy was more than 6 months (Ginsburg, 2009). In such a circumstance, a single mother such as Roe could not have performed an abortion irrespective of the fact that the pregnancy was a psychological and emotional burden for her. However, the Supreme Court ruling opened a platform for the formation of groups such as the prolife, to counter the relaxation of abortion laws and the subsequent formation of prochoice organizations to counter the prolife movements. This paper is a critical evaluation of abortion in the US with respect to prolife and prochoice arguments. Discussion Abortion should be legalized in all states as not only is this the right thing to do, but also due to the fact that government interference in personal matters amounts to infringement of the right to privacy as well as freedom of choice (Ginsburg, 2009). Unplanned pregnancies occur on daily basis either due to ignorance, carelessness, failure of contraceptives to inhibit fertilization or due to criminal activities such as rape among other factors. Despite the factors behind a pregnancy, it is the prerogative of a woman to choose the right time to start a family and this should be respected by the government and the society at large. The US is a democratic nation in which basic freedoms are protected by various acts of parliament as well as international treaties that the country is party to. Though the right to privacy is not written in the US constitution, the 9th amendment protects such rights from government interference. With regard to this right, a woman has the freedom to determine what happens with her body whether in terms of health or other occurrences that may subject her to emotional stress. Therefore, it is unethical for the government even to contemplate limiting what she can or cannot do with her body unless her actions contravene the laws stipulated in the constitution. The 14th amendment also requires due process while depriving a person of his or her liberties and therefore it is wrong for a government to deny women the right to their bodily privacy arbitrarily without considering their individual predicaments (Baird, 2001). The government should legalize abortion in order to reduce the prevalence of unsafe abortions in the country. It is a fact that criminalization of abortion does not lower the demand for abortion. Indeed, it only creates an opportunity for rogue physicians to open illegal clinics, which operate under unhygienic and dangerous conditions as a result of lack of government supervision. In case these women die or become sterile as a consequence of these abortions, there is no way they can seek legal redress to make the physicians accountable owing to the fact that they would be on the wrong side of the law themselves for having agreed to have the abortion. Some of the physicians operating these clinics are only motivated by the greed for money and riches and therefore, it may be easy to understand if they decide not to advise their clients against the idea of having an abortion either as counseling or due to probability of complications. Statistics indicate that before the Roe v Wade landmark case, more than 5000 women died in the US on annual basis as a result of unsafe abortions and this was mainly due to criminalization of abortion in majority of the US states. It is also believed that approximately 50% of illegal abortions worldwide occur in countries which have laws criminalizing abortion (Baird, 2001). This means that the US needs to continue protecting the lives of women by allowing them to access abortion services. In this way, the government would be in a position to license and monitor the activities of qualified personnel in the field in addition to collection of revenue from institutions offering such services, which would go a long way in facilitating development. Legalization of abortion is important, especially for the protection of teenagers from career destruction through discontinuation of education (Baird, 2001). Teenage pregnancies are a major problem in the contemporary society, owing to uncontrolled sexual behaviors that are propelled by peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse as well as other factors such as lack of self esteem. These young people have an opportunity to become great people in the society if they are allowed to continue learning without the burden of parenthood. More often than not, it is the girls who suffer most from the consequences of sexual encounters while their male counterparts suffer little or no interference in their day do day activities. This is one foundation of gender discrimination as the young girls drop out of school thus meaning that their futures would have to be characterized by lack of sufficient capacity to compete for jobs thus making them vulnerable to male domination. Allowing them to undergo abortion does not in any way promote irresponsible sexual behavior as no teenager in his or her right senses would desire to become a parent at a tender age and while still under parental care. It is only a solution to the fact that abstinence has proved to be a difficult thing to achieve in the contemporary society, where girls as young as 13 years are falling prey to tricks orchestrated by older males, who have no interest other than satisfaction of their sexual desires. On the other hand, abolitionists argue that legalizing abortion amounts to the licensing people to commit murder (Kaczor, 2010). This assertion is based on the premise that life begins at conception and therefore, the fetus should be considered as human and accorded thereof all human rights including the right to life. However, it is important to consider that the fetus is dependent on the mother’s existence in order for it to continue surviving. Therefore, there is no way that the freedoms of the mother can be infringed in its favor. In this context, the mother’s wellbeing is of paramount importance and therefore, she must be allowed to decide whether or not to have an abortion. For example, a pregnant woman cannot and should not be forced to maintain a pregnancy, which threatens her life and indeed, the child should be aborted immediately such an occurrence is detected. However, doctors need legal protection to avoid suffering consequences and this can only be present in a country where the law is pro abortion. It is also argued that abortion has the capacity to cause health complications, which may include death, infertility among others and therefore it should be criminalized (Kaczor, 2010). This is true considering the fact that proponents of abortion do not dispute this. However, from a prochoice perspective, illegalization of abortion only helps to make the matters worse as it promotes backdoor abortions which are unsafe. Research indicates that abortions carried out by qualified health professionals in a legal environment pose a minimal death risk of approximately 1 out of 100000 women, which may not be higher than the combined effects of illegal abortions. It is imperative that this issue be discussed without bringing in politics that are only directed at creating popularity for individuals and parties, which are always eager to utilize controversial issues to build support. Experts such as physicians are the ones who have the capability to examine and determine the safety of abortions and not laymen and women in the churches and political parties. Conclusion Abortion should be legalized as not only is it a protection of women rights but also due to the fact that its legalization would save numerous lives lost through illegal and unsafe abortions. The right to privacy is inalienable and though it is not stipulated word by word in the US constitution, the 9th amendment gives the Supreme Court the authority to protect it as it has done in the past in cases such as Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton. Abortion makes it possible for women to determine when they are ready to start families. This paper has observed that this is an important factor in the success of women in the society. A girl of 19 years has the right to engage in sexual activities but realistically, she is too young to start her own family. Even if she does so, higher chances are that she would end up in divorce. Such a young woman needs to be empowered with education but this may not be possible if she becomes pregnant Abortion has also been identified as a solution to deaths and injuries that arise from unsafe abortions. The argument here is that legalizing abortion increases accountability on the part of physicians as they would have to be supervised and regulated by the government thus ensuring safety. The opposition from pro-lifers on the basis of the assertion that abortion is equivalent to murder does not justify the sacrificing of pregnant women in favor of the unborn babies. In addition, complications as a result of abortion are minimal in a legal environment than in a society where it has been criminalized. References Baird, R. (2001).The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. Prometheus Books Ginsburg, F. (2009). Contested Lives: The Abortion Debate in an American Community. University of California Press Kaczor, C. (2010). The Ethics of Abortion: Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice. Routledge Read More

 

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