Should Abortion Be Legalized - Essay Example

Should Abortion be legalized? I do believe that abortion should be legalized. Abortion is an intentional termination of a pregnancy from a woman whereby the fetus is removed from the woman’s uterus and it should be performed by qualified medical personnel. I believe that women should be allowed to terminate unwanted pregnancies if the reasons for doing so are valid. The question that then comes to mind is ‘what are these valid reasons?’ the reasons for aborting can be classified under medical, social and economic reasons. I also believe that by legalizing abortion we will be saving the lives of hundreds of women we lose every year as a result of them attempting to undertake illegal abortions. These illegal abortions are usually conducted by quack medical personnel and hence the high death rate associated with illegal abortions (Johnson, 2002). The well being of the potential mother is one of the factors that should lead to abortion being conducted on medical grounds. In many cases, there are complications that develop during child birth and these complications might endanger the lives of both the unborn baby and the mother. For this reason, if the life of the mother is in danger and the only way to save her is to terminate the pregnancy, then I believe that the life of the mother should be given priority over that of the unborn child and therefore such a situation should provide enough grounds to conduct an abortion for legal purposes (Johnson, 2002). This will ensure that the life of the mother is preserved and when she recovers she can try to have another baby (Johnson, 2002). Rape is a valid social reason that should be considered in advocating for the legalization of abortion. Rape can be defined as having sexual intercourse with another person (in this case a woman) without his/her consent. Due to its very nature and from its definition, rape is a violent and traumatizing experience for the woman in question and should it result in a pregnancy then the woman will be stigmatized and she might even develop mental problems. For this reason a woman who is pregnant as a result of having been raped should be allowed to undertake a legal abortion as a way of mitigating the trauma that she has undergone (Tribe, 2008). Another social reason that provides a strong basis for the legalization of abortion is where the pregnancy is a result of an act of incest. Incest is defined as an act of sexual intercourse between two people who are related by blood. In most reported cases of incest, it usually involves an older relative taking advantage of the naivety and innocence of a young one and luring them into sex thus most of the reported cases involve children under the age of seventeen years. As a way of preserving their innocence, the parents or guardians of these young ones should be allowed to carry out legal abortions in order to terminate the pregnancy that resulted fro the act of incest. Incest also results in interbreeding which is the breeding that takes place between blood relations. Interbreeding results in unfavorable traits being passed onto the unborn baby and thus they may be born with congenital deformities. For this reason, pregnancies that results due to acts of incest should be terminated to prevent the women from having to raise children with congenital malfunctions (Tribe, 2008). Low income levels is an economic situation whereby a person has very little or no money at all. To provide proper care for a child, one will require money for things like clothes for the baby, milk to feed the baby, baby items such as pampers and many more. Additionally, one might be required to hire a nanny to take care of the baby while they are away. All these will demand that the woman has a reasonable income in order to provide reasonable care for the child. I deem it unfair to bring a child to this world only for them to be met with untold suffering due to the economic conditions of their parents and therefore parents who cannot afford the cost of taking care of a child should be allowed to legally undertake an abortion (Stotland 1998). The final reason that I will use to propose the legalization of abortion is the fact that women will always perform abortions whether or not there is legislation saying that there arte allowed to do so. In case where the act is illegal many of the trained and qualified personnel will not be willing to perform it and thus the women will turn to anybody performing the service in desperation (Tribe, 2008). This results in quack and untrained people performing the act for the money and hence many women might lose their lives due to complications that might develop during the operations (Tribe, 2008). The debate on abortion still rages on with many people taken a stand against this practice referring to themselves as the pro – life group. The pro – life group have advanced arguments with some of them touching on the sanctity of human life that is the unborn child, the norms in the society and the responsibility that lies with the woman to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. According to these people abortion is the same as murder as it involves the intentional termination of human life. It goes against the idea of protection of the sanctity that is the human life and no society that enjoys the fruits of civilization can permit one person to deliberately take the life of another without having to face dire consequences in the form of harsh punishment and abortion is no exception. Another argument that has been presented against abortion is the fact that the are alternatives that a mother can take incase she does not want to play a part in the child’s life and one of these major alternatives to aborting the child is going through with the pregnancy and instead of keeping the child, the mother should give it up for adoption. They argue that there is no such thing as an unwanted child and if the birth mother does not want to keep the baby, she should give it to the many people who are looking to adopt (Tribe, 2008). Another argument that has been put forward by the pro – life group is the fact that some women are using abortion as a form of contraception and that this should not be the case. Women should be responsible for the control of their bodies and this control should incorporate the taking of measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies. One of these measures is the responsible use of the contraception available or if this is not possible they should practice abstinence until they are ready for a pregnancy (Zoja 1997). The pro – life group also opposes abortion on medical grounds whereby the act of performing an abortion can result in one developing medical complications either during the operation or later in life. They argue that abortion increases one’s risk of experiencing ectopic pregnancies later on life and that it also increases the likelihood of miscarriage in future pregnancies. Still on the issue of medical complications, abortion increases one’s chances of acquiring pelvic inflammatory diseases (Johnson 2002). When we come to cases involving rape and incest, those against abortion argue that under proper medical care, measures can be taken to ensure that the victim does not fall pregnant. They see abortion as a punishment to the unborn child who is an innocent party in this scenario instead of the punishment being administered to the perpetrator (Zoja 1997). In support of my stand on the issue of abortion, I am going to advance some counter arguments to those ones advanced by the people who oppose legalizing of abortion. First and foremost, most of the abortions are carried out during the first trimester. At this point in time, the fetus cannot have an independent existence from that of the mother. Its existence, health and survival depends on that of the mother’s therefore the fetus cannot be regarded as an entity on its own separate from the mother and thus terminating a pregnancy at this point is not akin to murder (Stotland 1998).. Adoption cannot be regarded as an alternative to abortion. This is because the choice of whether to give up the child for adoption still remains with the woman. Many women still find this decision difficult to make after going through with the pregnancy therefore by denying a woman the right to abort an unwanted pregnancy we are putting her in a more difficult position by forcing her to decide whether or not she wants to keep the child. According to statistics, only a few women chose to give up their babies for adoption after giving birth. With regard to medical complications, abortion done under the right medical conditions and under the guidance of a qualified medical personnel (a situation that will be possible through the legalization of the act) should not result in any medical complications. Medical abortions have a very low risk factor and in most cases will not affect the health of the woman or her future ability to successfully carry a pregnancy to term. When we it comes to cases of rape or incest, making a woman go through with a pregnancy that has resulted fro this traumatizing act will result in a further psychological harm being inflicted on her and thus as stated earlier her welfare should be put in consideration first before that of the unborn child ( Zoja 1997). Pregnancy has been known to occur even among women who have rightly used contraceptives and the argument that some people are using abortion as a form of contraception is not just. Statistics show us that only a small percentage of women who choose to have abortions do not apply any method of birth control, a fact which can be attributed to carelessness on an individual level and not on the fact that they have abortion to fall back on. Finally, it is a fundamental civil right for a woman to have full control over her own body. This full control encompasses the choices that she makes when it comes to her reproductive life. If we open the door on the government to compel a woman to carry to term a pregnancy, then other issues will start popping up, for instance what about compelling her to use contraceptives or forced sterilization ( Zoja 1997). All in all, I will conclude by saying that abortion should be legalized and it should be the woman’s prerogative to decide whether or not they are going to go through with a pregnancy or whether they are going to terminate it (Stotland 1998). Reference Johnson, William. (2002). Chaos in Ashes. London: Harold Robbins Publishers. Tribe, Laurence. (2008). Abortion: The clash absolutes. New Jersey: Paw Prints. Stotland, Nada. (1998). Abortion: Facts and feelings. New York: Cengage Publishers. Zoja, Eva. (1997). Abortion: Loss and renewal in the search for identity. London: Routledge Publishers. Read More