Essay/Term paper: Abortion

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Abortion

Abortion


During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of
the most debatable subject of controversy in the United States. It discusses
human interaction where ethics, emotions and law come together. Abortion poses a
moral, social and medical dilemma that faces many individuals to create a
emotional and violent atmosphere. There are many points of view toward abortion
but the only two fine distinctions are "pro-choice" and "pro-life". A pro-
choicer would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers
and the state has no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that from the
moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive. This life imposes on us a
moral obligation to preserve it and that abortion is tantamount to murder
(Kolner 5).

In the United States about 1.6 million pregnancies end in abortion. Women
with incomes under eleven thousand are over three times more likely to abort
than those with incomes above twenty-five thousand. Unmarried women are four to
five times more likely to abort than married and the abortion rate has doubled
for 18 and 19 year olds. Recently the U.S. rate dropped 6 percent overall but
the rate of abortion among girls younger than 15 jumped 18 percent. The rate
among minority teens climbed from 186 per 1,000 to 189 per 1,000.

The most popular procedure involved in abortions is the vacuum aspiration
which is done during the first trimester (three months or less since the women
has become pregnant). A tube is simply inserted through the cervix and the
contents of the uterus are vacuumed out. The most commonly used type of second
trimester abortion is called dilation and evacuation. Since the fetus has bones,
bulk and can move, second trimester is not as simple. When as much of the fetus
and placenta are vacuumed out then tweezers are used to remove larger parts.
After this, or the beginning of the fifth month abortion is serious and actually
induced as childbirth. That is, the mother is given substances which puts her
into labor and delivers the fetus as she would a full-term baby. About 40
percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal and 40 percent
believe it should be banned except when the pregnancy threatens the life of the
mother or is the result of rape or incest. Also 15 percent b eveit should be
illegal in all cases. Although abortion is regarded as a women's right, it
should be banned with exceptions because it's considered murder, has many
psychological side effects and there is an alternative.

Abortion is a women's own right and choice. In 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision
proved this by recognizing abortion as a fundamental constitution right and made
it legal in all states. The law now permits abortion at the request of the women
without any restrictions in the first trimester and some restrictions in the
second trimester to protect the women's health. The National Abortion Right Act
League argues that without legal abortion women would be denied their
constitutional right of privacy and liberty. The women's right to her own body
subordinates those of the fetus and the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade argued
that the women's "right to privacy" overruled the fetus's right to life. If
abortion was illegal it would force poor women to bear and raise children they
can't afford to bring up. There would be a number of unsafe abortions in back
allies. It would also force women to give up their dreams and stay home to
bring up babies. Worst of all, it would condemn victims o apeand incest to carry
and nurture the offspring of their rapist.(Kolner 5) Abortion is necessary for
women to have control over their own bodies and life. One activist said, "If I
hadn't had that abortion my life would have been a disaster. I wouldn't have
made it to medical school. I was married at that point to a very ill man and it
would have been terrible to have to have my baby. People who need abortions are
in some kind of turmoil and it's really a life-saving thing."(Blender 4) To
ignore the rights of others is selfish and injustice. Women must have the right
to control the functions of their own bodies. Revern George Gardiner pastor of
the college Hill United Methodist Church, told the council that the ordnance
would have done little good. "Young women need the freedom to make choices for
their reproductive life when their family can't guarantee them parental
support."(Lynn B6-7) Women should not be forced to have babies they don't want.
They must be able to decide what happe ns to them and have a safe plus legal way
of doing so. Women are in control of their own bodies and lives. Legislators
have no right to interfere. The practical assertion that since pregnancy
involves a women's body, the choice of continuing that pregnancy must be hers
alone. This was the first given buerful theoretical articulation and defense by
Judith Thomson.(meilander 3)

However, abortion is considered murder by half of all Americans. Pro-lifers
believe that human life begins at the moment of conception. When the merge of
the egg and sperm is complete, they are fertilized and known as the "zygote".
The zygote contains a full set of 46 chromosomes which is required to create a
human life. Scientists identify that at the moment of fertilization the ovum
takes on a entirely different destiny, life. About 15,000 genes from the sperm
and ovum form a unique combination. This is nothing less than a new human life
at its earlier stage of life. In the United States many infants will not make it
to puberty, old age or even their second birthday. Just because of their
shortened life, it doesn't mean that it never existed. Dr. Nathanson stopped
preforming abortions after becoming aware of the horrors he observed. "A woman
has the right to go to bed with who she wants, but she can not choose death for
her child. It's a direct violation of human rights." (Koval i grid c-7) Anthony
Simpson has a photo of a aborted fetus and believes that abortion is nothing
less but ruthless murder. In southern Kentucky, Robert Hollis brutally assaulted
his wife in effort to abort the fetus he suspected wasn't his. He successfully
did so and Caroll believed Hollis set out intentionally to kill that fetus and
that is in fact murder. Kristina Kleg a graduate from high school has recently
become pregnant and decided against abortion. She feels that it's an innocent
child inside of her. It has a brain and a heart therefore it also has a right to
life. "Abortion is the unnatural end of pregnancy. That child has a right to
life that is equal to the mothers right. One cannot kill another human being
just because they wished it wasn't around. Abortion is murder of the innocent
practiced on a national scale." (Abortion: The Personal, Medical and Social
Dilemma) Overall it has been proven that the fetus is a real person. It responds
to noise, has feeling and fears. To h ave an abortion it will destroy an
innocent life which is directly connected to murder.

Scientific research has successfully shown that abortion causes many
psychological side effects. It leaves the woman with many strong feelings about
their desicion. They feel sadness, wishing things could have been different and
grief for a lost life. Guilt arises because they know a fetus represents an
independent life. Anger builds up towards other people having to do with their
desicion. Sometimes the mother may feel that she has infact been abandoned. Most
of all the mother feels ashamed and embarrassed about her action. People close
to the mother may be angry at her for ending her pregnancy and make it difficult
for her to deal with. Even years after the abortion, women tent to remember the
regretful experience. They usually wonder what the baby would have looked like
and its birthday. Thirty-three year old Michelle Urbain of south Florida has had
five abortions so far. She realizes now that they all left emotional scares her
that are unbearable. "It wasn't just a mass of cell t was children I was
killing." (Kovaleski c-7) It maybe a month or a year but feelings do catch up
with the mother. Symptoms like nightmares, panic attacts and flashbacks are
signs of a recently discovered Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS). According to a
study published by Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Valves and
Social Change, one in five women studied had diagnosable stress disorders.
(Lyons d-11) Also two in five had sleep disorders and flashbacks following
abortion.