Introduction and History of Abortion

Right now, thousands of children around the world are in a ‘live or die’ situation, in which their mother decides, without even knowing them, whether to keep or to terminate them. Because this topic of abortion covers a wide range of aspects, this essay will present two groups. The Pro-Choice group who argue that a woman has the right to abortion, because it’s her body, she can do whatever she likes; the Pro-Life group argue that Abortion is not safe for both the mother and the child, and while the mother has rights, so too does the baby.


Abortion can be traced back to ancient times where pregnancies were terminated in a number of ways, including the use of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, and other proficiencies. Abortion has subsided in almost every society. This site gives a brief history of abortion.

Even though the United States (US) government stopped funding for women with low-income in receiving health insurances and services, it had no effect on the number of abortions in the years following.

The US Supreme Court then introduced the ‘right-to-privacy’ law on abortion, discussing that a woman has rights to an abortion depending on her current pregnancy trimester. Abortion was now legal. But what the court failed to cover is when human life begins, the rights that a woman has over her body, and how far governments can intervene in private lives of women. This caused the American nation to divide into groups known as Pro-Choice and Pro-Life, which groups have spread worldwide for people to sound their beliefs on abortion.

Pro-Choice

Pro-Choice believes that a woman’s decision on abortion should not be interfered by the government, and that she should be allowed to have an abortion in all cases. Robinson (2010) states that most people who belong to the pro-choice groups;

“base their stance on the belief that human life becomes a human person at some time after conception -- perhaps when the embryo's heart starts beating, or when the fetus first looks human, or it becomes sentient, or it has half emerged from its mother's body, or is born, or is severed from its mother and is functioning independently.”

This site discusses reasons why women go through abortions, one reason being that they have no moral or financial support from anyone close to them. Discussing that there’s a need for more specialists in health clinics who can give help to those seeking the process of abortion.

The women of the world need help! This year’s G8 Meeting, have come to a conclusion that there is a need for more skilled health workers who are able to deliver critical obstetric care & reducing the amount of maternal deaths in the developing world. This article talks about what can happen this year if we work together and lend a hand to those in need, and that women around the world have the right to access safe & legal abortion.

Pro-Life

The supporters of life believe that abortion is murder! Governments should stop a woman’s determination to go through the process of abortion in some, a few, countless, or all cases and bid that she continues her pregnancy till child birth. Robinson (2010) states that human life begins during the process of conception and that

“A human pre-embryo, embryo and fetus are all persons entitled to fundamental human rights, including the most basic right: to be allowed to live. The lives of two humans are being considered here: that of the woman and her life and the pre-embryo, embryo, or fetus.”

Since the legalisation of abortion, there have been many researches on the after effects of abortion on women, two long term damages were found, thus being; Physiological and Psychological effects. 

Pro-Choice groups say that women should have access to legal and safe abortions. Abortions have harsh after effects on the mother as mentioned in the previous link, 27% of women who’ve had abortions suffer infertility or future complications, even death. Is this ‘safe’?

Here you can read about thousands of students around the world who are against abortion in which they lose their voice for one day for those who will never have one.

Both Sides

Here are the statistics based upon the number of abortions worldwide and abortions within the US alone. It covers demographic views of women getting abortions, to name a few; who’s having abortions in terms of age, race, marital status, religion, income, etc and why women have abortions.

Although some people may think that the mother has rights to abortion because her life is traumatically impacted by having a baby, we should also take into account the baby’s life, and the rights that were never given to it. No matter what rights the mother has, it doesn’t mean that we can deny the fetus’ rights.

However, a question arise; what if a woman was raped? Looking at the statistics within the US alone, only 1% of abortions occur because of rape, incest, or the life of the mother being in danger. 1%! That hardly justifies the troubling amount of abortions that happens these days compared to the other 93% who have abortions for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

If a mother chooses to go ahead with the pregnancy chances are she will give the baby up for adoption-most likely the child will be abused, or she will keep the child and be a bad mother, which in this case wouldn’t be fair on the child either way and it would have been better for her to abort the child in the first place.

Conclusion

In my own opinion abortion is an inhumane practice, from the statistics provided over 4,000 children’s lives are destroyed in the name of choice every day, and at the same time over 4,000 women are emotionally damaged each day. If a woman has been raped, is abortion the only answer? If it is, she should think about her own life and the after effects that it will have on her.