The Unfortunate Pros for Having an Abortion - Essay Example

The Unfortunate Pros for Having an Abortion Abortion has been a debatable issue in the recent past. There have been debates in many countries on whether abortion should be legalized or not. Proponents of abortion argue that abortion is of great significance to the whole world while opponents argue that it has immense negative impacts on the whole world (Intecon 27). While many people oppose abortion because they view it as murder, abortion has also had many advantages in our societies today. It is due to these facts that this study is aimed at analyzing the unfortunate pros for having an abortion. According to Intecon (67), abortion can be a good means of preventing unwanted pregnancies. This is because condoms and contraceptive drugs are not 100% reliable. In addition, some people do not use contraception. Sometimes women have abortions when the child is not wanted, or in the case of a medical emergency. Even if a couple has not acted in a responsible manner, women should still have the right to choose an abortion when it is necessary. However, abortion is usually the last option that is taken by people. In many cases, women may not have access to safe abortions. Furthermore, the decision is always a sad one because it haunts a woman for the rest of her life. In addition, the premature ending of a potential life is a tragedy. Since an unintended pregnancy can affect the quality of life of the mother and the relationship with family, it can also have adverse effects on the economic condition of a family and even cost the government large sums of money. Hence, abortion should be allowed even if it is a terrible choice for a woman to make. The reasons to legalize abortion are acceptable and known to be legitimate and important. To start with, unintended babies usually cause financial constraint in many families. As a result, the economic pressure can negatively affect the living conditions of single mothers, babies, intact families, and even the country. Monea & Thomas (2011) assert that “Among women who are teenaged, unmarried, or low-income, the proportion of pregnancies that are unintended exceeds 60%.” This shows that many women who are not able to raise babies have the problem of unplanned pregnancy. These women usually lack jobs or stable marriages, hence, they do not have enough income or a husband who can share the burden. As a result, they face big financial problems solely if they choose to keep fetus till maturity. For example, when a single mother has an unplanned child, she needs to spend a lot of money on buying baby carriages, milk, diapers, clothes and medicine. If she is unemployed, she faces a big problem, since she cannot get money to afford those things to support her child. Furthermore, even if she has a job, she may lose or quit her job because some jobs are too dangerous for a pregnant woman (Monea & Thomas 2011). Once she loses her job, she starts to suffer a lifestyle change and deal with poor living conditions. The baby also cannot receive the excellent treatment he or she needs. Unplanned pregnancy can not only bring a lesser quality of life for a single or young mother and the baby, but can also bring financial pressure to an intact family. If a family already has one or more children, having another child will bring more problems in terms of finance to the family. According to Monea & Thomas (2011), the family will bear a huge economic pressure of bringing up several children. This is because parents are supposed to buy food, clothes, books, and many necessary things for children. In the future, parents may need to pay expensive college tuition. Parenting seems to be a big challenge for most middle class families. Thus, the quality of their life may be diminished. Futhuremore, because too many parents are not able to provide basic needs for their children, the government is forced to spend a lot of money on the welfare system and on medical care. Monea & Thomas (2011) stipulate that even after we focus only on this particular category of public costs, our analysis shows that taxpayers spend more than $12 billion each year on unintended pregnancies. We also find that, if all unintended pregnancies were prevented, the resulting savings on medical spending alone would equal more than three quarters of the federal FY 2010 appropriation for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs and would be roughly equivalent to the amount that the federal government spends each year on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) (Monea & Thomas 2011). Lack of abortion has led to wastage of public funds. This is because money that should be going to the Head Start and Early Head Start programs is being used on mistakes done by impulsive people. According to the studies, children who get a very early start on their education, do much better in school for the rest of their educational life. Thus, unplanned pregnancies impact national economy. People carry on economic burden and face potential problems that can be avoided. Hence, people should be smart and choose the reasonable solution of using birth control but when they are impregnated accidently or unwillingly, they should still have the right to abort because they have a right to control decisions about their bodies. Secondly, illegalization of abortion has led many people to lose jobs. Thus, people should also consider the loss of opportunities caused by unwanted pregnancies. This implies that career plans, education plans, and marriage plans will all change by keeping unwanted pregnancy. In some cases, women get pregnant while they are attending college. They may need to take a temporary absence from school, thus, interrupting their education. They may lose out opportunities and exciting learning experiences. For example, they may not have the chance to enjoy the college fun, travel around country or study abroad. What usually happens is that after taking care of their babies for many years, most mothers fail to go back to school to pursue their degree (Colker 19). As a result, good work opportunities usually go forever. Their whole future may be ruined by unplanned pregnancies. In addition, women may lose the chance to date with different people and get a stable marriage. This is because it is difficult for a young single mother who has an unwanted pregnancy or child to find a guy who can accept both her and her child, and have a satisfactory marriage. In other cases, a single mother or a young couple may lose their independence, since they are forced to live with one of their parents. This will take a toll on their marriage if they want to be married. The grandparents may have to help them take care of their babies, which could add stress to their relationships with them. This fact has led to destruction of many families across the world. Thus, people should think carefully about the consequnces of having an unintended pregnancy and choose abortion as a reasonable solution. However, it must be said that one cannot be insensitive to the reasons why abortion is not a good solution to the problem of an unwanted pregnancy. This is because many religions such as Christianity, Islam and Buddhism are against the procedure. They consider it to be murder. Babies should have the chance to come into this world and have a good life. Whether one thinks that abortion is murder, or even if one believes a fetus is not yet a child, the act of eliminating this potential human being is not an easy decision for anyone. As much as many women abort or prefer abortion as the only means of avoiding unwanted pregnancies, they are affected by this action both psychologically and emotionally. Furthermore, she stands a problem of not getting any other child in her entire lifespan. She will also feel great sadness by losing a potential child of her own. Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States said that “When I was president, I announced and I still maintain that I can live with Roe v. Wade. I did everything I possibly could as president under that ruling, which I dont think ought to be changed, to minimize the need for abortions. I think every abortion is a result of a horrible series of errors on the part of people involved (A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, 2012.” However, abortion may be a necessary solution to an accidental pregnancy. One can only hope that abortions only occur when there is no other good solution. Unfortunately, abortion is usually the only solution to an unplanned pregancy. This is because women are the ones who bare the majority, if not all, of the responsibility for the child. An unintended pregnancy can affect adversely the quality of life for both mother and baby (Colker 33). It can also affect negatively the economic well-being of a family and even affect the national budget. In short, much is lost when a mother brings up an unwanted child including their economic welfare, health, level of education and relationship with family. Thus, abortion should be permitted when the situation calls for it. Works Cited A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. Abortion quotes. Web. Colker, Ruth. Abortion and Dialogue: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and American Law. Indiana University: Indiana University Press, 1992. Print. Intecon. Abortion ! Pros And Cons: Arguments, Views, Facts & Information. London: AuthorHouse, 2004. Print. Monea, Emily and Thomas, Adam. The High Cost of Unintended Pregnancy. Web. Read More