Statistics and Legalization of Abortion - Essay Example

ABORTION Introduction Life, one of the most precious gifts given to us by God, something man had struggled so hard to conquer through medical advanceand technological developments but has failed to do so. Life guarantees our existence in the world and Abortions aims at putting an end to. This view on life and abortion may sound very crude, therefore we are going to probe into this topic in more detail, viewing all aspects of it, which include religious aspects, legal aspects, pro and against abortion views and of course the medical aspects of abortion. In very simple words, abortion is the final consequence of a woman's decision of terminating her pregnancy. However, the reasons responsible for this decision vary immensely with individuals and the circumstances they are up against. Forms of Abortion In medical terms there are two types of abortion; one is miscarriage, also called spontaneous abortion which mostly occurs in early pregnancy say due to environmental factors, the age and the health of the pregnant women. This risk of miscarriage is high among women over the age of 35 or among those who have a history of several spontaneous or induce abortion. The second type of abortion is induced abortion, and has become synonymous to the word abortion today. This form of abortion can be due to many reasons and is therefore surrounded by an intense social and moral debate. The practice of induced abortion can be traced back in to history where certain sharp tools were used for this procedure, also with the help of certain herbs and by applying abdominal pressure. However, in ancient Greece women wishing to terminate their pregnancy were advised to engage in exercise, carrying heavy objects and riding animals instead of using sharp tools for the procedure. One of the reasons for abortion is preference for a particular sex for the child and is more common in Asian countries which have a culture preference of son. Due to medical advances, it is very convenient today to determine the sex of the child before birth through ultrasound, which has led to the occurrence of sex selected abortion in many cases. For example in India and Pakistan a son is seen as a bread earner in the family and high dowry expenses are tied with the existence of a daughter, there the rate of sex targeted abortion is very high as most families already facing financial difficulties prefer sons than daughters. In India alone "researchers have asserted that between 1985 and 2005 as many as 10 million female fetuses may have been selectively aborted" (Reaney, Patricia. 2006). Another reason for sex selective abortion evident in china is due to its historic preference of sons and its one child policy, which has been implemented due to population concerns in this country. This lead to an increase in sex selective abortions and an imbalance in the ratio of male versus female population became evident, in response to which China put a ban on this type of abortion in 2002. Due to the ban on abortion in many countries, as will be discussed in detail later, and also due to lack of access to safe abortion especially in the rural areas women have turned to unsafe methods of terminating their pregnancies. "black alley abortions" is a term uses for such types of abortions which lack hygiene and proper medical skills to perform such a procedure and can even result in death of the woman. According to the estimates of The World Health Organization (WHO) as much as 19 million unsafe abortions are carried out around the world each year. And 68,000 among these result in the death of the women. "A 2007 study published in The Lancet found that, although the global rate of abortion declined from 45.6 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003, unsafe procedures still accounted for 48% of all abortions performed in 2003." (Sedgh et al. 2007) Legalization of Abortion There is no universal law which applies the legalization or ban of abortion. Currently the laws relating to this sensitive issue vary from country to country depending on the religious, moral and cultural beliefs. The debates regarding to the right to life, the right to freedom, health concerns continue to influence such laws. The world statistics regarding the countries which have termed the act of abortion legal or illegal are: "54 countries allow abortion, which is about 61 percent of the world population. 97 countries, about 39 percent of the population, have abortion laws that make it illegal." (International Family Planning Perspectives, 2006) The table below shows some of the countries worldwide where abortion is termed legal or illegal. ABORTION LEGAL ILLEGAL France Poland Britain Columbia Switzerland Mexico Russia Brazil United States Peru Abortion Statistics In order to gain an understanding of where abortion rates are high and the circumstances under which women make this decision, we will look at certain abortion statistics provided by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2008 Number of abortions per year: Approximately 42 Million Number of Abortions per day: Approximately 115,000 83% of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 17% occur in developed countries AGE: 52% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 32% of all abortions; Teenagers obtain 20% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%. RACE: While white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely. MARITAL STATUS: 64.4% of all abortions are performed on never-married women; Married women account for 18.4% of all abortions and divorced women obtain 9.4%. RELIGION: Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. INCOME: Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%. 1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient). GESTATIONAL AGES: 52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy. Debate: For and Against Abortion Now, after we have had an overview of the numerical statistics regarding abortion and its types we are going to move on and take a look at both sides of the debate surrounding abortion. People who are pro life argue that abortion is akin to murder and can even result in medical complications. Also if people demand freedom to control their life, they should use this freedom to control their pregnancy instead of using it to terminate that pregnancy. In case of rape or incest, proper medical treatment at the right time can ensure that the woman does not get pregnant, eliminating the need of abortion altogether. They also suggest adoption as an alternative to abortion. (Rosenbaum & Baird, 2001) On the other hand, people who are in favor of abortion argue that health of the woman should not be put at risk and abortion should be carried out if it can save the life of the woman. They also argue that incase of rape or incest, a woman is mostly unaware of becoming pregnant, therefore a pill after getting pregnant is too late a solution and in such cases abortion is the only option available to these forced into pregnancy victims. Furthermore, unwanted births can lead to greater stress for parents and also ruin the life of the child always regarded as "unwanted" by his or her parents. (Rosenbaum & Baird, 2001) Some of the social reasons woman undergo this procedure which are medically unnecessary include desire to delay childbearing, financial difficulties, fear of motherhood, fear of losing one's partner who does not want children and immaturity. (Rosenbaum & Baird, 2001) In conclusion, it is difficult to come to a consensus regarding this sensitive issue as religious among moral standards vary from country to country, however, there are certain measures which can be agreed and acted upon to lower the number of abortions performed every year. Firstly there is an urgent need to conduct educational programs in the rural areas for both women and men and educate them about the concepts of protection and the cause and consequences of abortion, also culturally it is important to create an environment of equality among genders especially in Asian countries. Also following the Example of Abdul Sattar Edhi which sends a message to all those people who cannot afford to raise children, not to end life but give their child to Edhi Centre, hence making adoption an alternative, if the government pays attention to this mechanism, and a proper system is followed, abortion figures can be reduced. However, it is also important to understand that all reasons for abortion are not justified and abortion should only be allowed in cases where there is no other way out for the woman because after all, abortion does put an end to something very sacred gift given to us by God and that gift is LIFE. Words (1627) References 1. International Family Planning Perspectives, 2006, retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://www.abortionfacts.com/statistics/world_statistics.asp 2. Reaney, Patricia. (2006-01-09). "Selective abortion blamed for India's missing girls" Reuters AlertNet. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://web.archive.org/web/20060220072756/http:/www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06779563.htm) 3. Sedgh, G., Henshaw, S., Singh, S., hman, E., & Shah, I.H. (2007). Induced abortion: estimated rates and trends worldwide. The Lancet, 370 (9595), 1338-1345. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS014067360761575X/fulltext 4. Rosenbaum, S. E. & Baird, R. M. (2001). The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. Prometheus Books; 3rd edition 5. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org), "Abortion facts", retrieved May, 25, 2008, from http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html Read More