Critical evaluation of abortion as a social problem in the society - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Abortion refers to the deliberate endangerment of the fetus with the intent of terminating pregnancy (Baumgardner, 2008). A pregnancy can be terminated as a result of health complications either to the child, the mother or both whereby preserving the fetus would definitely lead to the possibility of losing the mother or both. In such an occurrence, it becomes extremely necessary to conduct therapeutic abortion, which is prescribed by a health professional so as to save the mother. On the other hand, abortion can be induced willingly by a healthy mother so as to relieve herself from the responsibility of bearing and rearing the child, in which case it is referred to as elective abortion (Baumgardner, 2008). This paper is a critical evaluation of abortion as a social problem in the society, providing viable solutions to the menace. Abortion Abortion as discussed herein is a social problem, which has continued to remain a contentious topic of discussion internationally. This is due to the fact that different societies around the world engage in this debate from two perspectives. There are those who support it and those who feel that it should be illegalized on the basis of ethical and moral perspectives. However, several countries around the world such as the US, UK and some parts of Australia among others, have gone to the extent of legalizing abortion by enshrining it in their constitutions, while some such as Vatican city, El Salvador, Nicaragua, brazil, Mexico among others have made it illegal to have abortion irrespective of the prevailing circumstances (Beckwith, 2006). In general, at least 54 countries around the world permit abortion although some apply restrictions to avoid carelessness and irresponsibility. However, it is ironical to note that the rate of abortion in places where it is illegal matches that of places where it has been legalized (Beckwith, 2006). This is to imply that despite the efforts by these authorities to curb the menace, willing patients can acquire the services of clinics, which operate without their knowledge. According to research, approximately 45 million abortions are conducted on yearly basis. However, 50% of these are done under illegal and unsafe conditions contributing to a significantly high number of deaths, approximately 75000, and more than 3 million disabilities per year (Rosenbaun, 2005). This is a worrying trend based on the fact that, if the mortality rate emanating from abortion remains constant for 10 years, it means that more than 750000 persons would lose their lives while more than 30 million others would become disabled. Therefore, it is important to face the facts as they are and find viable solutions to this problem. The church for example has continued to uphold its moral standing, claiming that life begins at conception and therefore, harming a fetus is equivalent to murder (Beckwith, 2006). On the other hand, it remains adamant on the need to use natural methods of birth control. This may be the reason why abortion is illegal in places such as Vatican City, where the Catholic Church is most influential. However, they fail to realize that this only puts the citizens at a higher risk of performing unsafe abortions based on the fact that cartels operating illegal clinics will always establish themselves without the knowledge of the authorities. Statistics indicate that at least 40% of women around the world can have access to these services, which are acquired in at most secrecy and discretion (Heary, 2009). The result is that the authorities will not have the capacity to protect these women since there is no way they can check on the qualifications of the personnel in this business as well as supervise the conditions through which abortion in these facilities is carried out. In order to find a better solution to the problem, it is important to highlight the various reasons why a woman may opt to have an abortion. To begin with, immorality in the society has continued to grow, with cases of rape, prostitution, adultery, incest and fornication being a common sight in the contemporary world (Heary, 2009). A person who undergoes a rape ordeal and gets pregnant, for example, may find it difficult to bring up a child, who in her view would be a constant reminder of the rape ordeal. This may be made worse if the act was perpetrated by more than one stranger. In such a case, the woman may be faced with the dilemma of what to tell the child when he or she grows up and starts asking about the father, whom in this case cannot be established. In addition, there is the fear that the child would be subjected to ridicule and discrimination in the society especially by fellow age mates if the details of his or her conception get into the public domain. Instead of undergoing all these problems, it becomes necessary to terminate the pregnancy. Pregnancies arising from incest also have the potential of bringing shame to the affected person and hence, most of them are terminated before the delivery time. It is estimated that approximately 1% of annual abortions carried out in the US are as a result of rape. This may seem to be a low figure as it translates to 13000 abortions out of an annual approximated figure of 1.3 million but however, it is enough to assert the fact that rape is a major contributing factor (Baumgardner, 2008). Pregnancies which occur in the process of prostitution also are vulnerable to abortion (Heary, 2009). This is due to the fact that women in this business find them as an obstacle to their only source of income. As it is known, a woman in her late pregnancy is required to take maximum care and rest so as to prevent accidents from occurring and harming the fetus. This in itself means that the sex worker would have to reduce the amount of time she spends on the streets searching for potential customers as well as dropping some habits and lifestyle such as alcohol and cigarette use. In addition, she would be required to extend this rest after giving birth and throughout the nursing period. Consequently, she would be forced to take care of her expenses from the money she may have saved or else opt to dump the child on the streets hoping that a good Samaritan would find and take care of it. Furthermore, most of the mothers attach a lot of emotion on children conceived out of love but in this case, sex workers are in the business for money and not love hence little chances of taking in a child from a strange customer and fail to terminate the pregnancy. Involvement in sex before marriage i.e. fornication can also be credited for the increased rate of unwanted pregnancies among the youth. Apparently abstinence, which is mostly advocated for and recommended by the church, has failed to curb the menace of premarital sex, with a significant number of youths around the world beginning to experience sex at a tender age of 15 years and below (Heary, 2009). A survey conducted in the year 2005 indicated that 47% of teenagers mostly in high schools had reportedly experienced sex, with 15% of them attesting to having had such encounters with more than three partners (Koukl, 2007). Age not withstanding, it was established in the same year that approximately 81% of women who underwent abortion were unmarried. Where teen age abortion is concerned, the major issues that act as motivation include and not limited to; the possibility of dropping out of school, the fear of becoming parents at a tender age as well as lack of economic independence to bring up a child. Various reports indicate that 50% of teenagers who become mothers usually drop out of school both in high schools and colleges (Koukl, 2007). A woman may also consider having an abortion due to some other reasons such as family planning. This occurs when she feels that she has already had enough children and the one she is carrying is unplanned for. This may be much visible in places such as China, where a one child policy is exercised and which prohibits couples from bearing more than one child. However, this may be a unique case as not many countries have such policies but that not withstanding; it is observable that some women have abortion due to pressure from other parties such as their partners or parents (Beckwith, 2006). Parents may force their children to have an abortion in order to preserve the integrity of the family as the society perceives the bearing of children out of wedlock as a result of poor upbringing. Furthermore, it is common belief that single mothers may scare away potential suitors as opposed to those women who have not have children before. Most men will want to start families from scratch hence they will avoid such women. It has also been established that some women may not want others to know that they are having sex and carrying a pregnancy is an outright way of showing that she is indeed sexually active. To conceal these issues, abortion becomes the only viable solution to the victims. As discussed previously, the solution to curbing elective abortion lies not in enacting laws to prohibit it but in making efforts to uphold morality in the society. For example, extreme measures to control prostitution should be taken. It is worrying that some countries such as Netherlands, Denmark among others have gone to the extent of legalizing this immoral behavior. However, this is also a topic which has proved to be equally contentious based on the fact that even in countries such as US, where it is illegal, people still practice it behind locked doors (Baumgardner, 2008). This is a show of tolerance on the part of the authorities as they do not concentrate much attention on wiping out prostitution, as compared to the attention given to other crimes such as illegal immigration and terrorism. Stiff penalties should be put in place both for the female prostitutes and their customers so as to dissuade them. On the other hand, the underlying factors which drive the business, such as poverty and unemployment should be addressed, for example, empowering women by providing them with incentives and affordable education as well as equal opportunities in the job market (Heary, 2009). Women are more vulnerable to extreme conditions such as poverty especially since they do not have the ability to work in sectors such as building and construction, which requires a lot of energy, and which has the potential of providing numerous manual jobs to unskilled personnel. However, the government can come up with a strategy of influencing these women to take up courses and careers such as nursing, which are under staffed. By doing so, sanity would be reinstalled in the society and abortions arising from prostitution would be reduced significantly. The church and the education sector in this context have a great role to play based on the fact that it is their responsibility to ensure that children are brought up in a society that condemns immorality. Religion for example forbids acts such as adultery, fornication, and prostitution. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that these principles are taught exhaustively in church as well as in schools. Long gone are the times when sex education was considered a taboo, a time in which children were left to discover their sexuality on their own. Parents also should play the role of leading examples, by displaying high levels of integrity whenever there are teenagers in their presence. This is due to the fact that a child’s growth and development is highly influenced by the environment in which they are brought up. For example, a parent, whether single or couple, should refrain from bringing different partners in the house in the presence of their children. Doing so creates a bad picture as the child may grow up believing that it is normal to be promiscuous. The principle of no sex until marriage should be advocated for at any available chance as the only way to prevent occurrences of unplanned pregnancies (Koukl, 2007). This may be supplemented by other topics such the need to set goals in life, with examples of prosperous and dignified men and women in the society being used to strengthen the arguments. It is imperative to ensure that both male and female children are involved in these discussions and not one without the other. On the other hand, it is common knowledge that conception takes place after participating in unprotected sex. It is therefore necessary for the government and the church to note that it is not always that people will accept to observe abstinence. Consequently, strategies should be put into place to advocate for the use of devices such as condoms and other family planning methods such as contraceptives in order to reduce the chances of getting pregnant (Baumgardner, 2008). This message should be directed to those who have not yet decided to start their own families especially teenagers who are already participating in sex. Rape victims should be advised that no matter how grave their situation might have been, probably they should take medication such as morning after pills or other relevant contraceptives instead of waiting for signs of pregnancy to show so as to take action. Most importantly, the cost of acquiring these products should be subsidized or availed for free and condoms put at strategic points such as night clubs to ensure that no person is inconvenienced by lack of immediate access to them. However, it is important to mention that the use of condoms as a means of family planning should always be supplemented with pills based on the fact that accidents do happen during sex leading to tearing of the condom hereby allowing the passage of male gametes. A sexual partner may also slip it out deliberately during the act without the knowledge of the female thereby endangering her. The government as well as non governmental organizations should make a point of sponsoring anti abortion campaigns, explaining the dangers involved. Abortion may be made legal just as cigarette smoking is, but the consequences are grave in nature. Not only can one die after the procedure but she also might become sterile (Rosenbaun, 2005). This should be stressed especially to the teenagers who have hopes of becoming parents in their future. Nevertheless, there is little which can be done concerning therapeutic abortion since the fate of the child is dictated by the prevailing doctor’s assessment. Conclusion Abortion is a social dilemma which has its roots in poor sex management resulting to unplanned pregnancies. Basically, there are two types of abortion i.e. therapeutic abortion, which is prescribed by a health practitioner and elective abortion, which is performed under the request of a patient. The gravity of the subject can be noted in the high number of women who are dying on annual basis while others become disabled. Prostitution, rape, fornication, adultery and poor family planning are the major causes of high rate of abortion and can only be solved through empowerment of women economically, strict rules to govern prostitution, vibrant sex education, as well as provision of subsidized family planning mechanisms. References Baumgardner, J. (2008). Abortion & Life, Akashic Book Beckwith, F. (2006) Law, Religion, and the Metaphysics of Abortion, Journal of Church & State, 43(1), 105-115 Heary J. (2009) Abortion Issues, The Spinney Press Koukl, G. (2007). Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice, Cambridge University Press Rosenbaun, S. (2005). The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice, Prometheus Books Read More