Should Abortion be Legal - Research Paper Example

There have been a lot of discussions regarding the of making abortion legal. A lot of institutions as well as individuals have been divided on this issue. Each party has had its own share of arguments and reasons as to why they are on their end of the argument. The abortion issue has been made even more complicated based on the religious issues and views that have been thrown in on the subject. A lot of religious individuals have come out to defend the banning of abortion. To them, it is seen as an act of murder since no man should be allowed to take another man’s life under no circumstance whatsoever. However, this has been met with a conflicting approach of the same practice by the health practitioners. According to them, there are circumstances where abortion should be made legal; for instance, where the life of the mother is endangered (Melling, 2008). Should Abortion Be Legalized Thesis Statement These two conflicting aspects about the subject of abortion have created a division between those who support the legalizing of abortion and those who are not in favor of it. It is because of this conflict in reason that the argument on the legalization of abortion has taken the whole world into participation. In this paper, I will examine the issue of the legalization of the abortion practice. I will look into both sides of the argument and identify the major points of contention in this conflict. I will also look into the legitimacy and logic behind these arguments and in the end try and draw a conclusion on the issue. These discussions will help me come up with the answer to my thesis question, “should abortion be legalized?’ Argument The debate on the issue of the legalization of abortion is a hotly contended one. There is a lot of division about this subject of abortion because of the different views and opinions that are shared by these individual. As discussed earlier in the introduction, there are two groups in the discussion of this topic. We have got the group of those individuals who actually support the legalization of the abortion practice while on the other hand we have got the individuals who are against the legalization of the practice. The debate on abortion is not one that started yesterday. This is a debate that has been around for decades. It has been very difficult to find a common ground for both sides because of the conflicts that keep on arising every day. This has made the debate get heated up anytime it is presented on the floor of any congregation. Arguments for the Legalization of Abortion 1. Abortion would help save lives In this argument, the medical practitioners look at abortion as being able to help save a life in a situation where the child is endangering the life of the mother. In most cases, this happens when there is a complication on the pregnancy and the life of the mother is at stake. In arguing this out, Greenberg & Bruess (2009) point out the fact that a fetus is not yet a human being. Thus, abortion is about terminating a pregnancy and not terminating the life of a baby. Thus, if there is a chance of saving the life of the mother by terminating this pregnancy, such a situation should call for abortion to be undertaken. 2. Reduction of the injury and deaths caused by unsafe and illegal abortion Because of the condemnation that the practice of abortion has received from the society, most of the women and girls who undergo it do so in unsafe and illegal places. These are places where they feel they are hidden from the face of the society. Estimations by the World Health Organization in the year 2006 pointed out the fact that the ‘back alley’ abortion practices have resulted in about 68,000 maternal deaths (Roe et al, 1973). This numbers are as a result of the fear of the women to go to safe hospitals where the procedure can be performed in a clean and hygienic manner by a professional. The legalization of the abortion practice would enable these women to have access to legal well maintained medical institutions where the practice of abortion can be conducted. This would reduce the casualties recorded from this ‘back alley’ abortion procedures. 3. Hard access to contraceptives by these women Another argument presented by those in favor of the legalization of abortion is the fact that the access to the contraceptives is not usually easy for most of these women. For most of these women, in order to buy most of the birth control methods such as the pill or the shot, they need to get the doctor’s prescription. A huge portion of the insurance groups do not cover the contraceptives and birth control pills. Thus, because of this lack of insurance for the contraceptive coverage, most of these women end up getting pregnant against their wishes. As President Barrack Obama did put it in 2008, motherhood should not be punishment for having sexual intercourse (B0nnin, 2010). Mothers should be allowed to make a choice as to whether they want to keep a baby that was unplanned for or not. Thus, the legalization of abortion would provide these women with that option free themselves from motherhood. 4. A baby should not be born into the world if it is not wanted. A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that most women who take up the abortion procedure usually do so because they do not want to keep the baby. According to the research, 49% of all the pregnancies that are witnessed among the American women are usually not planned for (CDC, 2010). Giving birth to a child is an important decision to any woman. She should be fully committed to provide a lifelong responsibility care to this child. Thus, there should be no women who are forced into bringing an unwanted child into this world. This decision should be made by them as to whether to keep the child or not and the legalization of abortion would give them this option. 5. Fundamental right to freedom of choose The United States Supreme Court does recognize that the woman has got the fundamental right to choose if she wants an abortion procedure or not. Where a couple is involved, the couple has got the right to choose not to give birth to a baby especially in a case where the baby might suffer from severe and life threatening conditions. These include conditions such as the X Syndrome which is genetic in nature. A child should not be sent to a lifelong captivity in an acute handicap. Thus, a couple should be allowed to exercise their freedom in choosing whether or not to keep an unborn baby diagnosed with a life threatening condition (Roe et al, 1973). Arguments against the Legalization of Abortion Much as there are those who are for the legalization of abortion, there is another group of individuals who are totally against the legalization of abortion. This group is mainly composed of the human rights activists and the religious leaders. They too have got a number of reasons as to why they do not support the legalization of abortion. Among these reasons are: 1. Abortion is murder According to those against the practice of abortion, the killing of the unborn babies is murder of these innocent souls. Here, the question on when life does begin arises. Those against the legalization of abortion do argue out that the babies are human beings right from the moment of conception. Thus, abortion does involve taking away the life of another human being (Bonnin, 2010). In this sense, it does defy the sixth commandment in the bible which states that “Thou shall not kill”. These unborn babies have got the right to live just like any other person who is already living. Therefore, it is not right to legalize the practice of abortion as this would only increase the practice of these acts of murder (Greenberg & Duess, 2008). 2. Fetuses feel pain during an abortion The practice of abortion is an inhumane one since it does inflict pain on the fetus. When the fetus is beyond 20 weeks of gestation, this procedure would actually cause pain to the fetus. This is according to Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand, MBBS, DPhil, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology and Neurobiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. This pain is severe and very excruciating; something that the fetus does not really have to endure. The fetus beyond 20 weeks of gestation is already a human being. Insisting that life does actually begin at conception, Prof Kanwaljeet makes it clear that the infliction of this pain is a form of torture to this unborn baby (Greenberg & Duess, 2008). The process would torture the child by inflicting pain and in the end take away its life. This is very inhumane. 3. Abortions cause psychological damage Abortion has got its own share of psychological damage that it does inflict on the women who undergo the procedure. A study conducted and published by the Southern Medical Journal on about 200,000 women who had undergone the procedure of abortion found out that more than 120% of them were likely to end their lives by suicide as compared to those who had never undergone abortion (Melling, 2009). Abortion does carry with it a lot of guilt for the woman or the couple and this can lead to cases of depression, regret and even stress which is not good for the body and mind. Such effects usually affect the mind of an individual and change their whole lifestyle completely. This should be avoided by not legalizing this practice of abortion in order to curb the practice. 4. Abortion is a form of discrimination There are scenarios where the women or partners who decide to partake on abortion try to justify it in the sense that they are avoiding certain genetic complications. This may be in the form of genetic diseases and complications or even appearances. The selective abortion that is based on the genetic abnormalities is a form of discrimination against the unborn babies. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the physical disabilities of a child whether born or unborn, do not make them any less of an important human being (Melling, 2009). Thus, it is against the civil rights to take away the lives of these unborn babies simply because of their genetic limitations. This practice needs to be stopped. Counter-thesis and Counter-argument Looking at both the arguments that are presented by the two sides in the debate, it is clear that both ends have got legitimate and logical arguments that are actually backed with evidence. The legalization of abortion would have both its advantages and its disadvantages. Taking a keen look at these pros and cons of the legalization of abortion, it is clear that the pros do outweigh the cons. Taking a look at the protection of lives, the legalization of abortion would play a very crucial role in upholding this. According to the law, every human being has got the right to live. However, according to the law again, every human being is presented with the freedom to make choices. Life, as defined in the law, does begin at birth. The unborn baby is not considered as a human being but only as a fetus until it is delivered. Thus, in the case where this unborn baby poses some form of danger to the mother, it is only mandatory that the abortion procedure is applied. Thus, the legalization of abortion would help in saving the mother’s life. In the discussion above, we have also seen that the fact that abortion is not legal forces many women to undertake this procedure in very unhygienic ‘back alley’ clinics. This usually endangers the mother’s life a lot. If abortion is made legal, these women would not be afraid to go to the hospitals which are certified with professionals. In these hospitals, they would be counseled on the dangers and side effects that may arise from the whole procedure and if they are still willing to go ahead with it, the procedure will be conducted in a hygienic place and done by a certified medical professional. Legalization of abortion would also play an important role in helping to reduce the number of unwanted babies in the world. As discussed in the article, the mothers need not be punished for their sexual activities by being forced into motherhood. Bearing these unborn children is what results in the increase in the street children. This also usually results in the mistreatment of these children as they grow up since their parents didn’t even want to have them in the first place. The legalization of abortion would help reduce the occurrence of such cases. Conclusion In our thesis statement, we sought to answer the question on whether abortion should be legalized. In the discussion above, we have looked at both the advantages and disadvantages that would result from this legalization of abortion. Both arguments put forth have been backed up with evidence that it logical. However, looking at the discussion in the counter argument of the debate, it is clear that the advantages that would result from the legalization of the abortion would be more than the disadvantages. We have seen how this legalization will help save a lot of the affected lives and thus help in making the world a better place. Provided the procedure is conducted with a medical professional and it is preceeded by a counseling ession n the same, it will bring a lot of advantages. Thus, after an analysis of this discussion, in conclusion we can see that yes, abortion should be legalized and implemented in the United States of America. References Bonnin, D. (2010). A Defense of abortion. New York: Cambridge University Press. CDC. (2010). Unintended Pregnancy Prevention. Retrieved 14 April, 2012 from . Greenberg, J. S and Bruess, C. E. (2008). Exploring the dimensions of human sexuality. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning Copyright. Melling, L. (2009). Should abortion be legalized? Retrieved 5 April, 2012 from < http://abortion.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=1447>. Roe et al. (1973). Appeal on Case on the Supreme Court. Retrieved 14 April 2012 from . Read More