Controversial Health Issues: Abortion - Essay Example

? Controversial Health Issues Inserts His/Her Introduction Abortion is one of the most controversial issues for many years and it has been a topic of research for many researchers. It has been controversial ever since the ability of terminating pregnancy was viable. Currently in America abortion is legal and many people believe that it should remain legal including me. The people in favor of legalization are known as pro-choice activists, according to pro-choice activists it is the women's right whether or not to give birth to a child so it should be the choice of mother or sometimes father’s choice is also considered in case of abortion. People against Abortion and Controversial Issues There are a number of people who are against the legalization of abortion and they are continually lobbying the government to make abortion illegal and pass laws against the legalization of abortion these people are known as the pro-life activists. Mostly people are against abortion, and in some countries and culture it is also considered to be a crime. The pro- choice activist and pro-life activist are the rivalry groups and are continuously fighting against each other. Both the groups express their opinions through picketing as well as in literature and different thesis. They also express their ideas using communication medium and channels like television, internet, blogs, and many more. All the efforts are being done by both the groups to convince the people and society to agree to their points and support them. Either abortion should be banned in countries or it should be left on the choice of parents giving birth. In this paper, we are discussing why a woman wants to take a major step like abortion so as to abort her child. This paper shows that why people are in favor of clinical abortion, and why other is against abortion. It shows the different perspectives of people towards a major controversial issue like abortion. The issue becomes so controversial because of lack of awareness regarding sexual issues, pregnancy in adolescence, health issue and problem arises from sexual activities. There are many valid reasons because of which a woman takes a decision to abort the child. But our society failed to accept this and because of their mind set they consider abortion an immoral, unacceptable or illegal act of the society, this is one of the main reasons why women often attempt to abort their child/ pregnancy secretly through a number of countless methods, many of which can be dangerous. Proper information and education should be provided to a woman whenever she gets pregnant so as to reduce any kind of problems and issues related to health. Through this paper we will analyze the lack of factual information and availability of healthcare in driving a woman’s motivations to attempt self-abortion. In the history, a number of abortions have being conducted regardless of safety and legality of abortion around the world. The women continue to have unwanted pregnancy issues and attempt abortion to stop the birth of the unwanted child by doing non-clinical abortion as abortion is a crime according to the society (because of non-legality). Unwanted Pregnancies There are several reasons behind unwanted pregnancy like poverty, lack of family planning resources, lack of health insurance, and sexual assault. Women who don’t have health insurances don’t have the facility of health counselors, physician or proper consultation. The rate of inflation is increasing day by day and a woman is unable to afford contraceptive pills preventing from pregnancies. Whereas the rate of rape cases has also increases in different countries and it is said that in every 46 seconds a woman is being raped resulting in unwanted pregnancy. There are also some social and economic reasons which lead to unwanted pregnancy. Talking from religious point of view unmarried mother are unacceptable in many religions so for them abortion is the right decision to take or we can say the only choice they have. Secondly the financial condition of a couple can also lead to a decision like abortion, as after considering the rate of inflation these days, it is not really easy for couples to afford more than two children. Thirdly, adolescence is also considered as a reason of unwanted pregnancies, and this rate is increasing highly these days. Fourthly women in abusive situations find unable to raise a child (Dollar, 1997). This situation is more common in developing countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. According to statistics, is has been concluded that abortion rate is high among girls under the age of 25, and this makes 50% of the abortion rate. 65% are single mothers, and 45% already have many children and they can’t afford or do not want any more. Non-Clinical Abortion The women go for non-clinical abortion because abortion in their country is considered to be an illegal act; they do not have proper access of healthcare for clinical abortion. The reasons vary from women to women, culture to culture and country to country. Mostly women go for non-clinical abortion because it is illegal and unacceptable by the society and do not have any other option to get rid of unwanted or unexpected pregnancies. The Non-clinical abortion procedures are often found to be harmful and dangerous and result in serious health injuries and repercussions to the mother and cause death. 14% of maternal deaths in Africa are due to non-clinical abortions; in Asia 12%; in Europe 17%, in U.S 22% approximately, and 95% in developing countries (Benson, Nicholson, Gaffikin, & Kinnoti, 1996). Health Problems Due to Non-Clinical Abortions Women are at high risk for permanent disabilities and health problems because of non-clinical abortion. It has been estimated by the World Health Organization that 10-50% of women experience complications as a result of non-clinical abortions. Complications like virginals infection, hemorrhage, and internal organ damages, tearing of uterus and chronic pain, infertility and pelvic inflammatory are the long-term complication of nonclinical abortion. These complications arise because of legal and social barriers which are taking away the lives of women, or we can say mothers (Benson, Nicholson, Gaffikin, & Kinnoti, 1996). Clinical Abortion Clinical abortions are offered at those places, areas and cities where abortion is legal and are under the care of physicians and health consultants. For clinical abortion the history says, that 95% of women who had an abortion for the first time experienced no complications and if there was a complication in rare cases than it was minor and treated simply. Abortion is a safe procedure if it would be done by proper physician, gynecologist with proper medication and suitable environment; this is only possible when abortion is legal. If abortion is acceptable religiously, financially, and morally than the rate of complication and maternal issues caused by non-clinical abortion will tremendously decrease. Benefits of Clinical Abortion According to statistic 1 death occur from every 165,000 abortion done clinically. And this is because of the anesthesia adverse effect, uncontrolled bleeding or because of heart attack or sudden high blood pressure. The statistical results clearly shows the safety of abortion done under legalization, it is much safer than the non-clinical abortion which is need to be done because of illegality (Esat, 2003). Conclusion In conclusion, I just want to say that by legalizing abortion we can keep women safe from non-clinical abortion complications and from their harmful results that often causes death. After legalizing the abortion properly done by certified physician, it will be appropriate, safer and effective. We are living in a 21 century where everyone has a right to live their lives and take their own decisions so a mother a women could also have a right to take decision regarding their pregnancy. If she thinks that she is unable to give birth a child and afford their expenses then she will be legally allow to abort the child as it is her legal right (Rittossa, 2008). We cannot ignore the fact that, whether it’s legal or illegal, women are going for abortions, taking health risk and long-term complications because they want to get rid of unwanted pregnancy. So the government should realize the seriousness of this controversial issue and should legalize the abortion and would try to improve the services of clinical abortion by providing trained staff and physicians, give proper counseling sessions to the women, increases the availability of family planning. If they would not take such steps then the women will continually self-induce abortions if they feel necessary as a result of lack of abortion services or because it is illegal. References Benson, J., Nicholson, L., Gaffikin, L., & Kinnoti, S. (1996). Complications of unsafe abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: a review. Health Policy and Planning. 11(2), 117-131 Dollar, D.G. (1997). The Experience of Abortion: A Bibliographic Essay. Psychology in society, 22: 47 – 59 Esat, F. (2003). The Social Construction of “Sexual Knowledge”. Exploring the Narratives of Southern African Youth of Indian Descent in the Context of Hiv/Aids, 23:58-100 Gurtovnik, D. R. (2008). A study of the effects of Abortion in United States. The Reasoning behind Abortions and improving Access to Care, 32: 541-589 Rittossa, D. (2008). The Right on Abortion. Conditions in Abortion, 67:248-300 Read More