Abortion Pros and Cons - Essay Example

The paper “Abortion - Pros and Cons, Complications of Abortion" is an actual example of a term paper on health sciences & medicine. Abortion is a very complicated and controversial issue. Both sides of the debate have important moral insights and it is vital to understand the opinions and views of both ends. The issue of abortion is discussed under the light of religion, social values, and morality, health and family values. Abortion is defined as the ending of a pregnancy before the fetus has acquired the capability of surviving outside the uterus.

The incidence of unintended pregnancies is arising all around the world and hence, abortion levels have also increased, making it a very serious and debatable topic (World Health Organization, 1995). The School of thought that agrees with the practice of abortion expresses the legalization of abortion to eradicate the complications of unsafe and risky malpractices of abortion. Moreover, they also believe that abortion should be permitted in special circumstances which compromise the health of the baby or the mother and for social and economic reasons as well.

On the other side, the anti-abortion group focuses on the immorality associated with abortion and the killing of “life” which is the fetus. Although abortion is a controversial practice, it provides the mother and the family to avail an option to make a wise decision if they are encountered with a circumstance that affects either the life of the mother or the baby in any way. If the mother has poor health, unable to carry out the entire course of pregnancy, or she has a mental illness making her incapable of being a mother, then abortion is for the sake of mother’s health and it is allowed in many societies.

Similarly, if through prenatal diagnosis, it is observed that the child of the pregnancy will have an “unacceptable quality of life” then abortion provides a relatively beneficial yet difficult answer for the family. A child who will be severely handicapped, physically or mentally will not only be a financial and psychological burden on the family but also will live a life of difficulty and turmoil. In criminal cases of rape, incest or child abuse, the unintended pregnancy cannot be carried on by the victim as it was not a decision made by her.

Therefore, abortion seems a reasonable and ethical way to end pregnancy in such situations (BBC, 2014).  Fifteen percent of the maternal mortality is caused by unsafe abortions and in some areas, the estimates go up to 50 percent (World Health Organization, 1995). One of the reasons for the unsafe abortions is the illegalization of abortion in many areas of the world which encourages the women to go to unqualified doctors In the United States alone, between 200,000 and 1,200,000 illegally induced abortions took place in the year of 1955.

One of the major complications is sepsis, particularly by the pathogen Clostridium prefringens which causes gas gangrene in the affected person. Abortion not itself, but the legalization of abortion would have a beneficial role in the preservation of health in the women and prevention of death from unsafe and unsterile practices. Legal abortion lowered the risk of death from abortion from 90 to 16 between 1972 and 1980 in the US because of the increasing availability of legal abortion medical centers (Tyrer, 1985) Abortion is the ending of human life, which is not acceptable morally, religiously and ethically.

According to doctors, on or after day fourteen of conception and successful fertilization, the implantation process is completed and a zygote has been formed. The pre-embryo stage is capable of division and can divide into “human twins or triplets”. In the third week of pregnancy, the embryo’s cardiovascular system achieves a functional state. The zygote is the precursor of all that follows and has the potential to become an adult, hence it positions it the same level of life as the baby which is delivered by the mother.

The scholars also debate that human life begins with the completion of fertilization of the ovum by sperm, after which the genetic make-up of a human is completed. Along with the ethical issues, abortion also leads to health risk for the mother hence; focus on better and improved contraceptive methods should be practiced by couples to avoid unintended pregnancies (Araujo, 1993). The termination of intra-uterine fetal life is associated with strong debates and opinions from two opposing school of thoughts.

Abortion provides an answer to the parents who are in challenging circumstances such as compromised health of the mother or the severe genetic, physical or mental prenatal diagnosis of the fetus. Legalization of abortion will also prevent the practice of unsafe and hazardous abortive procedures leading to high maternal mortality rates. However, abortion is associated with the ethical issue of ending human life, which has acquired a genetic individuality, blood circulation and body parts within the mother’s life.

Medical authorities and public health centers should spread awareness regarding family planning and better contraceptive techniques to avoid unintended pregnancies, and ultimately the complex situation of abortion.