The Abortion in the UK - Essay Example

 On what basis do UK women claim access to abortion, how legitimate is their claim and how successful are they? To write an essay that relates to Abortion, there is the need to begin with finding the definition of the subject matter, for having a comprehensive analysis.    According to a definition in (Medical Net.com) says Abortion “is the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost”. Abortion can also be adapted by the means of Miscarriage, which is natural, or artificially applied through the means of Chemical, Surgical or any process to achieve the desire goal.     In recent years, abortion politic issue is on the top agenda between the law makers in the United Kingdom, which as a result pressed the Conservative to put them involved over the issue. Though there is a law that legalized, but once the Health Minister in the country, during the Liam Fox, in 2001, had called for alternatives to abortion legalization in UK, if its cannot entirely abolished.     Fox was reported in BBC news (2001) (Tories in Abortion Law), quoted saying “UK's "pro-abortion laws" should be scrapped”.   The proclamation done by Fox in 2001, has been seen as an effort by the conservative to seek the support of people on the religious basis on tackling the issue, being he is among members of the Tories. Many other Conservative leaders in UK have continued to disparage on the abortion issue, such as William Hague, who had also known as anti-abortion personal that also spoke on the need to introduce strict Laws against abortion. Meanwhile, the UK’s women in recent years who have adapt to accept Abortion as an alternative in their lives, have gotten to continue to maintained the subject matter, under ‘a woman right to choose’, which has giving them the mandate of choosing their destiny in life. Investigation conducted, has shows that most of the British citizens were supporting right for choice for the women in their pursuit to self legal abortion. The investigation further noted that about 77percent of the citizens are in the support for that.   However, the investigation on this matter further quoted some facts from a source, which has encourages women in the United Kingdom who have the interest of making abortion to be more courageous over their zeal. Their campaign for legalization of abortion in the country, has gained the support of some dignitaries within the country, health practitioners, organizations, union and many others that are playing significant roles to humanity.   A (Press Release) for the Campaign for modern abortion law, states “The Campaign which is backed by many peers, doctors, nurses, sexual sex organizations, trade unions, artists, and students, is calling for:  Abortion to be available at the request of a woman And end to unacceptable delays in service provision And end to minority anti-choice attacks on current abortion right”   All the encouragement that women in the UK get to remain on their zeal to abortion is derived from the Pro-Choice Organizations, while they adapt to such campaigns to ensure they do not allow themselves to become victims of pregnancy and delivery. Women on their arguments and facts in seeking for self legal abortion in UK, states that as human beings, they  should be given the right to make their self decision on how to take care of their lives. Additionally, they argued that by legalizing the use of contraceptive and the abortion right, they would now have a very wider opportunity to vow on toward seeking for education without interruptions, social, and economic goods for themselves.   Another argument from the women and those that are supporting the act of abortion in the UK, states that female should be allowed to choose whether to bear pregnancy or abort it, which according to them, only by doing so, there will be no gender Equality as it has been propagating worldwide. Further more, they argued that as long as women are restricted from choosing to make abortion, its means they are forced to carry the pregnancy up to the birth period, either they like it or know. They are also forced to give all their times in taken care of children’s born for many years, unless if they have another alternative for child care. In her own logical support to women access to abortion (Margret Sanger), the founder of Plant Parenthood said “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother”. Women in the UK that were in the side of right to choice movement, have continued in recent years to speak against any move from those that are denying the right with many reasons, stating that they must be allowed to choose whether to have pregnancy or not, because the are also human beings like their male counterpart. One of the reasons they are given to support their arguments for right to choice, is that a woman should be allowed to do what ever she likes with her body, thus no woman must be forced to carry pregnancy or terminate it at any point of period. Their argument further stated that, being created as women, that does not mean they should spend their lives under the yoke of discriminations, to this end; they ought to have a full right to decide their own destiny.   They also stipulate that a woman has the right to have pregnancy at any time, while at the long run if she thinks there is any problem known to her only that will affect her life due to the pregnancy, no individual or group of individuals should compel her to stop her intention to abort the pregnancy.      Meanwhile despite the channels the supporters of abortion have been exploring to make it legality continue without hindrances from the government, yet there are pro life group in that country from different dimensions whom have putting hands on deck to see that abortion legality is completely wipe away in the society. The group Pro Life alliance is among others that have been seeking for a complete abolishing of abortion in the UK for many years back, sighting many disadvantages and ill results of it. Even in October 2004, when the group marked the 37th anniversary of abortion act in UK, had condemned the legality, which according to them as a result has terminated millions of lives. In a (Press Release), issued during the anniversary, the Pro Life Alliance said “'Abortion statistics last year reached an all-time high and we are asking Mr. Blair whether it is time to review the Abortion Act,' said Julia Millington of the Pro-Life Alliance.’ In recent months the nation has been horrified by reports which have highlighted the barbarism of abortion - the brutal extermination of a 7 month fetus with a cleft palate, babies who survive abortion being left to die and British women being sent to Spain for illegal abortions of babies up to 30 weeks gestation”.  During the anniversary, some members had spoken against the act of abortion in UK, arguing that any 12 month fetus most be considered alive, and thus ways should not be given to any individual to deny the life of that fetus, with expression of concern on how over 600 lives are destroyed everyday in the United kingdom, urging the Parliament to immediately re-visit the legalization issue, which they described as brutal that leads to violation of human right. Additionally, the Pro life groups also involved religious group that sees abortion as an abomination that ought to be curtail in whatever circumstances. On this aspect of the religion and ethic, the pro-life condemned the legality of Abortion, stating that to give chances for the women for abortion is not a favor of liberalism. They further argued that abortion is not the way that will be given to men for survival, instead they need a considerably care financially and socially. Moreover, all the religion have not supported the act of abortion, they are in the position that doing abortion is abomination and act against humanity that the religion does to allow it to reign. They are in the view that the act is seriously has negative effect to heart and mind, as well as involving life and death. The above explanations are only few among several points which the Pro-Life in UK have been using as the weapons for fighting against legality of abortion, and denying any access to it. In another development, in the second to the last analysis of this essay, we should examine how the new reproductive technologies changed the terms of the abortion debate in UK. While the Pro Life spent many years exploring channels for the restriction of legality of abortion, then in recent past years its marks a turning point, because the debate has taken a new angle on the issue of reproductive technologies. Now the debate is whether women should be allowed to carry pregnancy through reproductive technologies is the matter from all public discussions in the UK, through the Pre Implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where embryos are screened for gene fault before being transferred to a woman uterus. In June 2003, the case of this matter has touched every angle of UK with many responses even from the Parliament. There was a case that involved a family over the issue of reproductive technologies in the area of Leeds. In her reports (Debating Designer Babies, June, 2003) Ellie Lee) reported that “The Hashmis have a child with a rare blood disorder, who urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. Through using PGD, the Hashmis may be able to have a child that is free from the disorder suffered by their existing child. The child yet to be born could also donate tissue to cure its sibling. The Hashmi case became the subject of months of legal wrangling in the UK courts. Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), which is generally opposed to the use of reproductive technology, challenged the decision made in 2002 by the UK Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) that the Hashmis could have the treatment they wanted. CORE argued that in this instance, using PGD would mean that the new sibling yet to be born would be treated as a 'commodity'. But, in April 2003, the courts eventually rejected Quintavalle's case, and the Hashmis can now go ahead with treatment. This latest discussion about a couple's desire to use PGD shows that what people do in their reproductive lives is not just their business. The Hashmis' situation has been a matter of discussion for other people and organizations for a long period. Even before the Hashmi case got to the courts, the HFEA - a public body set up by an Act of Parliament passed in 1990 - had scrutinized the Hashmis' reasons for wanting to use PGD and had deliberated over whether these reasons were good enough”. Since we have learnt a little on how the reproductive technologies changes the debates of abortion in UK, now in the conclude part of the essay, the rights of a genetic father regarding abortion should be discuss as the concluding portion. One of the father’s rights according to one version said that a father has no any right whatsoever in regarding to abortion, in the sense that he does not have any power to force a human to abort the pregnancy if she does not want to adapt to that. The statement further stated that, why the man have no any right in the abortion process of a female lies on the point which make it very clearly that the fetus belong to the woman in her body, thus a father have no rights that supersede her own rights. Though sex is not a contract according to some philosophers, but since the man has contracted marriage with her and pregnant she, thus the pregnancy will be binding to him. But some analysts have the view that if genetic fathers have no rights in abortion process, yet there are other rights he has to share with the mother that carries the pregnancy. In one of the writing (Abortion, Father Rights and Equality) on this aspect, one of the analysts said “For the record, while I am staunchly pro-choice, I think that spousal notification is a painfully complex issue. Yes, it's the woman's body. It's also the man's future child, and while there may be no good way of balancing the man's and the woman's interests when those interests compete (i.e. when one of them wants to have the child and the other doesn't). I think that our current system, in which women have all the reproductive rights and men have the responsibilities, is seriously flawed. I don't believe we can expect men to be equal partners in child-rearing while denying them any say in reproductive decisions. Paternal consent, in my view, goes too far in infringing on the woman's bodily autonomy; paternal notification, on the other hand -- with exemptions when there is domestic violence or other complicating factors -- may not be such an onerous measure”. On the final note of this essay, we can conclude by saying, the analysis so far made as regarding to abortion in United Kingdom has indeed given an insight of how the phenomenon hard hit the country in the past years, while we examined and found the effort mounted by concern citizens that seeking to bring to end on what they described as inhuman. Additionally, the essay found some views of other, especially women that vowed to propagate for the continue legalization of abortion in Britain. We sighted some ill effect of it, and many other important points we focused on. References Medicine.COM, Definition of abortion, retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://www.mediterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2091 BBC News, Tories in Abortion row, Retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/1134042.stm Press Release, Retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/ Childbearing, freedom and equality, Retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/abortion/mother/for_4.shtm Press Release, Pro-life alliance mark the 37th anniversary of the abortion act UK, Retrieved March 11, 2007, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=15473 Reproductive Technologies, debating designer babies, Ellie Lee, June 2003, Retrieved March 11, 2007, from http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/ocrre/iss7.asp Why my man right to choose, Retrieved March 11, 2007, from http://cathyyoung.blogspot.com/2005/11/abortion-fathers-rights-and-equality.html                                                               Read More