An Abortion and Ethics - Essay Example

?Running head: Is Abortion Ethical? Is Abortion Ethical? Institute’s Is Abortion Ethical? Introduction An abortion is the end of pregnancy and expulsion of the fetus when it is not yet feasible. One can hardly deny the trauma of abortion and the risks for mother bears, but you cannot deny that there are many women who prefer to abortion if the pregnancy continued. Throughout history, women have paid a high price, often have been forced and even so, to have many children for short periods of time, causing their physical debilitation and death still young. Therefore, abortion is a very controversial because it involves a basic conflict of rights or positive values: autonomy and freedom of the mother and the right to life that is in gestation. The controversial issue of abortion today is no longer a precept. Abortion is not something that has begun to perform today, although it has increased over time and the worldwide legalization. There are many methods of abortion that vary by week of gestation. However, all lead to the same end result in death of the unborn. One method is not necessarily better than another; it may simply be less risky for women. However, the problem of abortion is engaged in a great ideological and religious controversy that is based on recognition and values ??not applicable to the social reality of women's lives today. Thus, ethical, moral, philosophical and religious serve to reflect and evaluate these values, adapted to the current context, as well as serve as a guide to legislative action to moral problems. What is abortion? Abortion is a medical process which takes place to terminate a pregnancy so that the baby is not born. It is sometimes known as a ‘termination’ or a termination pregnancy. A pregnancy can be ended by taking medications or having surgical procedure. This is usually done by those women who do not want a child or are not physically fit to give birth to a baby which can even be life threatening for them. However, abortion is considered unethical by many because they think that the mother is killing her own child. Though there may be a number of reasons that a woman would like to have an abortion. An abortion that is carried out to save the life of a pregnant woman is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion which can save the woman from physical or mental harm. A pregnancy is also terminated when there are chances that the child will have a premature birth or will be disabled for life. If the woman requests to have an abortion for non-medical reason then it will be referred to as an elective or voluntary abortion (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010 ). For abortion to be carried out the abdomen needs to be subjected to a trauma. However, if the trauma force is way too much it is possible that serious internal injuries may result and miscarriage may or may not be successful. It is the process of abortion that determines how risky it may end up to be. The World Health Organization has stated that unsafe abortions were carried out by unskilled doctors using dangerous and unhygienic equipment. If abortions are performed properly in a skilled manner, they are the safest procedure in medicine. Abortion can lead to maternal death but the risk is quite low – about 0.6 every 100,000 procedures in the US (Parker & Sommer, 2010). This means that abortion is 14 times safer than childbirth (8.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births). Abortion is more risky if the gestational age is more; however, it is still less than childbirth through around 21 week’s gestation. Adverse effects of abortion Like any other clinical procedures, abortion is not risk free. There can be negative results of abortion. For instance, an abortion can be incomplete. This means that all the products of pregnancy may not be removed during the abortion (Mogotlane, 2005). This problem is faced in less than 2 of the 100 abortions that take place. The retained products can cause bleeding, cramping or infection in the uterus of the patient. If any tissue is left inside, the doctors will have to do an ultrasound scan and repeat the procedure to remove that tissue. There are chances of infection after an abortion because the germs from the vagina can enter the uterus. It occurs in about 1 out of 100 abortion. If the infection is detected early, it can be treated by antibiotics. However, if the infection is severe the patient will have to be hospitalized to administer parenteral (intravenous) antibiotics. Some women bleed excessively after an abortion. The risk of this complication is higher if the patient has a history of excessive bleeding after child birth. This complication can usually be cured by using medications. An abortion can even fail to terminate the pregnancy. The risk is higher in women who have a tipped uterus. It occurs in less than 1 out of 1000 abortions. Abortions can cause bleeding in the uterus which can result in the accumulation of blood inside. This is called Hematometra (Baren & Rothrock, 2007). This complication occurs in rare cases. If the abortion is done surgically, then there are chances that the uterus is injured or punctured with instruments used but if the injury is minor, it will heal on its own. If it is a major injury, further treatment would be required to heal the wound. Women undergoing abortion in late pregnancy can have complications due to the anesthesia and surgical procedure. There are chances of developing deep vein thrombosis and the clots are also raised. These risks are higher in overweight women, have a heart condition, suffer from asthma or have any chronic problem. Abortion leads to stress. According to the American Psychological Association a woman going for an abortion feels more stress and that there is no indication of post-abortion syndrome. Why go for abortion On the other side, abortion cannot be considered a crime or a murder because the fertilized eggs used for in-vitro fertilization are thrown away which, too, are human lives. It is the woman’s choice if she wants to give away her child for adoption. However it is not an alternative to abortion. Mostly women who don’t abort keep their child. Statistically, fewer than 3% of white unmarried women and fewer than 2% of black unmarried women are ready to give their child for adoption. Medically, abortion is a safe procedure. It has a risk of less than 0.5% of complications and neither does it affect a woman's health or cause complications for her to conceive in future or during childbirth. Pregnancy can occur even with the use of birth controls. Abortion is not a form of contraception. There are only 8% women who get abortion because they didn’t follow the required measures to avoid pregnancy. A woman cannot be forced to keep a baby or give it away. She has complete control over her body which is critical to civil rights. The teenage mothers have to leave school to look after the baby. They have to rely on people for assistance to raise the child. These mothers are affected psychologically and they end up being divorced. Conclusion In conclusion, there are many facts about abortion that oppose the ones which are in favor. For example if abortion ethical or not is difficult to discuss because it depends in what circumstances the woman getting an abortion. If the mother’s health does not allow her to have a baby, then she’ll have to get an abortion in case of pregnancy. It is expected from such people to take safety measures and use birth control to prevent pregnancies which can be life threatening for both, the mother and the child. Abortion is a very tough matter to deal with – no one comes close to this lightly or decides if they should go for abortion or not. Besides, for a major number of essential, central ethical questions: the nature of identity, the nature of rights, human relations, personal autonomy, the degree of public authority for personal decisions, and more. This relates to the fact that it is vital for us to consider abortion in a very serious light as an ethical problem – so serious that we are able to make out the different components and have a proper discussion on them without or minimal prejudice. Certain people consider their approach to ethics as simply secular – for others it is largely to inform others about religious principles ??and teachings. There is nothing essentially wrong or above any approach. The fact that it would be wrong, however, will have to assume that religious principles ??should determine the end result in this debate. However, significant religious principles ?? cannot become the basis for laws that can be applicable to every citizen. It can be possible to positively affect others if people have a clear approach to the debate and are willing to learn from others having differed point of views. The debate can then go forward. Although broad agreement may not be achieved, a reasonable compromise may be possible. References Baren, J. M., & Rothrock, S. G. (2007). Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Elsevier Health Sciences. Mogotlane, M. S. (2005). Juta's Manual of Nursing (Vol. 4). Juta and Company Ltd. Parker, R., & Sommer, M. (Eds.). (2010). Routledge Handbook of Global Public Health. Taylor & Francis. Smeltzer, S. C., Bare, B. G., Hinkle, J. L., & Cheever, K. H. (Eds.). (2010 ). Brunner and Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More