Legalization of Abortion: the Right Thing to Do - Coursework Example

Legalization of Abortion: The Right Thing to Do Part 1: Thesis Aborting unwanted babies as long been a source of debate in the United States, as well as all over the world. Is it right or wrong? Should it be legal or illegal? The Supreme Court addressed at least the issue of legality in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. It suddenly became legal to abort unborn babies all over the country, although some states had already made this decision individually, as early as 1969 (Klick and Stratmann, 2003). This decision, however, was almost reversed in 1992 (Levine, et al., 1999), showing that, even decades later, the debate was not over. Indeed, even today, the debate continues, with Planned Parenthood groups being at the forefront for the pro side of abortion legalization and religious conservatives heading up the anti side of the argument based on the grounds that abortion is murder and should be illegal based on that fact alone. This essay contends that the answer to whether or not abortion should be legal cannot be based on a moral standpoint regarding the humanity of the unborn child alone. As will be shown, there is much more at stake here, including overarching social issues. Whether abortion is illegal or not, the practice will continue. It was carried out for centuries before the United States government decided it could be seen as legal. Indeed, illegal abortions continue throughout the world even today at great risk to the mother, as well as the child that is being terminated (Grimes, 2003). This shows that, no matter what, abortions will still be performed, and if they are not legal, there is a much greater risk to the health of the mother than if they are. This was the case in the United States before the Roe v. Wade decision, and was a probably a major factor in the arrival at that decision. Should mothers have to die along with their unborn children? No one would agree to that. Why, then, would they question whether abortion should be legal, when it is clear that if abortion is illegal, it is much less safe for the mother? Besides the safety issue, there is the plain fact that, at least in the United States, people are given the right to choose how they will live their lives and what they will do with their bodies. Thus, women should be guaranteed the right, by law, to choose what will happen to their bodies. Pregnancy can be a traumatic experience for any woman, even when it is desired, because of the multitude of complications that can occur. For an unwed teenager with terrifyingly strict parents or a helpless rape victim who finds herself with child as a result of the attack, pregnancy can be particularly devastating. Should these women be made to suffer an almost unbearable mental state for the rest of their lives simply because of the bad choices they, or someone else, made? The freedoms granted to each individual in the United States society ensure that this would not have to be the case. The question of whether or not abortion should be legal is obviously not an easy one to answer, since different sides have been arguing for and against it for decades. This essay argues that the pro side has much more going for it than the con side because of sociopolitical, psychological, and even moral reasons. Women should have the right to choose what will happen to their own bodies, especially when it concerns something as life-changing as pregnancy. They should not have to have to live with a constant reminder of a traumatic experience, and they should not have to face illness, death, or time in prison because of their attempts to escape such a reminder. As stated above, abortion already exists in the world, and has for centuries. There is no way to eradicate it from the face of the earth. The only thing we can do at this point is ensure that abortions will be carried out in the healthiest way possible for the mother by keeping them legal. Part 2: Anti-thesis Much has been said about the rights of the mother in the above argument, but what of the rights of the unborn child? Many will argue that the child does not really matter because it is not “alive” yet, but this simply not the case. An unborn fetus has a beating heart and a working circulatory system at a little over three weeks past the time of conception (Greenfield, 2004). Most abortions occur long after the fetal heart has started beating, at about nine weeks gestational age, sometimes even later (Adler, et al., 1990; Bartlett, et al., 2004). It can be argued, then, that the unborn child is indeed a living being and should be entitled to its own rights as a human being. A woman who is only considering her own rights when deciding on an abortion is acting selfishly, as if her unborn child were not really a person at all. Indeed, this may make it easier for the woman to cope psychologically with the decision to abort her child, but it is really only an attempt to deny the real truth she is trying so hard not to face - that she is little more than a murderer. The argument that legalized abortion is healthier for the mother and can help save her life does not always appear to be true. Complications can occur, including excessive bleeding, infection, and internal injuries that can lead to severe illness, or even death (Bartlett, et al., 2004; Freedman, et al., 1986). Legalization of abortion has also been correlated with a higher incidence of sexually-transmitted diseases, specifically gonorrhea and syphilis (Klick and Stratmann, 2003). While these diseases are not particularly life-threatening, they are serious enough to require treatment. They can also be easily passed on to another person through sexual contact. So, the same blasé attitude the mother has toward the life inside her extends to the lives of those around her as well, even those people she would supposedly care enough about to choose as her sexual partners. This further shows how the decision to abort an unborn child is purely selfish in nature, often made by women who have little regard for anyone other than themselves. Finally, the argument that women should be allowed to have abortions to protect themselves from psychological harm has huge holes in it. It is a well-known fact that women who have abortions suffer guilt and other negative consequences for months after the abortion has occurred, and sometimes even years. This is especially true of unwed teenage girls who abort their babies and women who make the decision to abort later in their pregnancies (Adler, et al., 1990). Sometimes the guilt is so strong that these women feel it is necessary to kill themselves to escape from it. Many women who abort find themselves seeking psychiatric treatment at some time after the abortion has occurred, and it is suggested that at least ten percent of women seek professional counseling as a result of the difficulty they are having in handling the aftermath of the abortion (deVeber and Gentles, 2005). Obviously, there is reason to believe that the abortion itself causes negative psychological effects that must often be dealt with for the rest of the woman’s life. It is clear that any woman who has an abortion is merely thinking of herself and does not care what happens to anyone else around her, including her unborn child. That life that was inside of her should have been respected, just as any human life should be. Women wishing to have an abortion should not risk their lives to seek to do so, but it appears that having an abortion legally can be just as dangerous as having an abortion illegally. The better course of action would be to just not have an abortion at all. Similarly, psychological discomfort is not wished on any woman who has had an abortion, but the psychological relief she may feel after the abortion has been completed may be short-lived, as the above-mentioned studies proved. If the mother has a conscience at all, guilt will eventually sink in, and she will have to deal with that, possibly long-term. If guilt does not set in, it could be that the woman who has an abortion is merely a sociopathic killer; thus, abortion should not be legal. After all, murder is still considered to be illegal throughout the world. Keeping abortion legal is a risk to society as a whole because it may cause people to develop disrespect for life, in general. Part 3: Synthesis The above argument for fetal rights is a valid one. It is conceded that the fetus is, indeed, a living being; however, it is argued that the fetus should still not have as many rights as the mother. The fetus is living inside the mother; it is dependent on her. The fact that it is not an independent being without the capacity for conscious thought, or even the ability to feel pain (Lloyd-Thomas and Fitzgerald, 1996), shows that it is not fully human. It should be a comfort to note that the fetus is in no pain at the time of its termination. It just ceases to be. In a sense, its life has not really begun, so how can it be argued that the abortion has ended it? It has not experienced pain, love, happiness, anger, hope, or any other emotion that we connect with the total human experience; therefore, the unborn child cannot really be considered to be a full human, with the need for full human rights. It certainly does not feel the desire for such. It could be argued that the fetus is concerned very little with whether abortion is legal or not. And yet legalized abortion could have a very great effect for the life of the mother, even possibly saving her life. The above argument that complications from the abortion can harm, or even kill, the mother is extreme and ludicrous. Granted, these problems do occur, but they are no more severe than complications following C-sections, and even some vaginal, births. Even if a mother carries her baby to term, she may still be putting her life in danger. Common complications after C-section births include placenta previa, pre-eclampsia, urinary infections, and anemia, and these complications are even more likely the second time the mother has a C-section (Taffel and Placek, 1983). Therefore, if complications following an abortion are troubling, complications following full-term births should be equally alarming. Maybe it would be best if every woman in the world just had her uterus removed. Then there wouldn’t be any risks involved with pregnancy, and there would be no need for abortions. Of course, there would not be any people left on the earth, either. Equally preposterous is the proposal that women who have abortions can be likened to sociopathic serial killers. It is true that many women do not feel much guilt after they have had an abortion (Adler, et al., 1990), but this will not necessarily turn them into antisocial, hardened criminals with no regard for human life at all. Just because a woman has one abortion, it does not necessarily mean she will have another one, and it is certainly ridiculous to suggest that the society as a whole will turn into murderers because of one woman’s abortion. In fact, it could be suggested that the legalization of abortion has had a positive effect on society. There have been studies suggesting that since the legalization of abortions, crime rates in the states with the highest numbers of abortions have dropped around fifty percent (Donohue and Levitt, 2000). It is clear that the legalization of abortion has not been detrimental to the United States society in the past thirty years. If anything, great improvements have been made in the nation’s social conditions since abortion became legal. Women’s lives are less endangered, they have the freedom to make choices about what happens to their bodies, and their psychological well-being is protected. Also, it appears that the legalization of abortion has led to improvements in the nation’s crime rates. The only ones who seem to be negatively affected by legalized abortions are the unborn fetuses, and they are not even conscious of it. Obviously, the decision to end another life is not an easy one to make, but it should be freely available to women. One can only wonder how much worse the country would be if the Roe v. Wade decision was reversed, and abortions were once again illegal. It is never good to look back at what once was. It is always better to look forward. That is the only way progress can be made, and social progress is better for everyone. References Adler, N.E., David, H.P., Major, B.N., Roth, S.H., Russo, N.F., & Wyatt, G.E. (1990). Psychological responses after abortion. Science 248(4951), 41-44. Bartlett, L.A., Berg, C.J., Shulman, H.B., Zane, S.B., Green, C.A., Whitehead, S., & Atrash, H.K. (2004). Risk factors for legal induced abortion–related mortality in the United States. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 103(4), 729-737. deVeber, L.L., & Gentles, I. (2005). Psychological aftermath of abortion. Canadian Medical Association Journal 173(5), 466-467. Donohue, J.J., III, & Levitt, S.D. (2000). The impact of legalized abortion on crime. Berkeley Program in Law and Economics, Working Paper Series 18, 1-68. Freedman, M.A., Jillson, D.A., Coffin, R.R., & Novick, L.F. (1986). Comparison of complication rates in first trimester abortions performed by physician assistants and physicians. American Journal of Public Health 76(5), 550-554. Greenfield, M. (2004). Hearing the fetal heartbeat. Retrieved October 2, 2010 from http:// www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,9851,00.html. Grimes, D.A. (2003). Unsafe abortion: The silent scourge. British Medical Bulletin, 67, 99-113. Klick, J., & Stratmann, T. (2003). The effect of abortion legalization on sexual behavior: evidence from sexually transmitted diseases. Journal of Legal Studies, 32, 407-433. Levine, P.B., Staiger, D., Kane, T.J., & Zimmerman, D.J. (1999). Roe v Wade and American fertility, American Journal of Public Health 89(2), 199-203. Lloyd-Thomas, A.R., & Fitzgerald, M. (1996). Reflex responses do not necessarily signify pain. British Medical Journal, 313, 797-798. Taffel, S.M., & Placek, P.J. (1983). Complications in cesarean and non-cesarean deliveries: United States, 1980. American Journal of Public Health 73(8), 856-860. Read More