Partial-birth abortion - Essay Example

?Abortion Abortion is generally known as the deliberate ending of a pregnancy. Often, abortions take place due to personal reasons of the mother, notas a medical necessity. According to the American Life League (2002), the history of abortion in the United States has been recorded going back to 1859, when the American Medical Association condemned the procedure except as medically necessary for the perseveration of life of the mother or child. In 1875, every state had a ban on abortion. In 1916, Margaret Sanger created the Birth Control League, which is now called Planned Parenthood, in promotion of contraception and abortion. Nearly 60 years later, in the infamous ruling of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade 1973, abortion on demand was made legal, although the individual states were still allowed to outlaw abortions within the third trimester unless medically necessary. Also in 1973, in Doe v. Bolton the Supreme Court defined the “health” of the mother to include physical, emotional, psychological, and familial and age. This ultimately allowed the woman to have an abortion at any time, for any reason. A Missouri abortion law that required parental consent of minors and husbands was ruled unconstitutional in 1976. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the decision there outlawed restrictions that “impose an undue burden” on a woman’s “right” to an abortion. In 1993, President Clinton signed five executive orders that allowed for fetal tissue research and harvesting, RU486 research, abortion counseling in family planning clinics and abortion services in U. S. military hospitals. In 1994, he also signed the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrance Act (FACE), which inhibits the first amendment rights of people who are pro-life to protest and demonstrate peacefully at abortion clinics. According to a study done by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (Robinson, 2007), women generally give at least three reasons why they want an abortion. For the most part, the reasons are the same. They are: lack of financial ability to raise the child; they’re not ready for the responsibility of the child; their lives would be changed too much, i.e., she has future plans that do not allow for having a child; her relationship with her partner is tumultuous; they feel they are too young; and some feel that they are too old to have another child as her family is grown. These reasons are generally influenced by pressures from the father or the mother’s parents to have the abortion; lack of physical or emotional strength; she is too young and a child would be too disruptive of her life; she doesn’t want others to know that she became pregnant; interference of the child with her career; and fear of physical abuse from a parent or significant other. Although these are only the personal reasons that a woman may choose to have an abortion, although less likely, there are medical reasons that support abortion. They are: the fetus was hurt by exposure to drugs, alcohol or other chemicals; the age of the mother is so young that the pregnancy is dangerous to the mother; the fetus has some genetic defect; the mother develops eclampsia; and in the case of multiple pregnancy, quintuplets, sextuplets and so on, the physician will often recommend a reduction process of the fetuses where one or more are killed so that the remaining fetuses are born normal and healthy. Generally, most abortions are performed within the first nine weeks of pregnancy, but there are some that are performed later. The reasons for these later term abortions according to a report by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) & The Guttmacher Institute (AGI) in 2005, were because: she did not recognize that she was pregnant; they had financial difficulty in arranging for an earlier term abortion; they were afraid to tell others of the pregnancy; they needed the time to make the decision; they felt that they should not follow through with it; they did not know they could get an abortion; and they found out later in the pregnancy that the fetus was abnormal. In addition, although extremely rare, there are abortions that take place after 20 weeks, which are most commonly referred to as partial birth abortions. There are three common abortion options, which are medication abortion, aspiration abortion and partial birth abortion. With medication abortions, the mother is prescribed pills that contain drugs called Mifepristone and Misoprostol, respectively. These pills are effective for a pregnancy that is up to nine weeks in duration. At the doctor’s office, the woman swallows the abortion pill (mifepristone), and then later at home the misoprostol pills are taken. It generally takes one to two days for the abortion to be complete (RHAP, 2010). In an aspiration abortion, the mother goes to a clinic that can perform the procedure, which generally takes five to ten minutes. The doctor puts instruments into the vagina and uterus, and using a suction or vacuum pump, sucks the pregnancy out of the woman’s body (RHAP, 2010). Partial birth abortions are not a medical term, as the proper medical terminology for this type of abortion is called either dilation and extraction, (D&X) or dilation and evacuation (D&E). Either way, the methodology is the same. The woman’s cervix is dilated medically, and then the doctor pulls the fetus through the cervix feet first until only the head of the fetus remains inside the woman’s uterus. Then, using scissors or some other sharp instrument, the doctor punctures the fetuses head and sucks the brains of the child out with a vacuum. This causes the fetus’s head to collapse so it will fit through the dilated cervix (NPR, 2011). Although there are different options for abortion based on the needs or desires of the mother, or medical necessity, there are many laws in place to protect or impede abortions from taking place despite the legality of it. Most states have laws requiring pregnant minors have their parent(s) involvement in the decision to abort. As with most any other law, they are split into conservative or liberal lines, with many versions of the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) having passed the House of Representatives by huge margins (1998 - 2007). Conservatives favor the parental consent and notification law, which requires the minor to either obtain the consent of at least one parent or guardian or obtain a court order that will allow her to have the abortion. Liberals on the other hand, are in favor of the safety and privacy of the female, regardless of age, to allow them to have an abortion. Liberals feel that some minors that live in the states that require parental or court consent will pursue a ‘back-alley’ abortion, which can be fatal. Often, minors will attempt to go to a state that circumvents the notification laws, where they can run the risk of complications from the abortion and medical treatment is unavailable. There is a federal law that has been proposed that will criminalize the transportation of a minor female in order to circumvent the notification laws in place in her state of residence. Supporters of this proposed bill feel that when a minor female is pregnant, her parents need to be informed so that the family as a unit can make the best decision. Many minor females who become pregnant are impregnated by adult males, which are 18 or older. This can motivate these men to encourage the minor female to have an abortion out of state in order to keep the pregnancy secret. This will alleviate the men from potential statutory rape charges. Opposition to CIANA believes that if these notification laws are in place, some minor females will obtain unsafe ‘back-alley’ abortions. The American Medical Association claims that the teen’s need for privacy may be so compelling that they are driven to compulsive and desperate measures to obtain the abortion. The American Association of University Women claims that more than 61% of pregnant teens’ parents are aware of their pregnancy, with many having valid reasons for the lack of parental involvement, often family violence. The Center for Reproductive Rights continues by saying that many pregnant teens that choose not to involve a parent will instead place their trust in another adult, such as an aunt or grandmother. This will in turn lead to criminal liability of the supportive adults. Often, minor women feel that they would rather obtain an out of state abortion due to costs, accessibility, friends or relatives in the neighboring state, and lack of knowledge on obtaining the judicial bypass necessary to get the abortion without informing the parents. The opposition to the passing of CIANA also shows that the U. S. Supreme Court has already ruled that women have a right to request abortions. The passing of CIANA would make the ascertainment of an abortion more dangerous, and is discriminatory based on state of residency (Robinson, 2008). Often, the laws of the land are so wrapped up in the female that the male involved in the pregnancy is overlooked or forgotten. In an interview with Arthur Shostak, Professor of Sociology at Drexel University by Don Kruse (1993), found that for the most part, the men felt that they were a full partner in the resolution of an abortion. He also reported that men have a high level of stress and anxiety, and that 98% of them would never do it again. In the clinical setting, the men were found to be of great concern for their partner, but were not allowed to accompany their partner through the procedure or in the recovery room. This is in opposition to what is ordinarily heard of in society and from the clinics that perform the abortions. Shostak (1993) goes on to say that most feminists are shortsighted, as it is not only a decision for the sake of the woman, but the man as well. When a woman finds out she is pregnant, often, according to Shostak (1993), her response is “we’re pregnant and I’m going to have an abortion.” this does not leave any room for a man in this situation to be supported through the abortion process. There are no services available for the support of men, and if they so desire abortion counseling, they have to pay for it, as most insurance companies only cover the woman, not the man. Many clinicians believe that abortions affect the woman more than the man, and in limited experiments, they have been found to be grossly wrong. The impact of abortion on men is extremely harmful, and is underrated. In the interview, Shostak also states that “taking something as solemn as the termination of a pregnancy and making it an invisible non-event for the male partner is not a contribution towards clarifying manhood. Manhood is a matter of rights and responsibilities.” there is little empirical data to support that men suffer in future relationships, self-esteem and other issues from an abortion, although Shostak maintains that further research is direly needed. Although Shostak suggested post-abortion issues for men, there are some states seeking to create rights for men concerning abortion. In Ohio, their House Bill 287 that was introduced by Republican State Representative John Adams in July 2007 is seeking to give the man who has impregnated a woman the legal right to decide whether the woman should have an abortion. This law would make it mandatory for all women to have the express, written consent of the impregnating male before the woman can have an abortion. . Women who choose not to reveal who the father is would be unable to have an abortion. Any man who is not the father of the fetus shall not claim that he is in order to assist the woman in getting an abortion. If there is question of more than one man being the father, a paternity test must be performed before the abortion can proceed. This way, they can gain the consent of the actual biological father of the fetus. Victims of rape and incest would require a police report, complaint or a court document in support of the woman becoming pregnant due to rape in order to obtain an abortion. In the case of incest, a paternity test would be required before the performance of the abortion procedure. In keeping with the act of the abortion itself, they will remain confidential, only being viewed by the woman, the father and the clinician, or in the case of rape or incest the officer investigating the case. Any individual, including clinicians that violate this bill would be guilty of what is termed as “abortion fraud” and charged as such with a misdemeanor, unless found guilty of the same violation at a prior date, which would cause the criminality to be increased to a felony. Ohio’s House Bill 287 now sits at the House Health Committee, awaiting approval (129th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, 2008). In spite of this bill and its attempt, there are still no laws in place that allow the man any right above what the woman wants in terms of abortion. According to an opinion of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, abortion allowed men and women to be equal in their reproductive rights, allowing both to have illicit sexual behavior without consequence. Men had generally been able to take license there, disappearing if he found out that the woman was pregnant. Abortion equaled the field, allowing the woman to abort an unwanted child as a man was able to walk away from it. The problem remains, that if the man wants to keep the baby and the woman refuses, the woman’s say is what will happen. If both people in the situation have equal rights, then the woman should not have the ability to deny the man his parental rights. This is in truth an unequal party. Women are allowed to become mothers if they so choose, but the men have the choice made for them (revelife, 2010). Unfortunately, equal rights do not exist in this area of abortion, which is where the Ohio House Bill 287 seeks to be relevant. It is trying to allow the men rights in a world of abortion where the woman is the only one who has any rights when it comes to the unborn child in question. There are more people involved in the abortion of the child than are involved in the creation of it. The feelings, wants and needs of the man need to be involved in the decision of whether or not to abort, as there are a variety of options available to the mother outside of abortion. There are also the feelings of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and so on that will never see the aborted child. On the other hand, it is the woman’s body, her ultimate choice since it is her body and it is also quite likely that the extended family will never know about the abortion. Further research is needed to support or refute the need for post-abortion counseling for men and women alike, the long-term psychological affects of an abortion on both the man and woman and understanding the motivations or lack thereof for women to seek out an abortion. References Rovner, Julie (28 April, 2011). Partial-Birth Abortion: Separating Fact from Spin. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5168163 Robinson, B.A. (2008). Federal Bills Dealing with Interstate Travel of Pregnant Minors to Obtain Abortions. Retrieved from http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_stat.htm Robinson, B.A. (2007). Why Do Women Seek Abortions? Retreived from http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_why.htm Early Abortion Options. (n.d.) In Reproductive Health Access Project. Retrieved from: http://www.reproductiveaccess.org/fact_sheets/early_abortion_options.htm American Life League (13 February, 2002). The History of Abortion in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.all.org/article/index/id/MjQ0Mw Kruse, Don (Interviewer) & Shostak, Arthur (Interviewee). (1993). Men and Abortion: A Clash of Faulty Rights [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from M.E.N. Magazine Web site: http://www.menweb.org/abortion.htm The 129th General Assembly of the State of Ohio. (2008). 127th General Assembly Regular Session 2007-2008 House Bill Number 287 [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_HB_287 Revelife. (2010, June 09). Abortion: What if the Father Wants to Keep the Baby? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.revelife.com/728474160/abortionwhat- if-the-father-wants-to-keep-the-baby/ Read More