Essay on Abortion: A Complex Debate on Life & Death Matters

Introduction

Abortion is among the most argued topics of all times, lacking basic grounds on two critical aspects. The key argument is on death and life are usually difficult and complicated since they are both uncertainties. Abortion is argued to have an equal magnitude on both sides hence a death or living matter. Despite having different argument grounds, the goal remains the same: reducing abortion incidences while making abortion safe. The paper aims at giving an in-depth analysis of why abortion should be discouraged in society.

Abortion refers to fetal or embryo removal from the uterus to terminate any individual’s pregnancy. Many questions are surrounding the validity of abortion: Does abortion include confidentiality? What is the constitutional claim on abortion? Should abortion be allowed for cases such as incest or rape? Is fetus development an act of being? According to the constitution, abortion is permitted; however, it has to be carried under exceptional conditions. According to the US constitution, if the life of the individual giving birth is under critical threat, the life of the unborn may be terminated to save the mother (Thedford).

Currently, the topic of abortion is amongst the most controversial one in society. It has been for some time since there exist countless issues regarding the subject. The issues involved revolve around religion, the legal aspect alongside how people feel sensitive while discussing the topic. Abortion should never be legalized since it results in long term health complications; a fetus feels much pain and reduces the number of babies viable to be put in adoption centres.

How Abortion Causes Pain To Fetus

First, an embryo develops into a fetus within no time. When it is past 22 weeks old, any fetus feels much pain when subjected to the abortion procedure (Sisson, et al., 136). It is due to this reason why many people are not able to participate in the process. When the fetus is twenty-two weeks and above, it becomes noxious to separate the fetus body and to cut it into the cranium. The word noxious means much pain (Sisson, et al., 136).

The fetus depends on the womb. It means that it does not have its track of survival, growth and development. Abortion leads to dividing the two tracks; the mothers and that of the fetus. The process leads to much pain. When a baby is inside the womb, there exists a different pain system. The system is known as the immature pain system. Through this, the role of the system is signalling the fetus (Sisson, et al., 137). Thus the fetus can feel the excruciating pain.

Also, it is scientifically proven that a fetus develops sensory nerves and receptors between the 10th to the 14th week at the gestation age (Sisson, et al., 136). The receptors are termed as nociceptors. They are the sensory nerves which are referred to as pain receptors in medical terms. So, if the sensory receptors develop at an early period, it means that the fetus feels pain at the 22nd week when the abortion occurs (Sisson, et al., 138).

Medical Complication Associated To Abortion

Second, many women are uninformed of the possible issues that could take place and affect their health. Unluckily, most of them wish to get on with the abortion process and do away with the pregnancy. There are extends to which our bodies cannot take without being seriously harmed. There are a lot of proves that abortion can lead to long term health complications in the lives of a woman. Currently, 37.5% of women face medical challenges, while 22.5% face long term challenges due to abortion (Sisson and Rowland, 25).

Some of them are infertility and mental health issues. In some severe occasions, abortion leads to the death of the mother (Sisson and Rowland, 25). It becomes a critical thing to handle when the involved has a haemorrhaging problem. Mothers are affected mentally since abortion results in killing babies that could be adopted by individuals who do not have the chance.

Effect of Abortion in Adoption

Thirdly, abortion leads to a reduction in the number of babies that could be adopted. Even though they recognize this as a safer and better alternative, many women fail to evaluate this option since they believe abortion to be a problem solver. It is proven via statistics that, while a million abortion takes place every year, only 14,000 women allow their children to be adopted. (Sisson and Rowland, 25).

The primary reason why most women do not continue with the idea of adoption is that they feel insecure. They think that it is not the right choice to make. Most of them fear to involve their partners from the fear of the unknown. They do not know how their partners would take the idea of another couple raising their child. In other times, women continue with abortion secretly.

Oher women continue with the abortion due to prior health complications. Even when their doctors assure them that it is not the case, they decide to have an abortion quickly without thinking of the repercussions. Majority of the females say that adoption could be used as a safe way out of abortion. However, they prefer an abortion owing to the reason of never being able to give their baby up to adoption (Sisson and Rowland, 28). From such an argument, it is showing that abortion should be made illegal.

Consequently, if pregnancy occurs due to rape, the constitution permits abortion to safeguard the rights of the raped individual. However, it is according to reproductive rights and right to privacy constituting to enumerated rights. Since the legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court in 1973, there have been over 35 million legal abortions in the United States. Abortion accounts for over 24% of all pregnancies; however, teenagers have the leading cases of abortion, constituting 41% for abortions carried out in America. Being a legal action according to the constitution does not mean it is a good act (Borgmann, 40). Despite the legalization of slavery many years ago, it never meant the act being carried was right. After conception, the heartbeat starts beating after 16-25 days while the brain starts functioning after 40 days (Borgmann, 40). Fetus formation means life formation. Therefore, abortion means murdering a life. The unborn have rights to live and has to be protected at all means to ensure all legal consideration does not affect determination on whether a given life has to be terminated. There is a need to reconsider all factors allowing the execution of abortion, especially by creating awareness to the general public on the importance of retaining pregnancy and embracing respect for human life.

Conclusion

From the statistics, it is clear how abortion has become a significant challenge and problem in our current society. While there exist far better options such as adoption, many women choose to continue with the abortion to terminate their pregnancies. As observed, it results in pain in a fetus, stops adoption of the babies and leads to long term medical complications. Also, it can result in the death of the mother, leave alone the unborn baby. These are some of the reasons why abortion should be illegal.

Work Cited

Sisson, Gretchen, and Brenly Rowland. ""I was close to death!": abortion and medical risk on American television, 2005–2016." Contraception 96.1 (2017): 25-29. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782417300987

Sisson, Gretchen, et al. "Adoption decision making among women seeking abortion." Women's Health Issues 27.2 (2017): 136-144. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049386716303486

Thedford, Lauren. "The Ninth Amendment in Relation to Abortion and the Consequential Political Action." Politics, Bureaucracy & Justice 1.2 (2009). https://www.wtamu.edu/webres/File/Academics/College%20of%20Education%20and%20Social%20Sciences/Department%20of%20Political%20Science%20and%20Criminal%20Justice/PBJ/2009/1n2/1n2_02Thedford.pdf

Borgmann, Caitlin, and Catherine Weiss. "Beyond apocalypse and apology: a moral defense of abortion." Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health 35.1 (2003): 40-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097805