Free Should Abortion Be Legal Essay Sample

Introduction  

Abortion has been and has always remained a very hot issue in most parts of the world whereby most people seem to have a perception and a convincing argument with regards to this issue. There are those common questions that normally linger in most peoples thoughts when it comes to this issue e.g. should abortion be legal? Should it be not allowed completely? Should it be allowed only in certain circumstances? Is it safe? What would happen if it was to be legal? Looking at these questions you will realize that there are a number of things to consider with regards to this issue.

To address this issue in the right manner it is first important to understand what it really entails. With this in mind I would therefore like to mention that abortion is the act of terminating a pregnancy. It can be done either by a surgical procedure or by the use of certain types of medication.

Thesis

Abortion has proved to be very necessary in many circumstances and this is something that even medical practitioners agree with. For this reason I believe that abortion should be legal.

Many of those people who are against abortion have argued that it is unsafe but the fact of the matter is that abortion performed by qualified medical practitioners are pretty much safe. Research has in fact shown that a legal abortion that is performed by a qualified medical practitioner is safer than a full-term pregnancy and childbirth (Basso 2003). It is only an abortion that is carried out by an individual who is not a qualified medical practitioner that is unsafe to the pregnant woman.

There are a number of methods that can be used by qualified medical practitioners to perform abortion and thereby reducing the chances of medical challenges. One of the most widely used methods is commonly known as the vacuum aspiration. Another method is the dilatation and the evacuation method which is commonly used in instances where the pregnant woman does not find out she is pregnant until her twelfth week of pregnancy (Pregler & DeCherney 2002). The medical doctor therefore usually performs the procedure between the twelfth and the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy. It is also important to note that a medical pill known as the mifepristone is also commonly used to perform safe abortion.

Another important point worth noting at this point is that legal abortion performed by the qualified medical practitioners does not cause any kind of fertility problems in the later life of a woman. The woman who has had a legal abortion can still always have children at some point in her life when she decides to, the way she normally would before the abortion (Pregler & DeCherney 2002).

Legal abortions carried out by professionals not only protect the lives of these females but also protects their health. The availability of legal abortion has assisted in preventing medical complications and challenges that can result from childbirth especially for women with conditions such as severe hypertension, sickle-cell anemia, kidney disease, severe diabetes and heart disease (Basso 2003). In an environment where abortion is illegal, the choices of such women with such conditions are normally limited to those illegal abortions that have proved to be very dangerous to their lives and at the same time even health.

Anti-thesis

It is something of common knowledge to everyone that abortion terminates the life of an innocent being before it has an opportunity to pursue liberty or even happiness for this case. For this reason therefore the government should take it as their responsibility to protect these basic constitutional rights and more so for those who do not have the ability to defend themselves (Ponnuru 2006).

It is important for these rights to be protected even for those conservative members of the society who believe in minimalist government. The government as evident even in many other parts of the world has the power to compel members of the society to do something against their will only if they will cause certain measures of harm to others. In this case it is quite obvious that terminating a fetus harms that member of the society (Ponnuru 2006). Considering the fact that this person is defenseless for this case, it is therefore an elaborate and perfect example of the responsibility of a government to act as a protector. The debate concerning the point at which a fetus becomes a person therefore becomes irrelevant in this case. Many people agree that at some point before delivery of a baby a fetus does become a person, even if not yet a citizen (Ponnuru 2006).

Still on this matter, it is also very right to argue that the right to liberty and pursuit of happiness are no greater for the pregnant female than the fetus. This is because of the fact that this woman has already been able to enjoy and appreciate these rights. While this woman may have some great and awesome opportunities to explore in her future or rather in the course of her life, we as a society may never be able to actually know what this unborn fetus might have done and achieved with his or her life (Ponnuru 2006). It is possible that this unborn child might have been the person to discover the cure for AIDS, developed a way to live in another planet, and even more importantly he or she might have simply enjoyed the simple pleasures of his or her life the way he or she knows best and this would be just enough. It is quite obvious that if this person was only a year older, a court would definitely rule that the murder of these persons were illegal and unacceptable with regards to the moral standards set by every society (Ponnuru 2006).

It is important therefore at this point to mention that in case the fetus had the ability to defend itself, it would have therefore had the right to do so and possible found it unacceptable or rather disagreed with idea of murdering it (Bernard 2006). Unfortunately though, because of the fact that it is fully dependent on its mother for the approximately sixty three weeks that she carries it in her womb, the government must therefore step up and provide an helping hand necessary to protect these certain inalienable rights of this helpless person.

In many parts of the world today, when a man kills his pregnant wife, he is usually charged with the murder of both his wife and the unborn child simply because the courts believe that the unborn child has much of a right to life and the pursuit of happiness just as the adult woman. It is therefore important to note that there is no difference between this murder and the other scenario whereby the wife is forced to get an abortion (Bernard 2006).

It is also very important to mention at this point that it is not only the responsibility of the government to protect the rights of those helpless in our society. The entire society must also step forward to protect these rights and at the same time, more importantly mothers have responsibilities in regard to the fetus because she is the one who carries it in her womb and gives birth to it in the end (Bernard 2006). A mother should never be a stranger to her baby but instead she should have a relationship with her child that different from that she would have with a stranger. On top of that, a mother should find it very appropriate to make sacrifices for her child to ensure that the child lives to explore his or her full potential (Bernard 2006). It is usually the role of the government to prevent the ill motive individuals from causing any measure of harm to other citizens of any given country. On this note, it is important therefore to mention that even the murder of any unborn child is a clear-cut case that also demands protection from the government.

Synthesis

It is the right of every woman to protect her body, lifestyle and even her future. It is unacceptable for the government to assume to know what is best for the interest of each woman in her particular circumstances. With some measure of regulation, women should be given the freedom to terminate their pregnancy with the help of a qualified doctor when they choose to (Pregler & DeCherney 2002).

I would like to mention at this point that there is no way a fetus can be considered a person and this because of the fact that it does not resemble a baby, it does not have any kind of capability for independence, or even evidence of thought. For this reason the priorities, rights and desires of a pregnant woman should always come before that one of the "non-person". A woman therefore should have the right to make personal and uninfluenced decisions concerning whether to have an abortion for whatever reasons she may choose e.g. incase the pregnancy was as a result of a rape case, the contraceptive methods administered were unsuccessful or maybe she just does not want a child (Pregler & DeCherney 2002). It has to be mentioned that as human beings, unlike animals we have to value the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for another human being more than that of a "non-person".

Abortion should be legal because laws against abortion kill women and since prohibiting the act does not stop the women from doing it. In many cases, when pregnant women feel like it is absolutely necessary to terminate a fetus, they will choose to do so even if it has to be in secret without proper medical care and this has proved to be very dangerous. The approximately twenty year period before abortion was legalized in the USA, it was estimated that approximately one million women sought out illegal abortions annually. As a result, tens thousands lost their lives and at the same time thousands were mutilated (Pregler & DeCherney 2002).

For many years many political and economic battles have been fought for women to earn equality. The success and gains accrued form such battles can never be of much worth if the reproductive choice of these women is denied. The ability to choose a safe and legal abortion is quite necessary in order to make the many other options possible. If this is not taken into serious consideration therefore rape and accidents can thereby end a woman's personal and economic freedom.

Conclusion

It is also important to mention at this point that outlawing abortion is quite discriminatory. One group of women who suffer most from the anti-abortion laws is the low-income earning women who find themselves going for the illegal abortions performed by unqualified doctors or the self-induced ones that have proved to be quite dangerous too. This is because of the fact that this is what they are able to afford unlike the rich women who can travel wherever appropriate to obtain a safe legal abortion.

 

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