The Controversy Over Abortion
The Controversy Over AbortionDuring the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war
as one of the most debatable subjects of controversy in the United
States. It discusses human interaction where ethics, emotions and law
are combined. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemmas
that focus many individuals to create an emotional and violent
atmosphere.
There are many points of view toward abortion but the only two
fine distinctions are "pro-choice" and "pro-life". A pro-choice
person would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of
the mothers and the state should have no right to interfere. A pro-
life person would hold that from the moment of conception, that the
embryo or fetus is alive. This life imposes on us a moral obligation
to preserve it and that abortion is the same as murder. In the United
States about 1.6 million pregnancies end in abortion. Women with
incomes under eleven thousand are over three times more likely to
have an abortion, than women with incomes above twenty-five thousand.
Unmarried women are four to five times more likely to abort than
married. In the past years the abortion rate has doubled among
18 and 19 year olds. Recently the U.S. rate has dropped 6 percent
overall but the rate of abortion among girls younger than 15 has
jumped up to18 percent and the rate among minorities climbed from 186
per 1,000 to 189 per 1,000.
The most popular procedure involved in abortions is the vacuum
aspiration, which is done during the first trimester (three months or
less since the woman has become pregnant). A tube is simply inserted
through the cervix and the contents of the uterus are vacuumed out.
The most commonly used type of second trimester abortion is called
dilation and evacuation. At this point the fetus has bones, bulk and
can is able to move, the second trimester abortions are not as
simple.
When as much of the fetus and placenta are vacuumed out then the
tweezers are used to remove the larger parts. The beginning of the
fifth month abortion is the serious and actually induced as
childbirth. That is, the mother is given substances, which puts her
into labor and delivers the fetus, as she would do with a full-term
baby.
About 40 percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain
legal and 40 percent believe it should be banned except when the
pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or the result of rape or
incest. 15 percent believe it should be illegal in all cases.
Although abortion is regarded as a woman's right, it should be banned
with exceptions because its considered murder has many psychological
side effects. Young teens say that when they see a baby it reminds
them of their own that they could have had.
Abortion is a woman's own right and choice. In...
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