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Name:
Course
Professor:
15th February 2015.
Abortion is good for women.
Abortion is one of the most controversial topics in the United States of America. The
issue of whether or not women should be allowed to carry out abortion is a subject of heated
debate right from the people in the streets to the courts of justice and to the various legislative
houses in the United States of America. While the advocates of abortion feel that it is a justified
option for mothers who are unwilling to carry their pregnancies, the anti-abortion crusaders
maintaining that it is an unethical practice that should be avoided at all costs. This essay is going
to show why abortion is a justified procedure that women should be allowed to partake. This
claim is going to be supported by arguments that abortion; allows women to be productive in the
society, allows women to pursue their desires in life, prevents the adverse financial strains
associated with unwanted pregnancies and alleviates suffering. The essay will also refute claims
that abortion amounts to murder, endangers the life of the mother and that it violates the rights of
the unborn child.
It is true that having the ability to determine when to have a child is a very good position
that every woman of child bearing age desires to be in (Marcotte). It is because of this ability that
women plan on how to carry out their duties as lawyers, senators and doctors among other duties
in the society without or with minimal interference from child bearing responsibilities. While I
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agree with anti-abortion crusaders that it is the conventional birth control methods that are ideal
to control when a woman should have a child, unwanted pregnancies cannot be fully avoided.
Unwanted pregnancies can occur due to failures of the birth control methods, due to unplanned
sexual encounters or even rape in some cases (Valenti). These unwanted pregnancies may pose
great challenges to the ability of the woman to carry out her normal societal duties like the ones
mentioned above and abortion provides a good remedy for them. Women should therefore be
allowed to procure abortions so as to maintain their productivity in the society.
Other than maintaining the productivity of women in the society, abortion also gives the
woman the opportunity to pursue her dreams and desires in life (Lowen). It has been observed
that a majority of the pregnant women who have a desire to do abortion are not in committed
relationships. Such a woman would want to do an abortion so as to avoid being a single parent. A
woman like this one may have wanted to have a complete family where her children have
unlimited access to their father. Becoming a single mother can be such a harrowing experience
for such kind of a woman (Lowen). Denying such a woman the right to abortion will be denying
her the right to pursue her desires. For this reason therefore, abortion should be made an option
for women who want to procure it.
Failure to get abortion for an unwanted pregnancy has serious financial implications for
the mother. As I already indicated above, an unwanted pregnancy reduces the societal input of a
woman and by extension reduces her income. Apart from reducing the productivity of the
woman, carrying an unwanted pregnancy comes with a lot of cost implications which may prove
to be a tall order for a woman. These costs are associated with care for the pregnancy,
childbearing, and upbringing of the child. The average cost of childbirth in a hospital is
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estimated to be about $8,000 and the perinatal care can be anything between $1,500 & $3,000
(Lowen). This ten thousand dollar bill can be such a tall order for the large number of Americans
who do not have insurance. This towering cost together with the cost of bringing up a child from
the time of birth to the age of seventeen years is estimated to be over $200,000 for a single child
(Lowen). How easily or comfortably can a person raise such an amount of money if she was
unprepared for it in the first place? These financial implications make the process of carrying an
unwanted pregnancy to be such a terrifying process and women should be saved from it by being
allowed to carry out abortion in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. Saving for a pregnancy and
childbirth is a nice thing to do but unwanted pregnancies denies women the opportunity of doing
so. The resultant financial strains can have serious implications not only for the baby but for the
mother as well. Lack of adequate medical care in the antenatal period for example exposes the
child to greater risks of complications during pregnancy and at the time of birth as well (Lowen).
Abortion should therefore be allowed for mothers to prevent the adverse financial strains that are
associated with unwanted pregnancies.
Abortion does not only allow women to fully partake their duties in the society but it as
well alleviates the suffering that comes with an unwanted pregnancy (Lowen). A pregnancy that
was unplanned for can cause immense suffering for a woman. For instance, studies have shown
that it is only less than fifty percent of teens who give birth before eighteen years of age do
graduate from high school (Lowen). If such a person drops from school, her ability to cater for
herself and for her child is greatly reduced. Such a person will therefore undergo a lot of
struggles and suffering in her life. It should be noted that the struggles that such a person would
face go beyond financial struggles to include psychological trauma as well. She will live a life
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full of regrets and self-blame (Lowen). Why not save such a person from the stress and suffering
by allowing her to have abortion.
One of the reasons that anti-abortion campaigners have put forward against the practice
of abortion is that the practice amounts to murder because it ends the life of the unborn child.
Such arguments are often supported by claims that life starts at conception and that procuring
abortion at whatever stage of pregnancy is therefore the same as killing (Yoder). While there
may be some basis for such an argument, the situation should be looked at from a wider
perspective. While it is agreeable that by a gestation of 3 months the embryo has become a fetus
with recognizable features for human beings for example, she is still not a person in the real
sense of the word. Such a fetus cannot survive outside the womb because its organs have not
fully developed. Such a fetus also does not have a conscious thought because her brain is
underdeveloped (Yoder). Aborting such a fetus can therefore be considered as ending a potential
life and not a life in the sense of the word. This is therefore not a reason good enough to deny
women the right to abortion.
Another reason that has been given against the process of abortion is that it is a dangerous
process that can endanger the life of the mother (Doyle). People who are against abortion have
always argued that the process can result in bleeding and hence death as a result of anemia.
Sepsis is another potential risk that has been cited by people who are against abortion by women
(Doyle). While these are true possible risks that are associated with abortion, the advancement in
technology and skills in the healthcare system has minimized these risks to almost non-existent
levels. Furthermore, greater risks are associated with abortions that are performed clandestinely
mostly by less qualified personnel due to stigmatizations and legal barriers that are associated
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with abortion. It should also be noted at this point that in fact abortion reduces some of these
risks associated with pregnancy. Many women and girls dye from complications associated with
pregnancy and childbirth (Doyle). For example, there are some treatments and medical
interventions that cannot be carried out on a woman if she is pregnant. In such cases, abortion
can be used to eliminate the risk (Doyle). In view of these reasons therefore, it becomes apparent
that abortion in fact reduces risks for the mother and should therefore not be denied on grounds
of safety.
It has also been argued that abortion violates the rights of the unborn child and therefore
should be avoided at all costs (Doyle).Contrary to this argument, abortion promotes the rights of
the fetus especially the right to be free from suffering. Come to think of some of the fetal defects
like anencephaly (which is lack of part of the brain) and renal agenesis (lack of kidneys) for
example. If fetuses with such kinds of defects are born, they will die after a very short period and
not without undergoing tremendous suffering (Doyle). Failing to procure an abortion in such
cases will not be promoting the rights of the fetus but it will be violating their right to be free
from suffering. In his article “Abortion Isn’t a Necessary Evil, It is Great,” Doyle Sady gives the
example of a girl from Peru who was restrained from aborting by the law only for the girl to give
birth to an encephalic child who died four days after birth (Doyle). The suffering of the child
could have been averted if the mother had been allowed to abort and the right of the child to be
free from suffering could have been observed. Abortion is therefore recommended because it
promotes the rights of the unborn child.
In conclusion, there are good enough reasons to justify abortion for women. The reasons
are that abortion; allows women to be productive in the society, allows women to pursue their
desires in life, prevents the adverse financial strains associated with unwanted pregnancies and
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alleviates the suffering of women due to unwanted pregnancies. The arguments that have often
been presented against the practice of abortion are that; it amounts to murder, it endangers the
life of the mother and that it violates the rights of the unborn child. These anti-abortion
arguments have been adequately refuted in the essay. A a close consideration of both the pro and
anti-abortion arguments as presented above reveals that abortion has got more benefits than
disadvantages and should therefore be allowed for women.
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Works cited.
Doyle Sady, Abortion Isn’t a Necessary Evil. It’s great. October 3, 2014. Web.19 th
February 2015.
Lowen Linda, Why Women Choose Abortion - Reasons Behind the Abortion Decision. Web.
19 th February 2015.
Marcotte Amanda, Every Reason for an Abortion Is a Good Reason, July 15, 2013. 19 th
February 2015.
Valenti Jessica, Abortion isn't about the right to privacy. It's about women's right to equality, 14
October 2014, Web. 18th February 2015.
Yoder Katie, Top 10 Ways Media Spin Abortion as ‘Moral,’ ‘Social Good, Oct 24,
2014, Web. 19 th February 2015.