Why Abortions Should Not be Banned: Protecting Women's Heal

Introduction

Abortion is the process where a woman chooses to end a pregnancy by either taking prescription medicine or having surgery to remove the embryo. This essay argues why abortions should not be banned, as it provides women with the chance to pursue their goals and education, they are not harming the fetus, and it can prevent unsafe abortions.

Over the past few decades, the legalization of women to get abortions was abolished around the country since the late 19th century. Despite this, in January of 1973, a turning point occurred in the history of the United States where Roe v. Wade came to be. The breakthrough moment was a court decision that eliminated the Texas law of restricting women from getting abortions which granted the legalization of abortion procedures in the United States. As a result of this decision, many Americans oppose the ruling or agree which leads to a great divide in society. Following the judicial decision, many states have tried to imply restrictions on the legalization of abortion for women across the United States of America. 

Abortion is a very disputable procedure in our society many have opposing views while others deem it right for women to endure this action. Currently, the conversation of abortion laws has been a huge concern for many women because recently in the state of Alabama the governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill last May that states that having an abortion can be a felony with up to 99 years in prison unless if it’s a danger to the mother’s life. In spite of this, this led to many states striving for the prevention of abortion because they believe women would be killing a human being and causing endangerment to the fetus. Other individuals argue that women should make their own decisions regarding their bodies. 

I believe abortion shouldn't be banned because it provides women with a chance at pursuing their goals and education, they are not harming the fetus at all and it can restrict them from not having unsafe abortions.

Role of education 

Education plays a vital role well into the decision among women to get an abortion, especially among many young females. Specifically, a young woman’s ambition to accomplish her educational aspirations can hinder pregnancy by the use of resources and access to information on how to prevent pregnancies. For many women, giving birth would conflict with their education as well as career goals. As mentioned by Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives “ 34% said they could not afford a child because they were students or were planning to study “(Finer). 

In many situations, young women who have unintended pregnancies are still in high school and will more than likely have to drop out of school to take care of the baby which can hinder not only their mental state yet also their financial situation. They would end up unemployed, below the poverty line which can combat the support their child properly needs. In conjunction with this, in Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients, 2008 the report entails the percentage distribution of U.S. women who obtained an abortion aged 15-44 and “the overwhelming majority of abortion patients aged 20 and older had graduated from high school - 88%, including the 20% who had at least a bachelor’s degree “(Guttmacher). 

Surprisingly, women with a college degree are unlikely to get the procedure can indicate that having higher education offers acknowledgment of better contraceptives and information on sexual health. Without the legalization of abortion, the concern of women and care for their unborn child can result in birth defects, low birth weight, maternal depression, increased risk of child abuse, lower educational attainment, delayed entry into prenatal care, a high risk of physical violence during pregnancy, and reduced rates of breastfeeding (Ricketts).

Illegal abortion

Unsafe abortions are performed by unprofessional people lacking the necessary skills for a proper procedure and in an unsanitary atmosphere. If women have access to legal and professional abortions, the rate of maternal death and injuries caused by unsafe procedures would greatly decrease. 

In the entry Illegal abortion: consequences for women’s health and the Health care system states that about “40-60 million abortions occur each year, and at least half of them are illegal and/or performed under unsafe conditions “(Faundes). Women as a result of restriction would go to great lengths to terminate their pregnancy by using unsanitary objects by using coat hangers, knitting needles, or by going to “back-alley “ places. According to A Global Database of Abortion Laws, Policies, Health Standards, and Guidelines.” such laws and policies cause delays for women receiving care by creating complex and burdensome administrative procedures, increasing the costs of safe abortion services and limiting the availability of services and their equitable socio-geographic distribution “(W.H.O). 

The restriction can cause women to risk their lives and impair their health to go and get unsafe abortions because the costs of the service or proper healthcare are uneconomical for low-income women. However, this unsafe and low-cost procedure can cause immediate health implications that impact a women’s life drastically like a hemorrhage, chemical lesion of the genitals, or severe infections. Precarious unhealthy abortions can have serious repercussions for a woman’s life because of infections but can also increase problems with their sexual life such as chronic pelvic pain and infertility. This could have an influence both on a woman's life and also in the healthcare system due to resource utilization that can’t be useful in curing or improving the implications. The complications will use up many resources of hospitals like antibiotics, fluid, and beds that can be used for other more severe cases if abortion was legalized. 

Many widely refute that during an abortion procedure, the fetus experiences harm and discomfort. Nevertheless, the fetus doesn't feel distressed, as the only way the fetus feels pain would be through the 29th or 30th week of pregnancy. Based on Fetal Pain: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence “abortions that late into a pregnancy are extremely rare and are often restricted by state laws “(Susan). 

Another aspect can be seen in Do Fetuses Feel Pain? “ fetuses cannot be held to experience pain. Not only has the biological development not yet occurred to support pain experience, but the environment after birth, so necessary to the development of pain experience, is also yet to occur” (Stuart). On top of that when a fetus is growing the only way they can have pain awareness is when the cortex develops. The cortex doesn’t develop until the 26th week of pregnancy but most abortions are performed way before this time period of a woman’s pregnancy. Many children and adults adapt to their conscious perception of pain through a developmental process that a fetus has yet to experience when an abortion is done. This proves that there aren’t any authentic or sufficient scientific details that contribute to the idea that a fetus can undergo pain in any abortion procedure.

It is clear from the evidence presented that abortions should not be banned, as illegal and unsafe procedures put women's lives and health at risk, and can place a strain on healthcare resources. Furthermore, the idea that fetuses experience pain during an abortion is not supported by scientific evidence.

By way of contrast, the stance of banning abortions is commonly debated often because of the risk for women's health that requires the destruction of a human person. This view validates the vulnerability to economic, moral, and religious values posed by abortion. The killing of a fetus is evil even if it hasn’t been born yet but also causes so much harm and pain to the fetus. 

As discussed in the article Making Women the Subjects of the Abortion Debate: A Class Exercise That Moves Beyond ‘Pro-Choice’ and ‘Pro-Life. “ pro-life …. claims the side for life, the side which purports to protect and selflessly value even the smallest forms of life, egg, sperm, embryo….”(Crawley). By the U.S. government, unborn babies are deemed human beings who deserve a right to life. As stated in the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 “ to protect unborn children from assault and murder … anybody intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child should be punished “. 

At the beginning of fertilization, a human is created with special genes that are constant throughout their life. This human being has the primitive right to live like everyone else that requires protection from malicious intent. A fetus has the same amount of rights as an individual in society and is an innocent human being who deserves to have a future. Nonetheless, overwhelmingly, personhood begins after a fetus becomes able to survive outside the womb or after birth but not pregnancy. In Roe V. Wade “a person does not include the unborn” embryos aren’t free beings they can’t even speak or have self-determination for things. abortion stops pregnancy not killing a baby that doesn’t even have the proper organs or developed cells to be deemed as a human. Secondly, the termination of pregnancy presents women with a chance to not carry a pregnancy to the full term where the fetus has severe abnormalities. 

In certain circumstances, some fetuses have such rigorous and intense disorders that before of after pregnancy death is a guarantee for the fetus. Many of the disorders include crucial body parts missing or abnormal development of our organs as stated in Should Mothers Be Forced to Bear Disabled Children Against Their Will? “Anencephaly, in which the brain is missing, and limb-body wall complex, in which organs develop outside the body cavity “(Reinhard). If abortions were legalized it would greatly minimize a woman or the parent’s misery and concern on whether or not their child will survive the full-term pregnancy. Not only that but it will be really cruel to put and force a woman to carry fetuses that have lethal deficiencies to full pregnancy term. It will cause the woman great harm emotionally, mentally, and physically leading to future child abuse and severe sadness or they will try to induce their own abortion.

Conclusion

The legality of abortion is indeed an argumentable problem many people agree that it must be legalized whereas others dissent and claim it should not be prohibited. Regardless of the viewpoint of anyone, there are many reasons why women tend to have or perform them, we need to be respectful of their decision because we don't know the circumstance therein. Many women who choose to do abortions do them because they have been rape victims aren’t ready for the responsibility, can’t afford to provide a safe and lovable home or they simply don’t want to have a child so they can further their career and education. There are several reasons why abortion should not be banned, including the fact that women who choose to have abortions often do so because they have been a victim of rape, are not ready for the responsibility, cannot afford to provide a safe and loving home, or simply do not want to have a child so they can further their career and education.