Abortion: The Ultimate Decision Essay, Research Paper
Abortion is a subject of perception; to find a clear cut solution would be to commit suicide. Doctors say that candy is not bad, so long as there is not a consumption of it at one time. All things in life must be viewed through a reasonable, clear mind. To say abortion is good or bad is to look at it blindly. Abortion is not like racism or oppression where to look at one incident is to miss the point. Or if we look at the big picture we see the crime, and abuse.
Abortion is by far a twentieth century invention or discovery, the only thing modern about abortions is the procedure. During the time of ancient Greece and Rome there have been writings of abortions. Abortions may be dangerous no, but back then “women used herbs to create contractions and speed up labor when giving birth. They discovered these same herbs could be used early in pregnancy to abort a fetus” (Lowenstein, 24-26). So abortions have been performed since about 1000 B.C. “However, it was hard to mix the same concentrations of herbs each time, and so some women died from an overdose, or did not drink enough to abort the fetus.” (Lowenstein, 26).
Women have used several different methods to induce an abortion, whether abortions were legal in their society or not. In the seventeen hundreds women used “ergot” (Lowenstein, 26), or “parsley” (Lowenstein, 26). In the eighteen hundreds women would drink poisons such as “arsenic, lead, and phosphorus” (Lowenstein, 26). After five decades surgery was introduced for women to have abortions. In the nineteen hundreds women used more drugs which sometimes killed them, but later in he century a suction instrument was created to suck the baby out of the subject. “Throughout history, women have had abortions, whether legal or not-even if it meant risking their lives with unsafe methods.” (Lowenstein, 27). In September year two thousand “The FDA approves RU 486.” (Gibbs, 41) the pill, RU 486 also known in the Unites States as Mifepristone, will “cause the uterus to shed its lining, dislodging the embryo.”(Gibbs, 44) if taken within seven weeks of pregnancy. c is taken two days after Mifepristone inducing “contractions that expel the embryo in about 95% of cases.” (Gibbs, 44).
The arguments for pro-life advocates may vary a little but there is a general consensus that abortion is not allowed, “unless perhaps the mother’s life is in danger.” (Lowenstein, 42). The main concern for pro-life advocates is that women may use abortion as another form of birth control. They feel that women instead of using condoms or birth control pills will use abortions. Their concern is also that women or parents will use abortions until they get the sex of the child that they wish. According to pro-lifer’s “It is not uncommon, say pro-lifers, for women to become upset they have killed their unborn baby, and start a ‘replacement’ pregnancy. Therefore, the cycle just continues with no end insight.” (Lowenstein, 44).
Pro-life arguments do not just remain stagnant with society, but the religious world also has their belief heard. In terms of organizations the “Catholics know the Catholic church forbids abortion” This may be true but the Catholic church has a history of dealing with the issue of abortion, “Church teaching on abortion has varied continually over the course of its history. There has been constant general agreement that abortion is almost always evil and sinful, the church has had difficulty in defining the nature of that evil. Members of the Catholic hierarchy have opposed abortion consistently as evidence of sexual sin, but they have not always seen early abortion as homicide.”
Abortion being a subject of perception allows itself to belief. Just as religion people believe either abortion is right or it is wrong. Abortion is by some people and some groups, both religious and not, as an act of murder, but then arises a question, when does life being? In what trimester does life begin? What constitutes life? Is it legs, feet, hands some human form, or is it knowledge, reason, wisdom? According to Merriam-Webster OnLine life is “the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body.” With such a vague definition of life then how can we say that abortion is wrong, and that it is murder? It is here where the views of the pro-choice advocates take precedence.
Pro-choice advocates “quote United States and state law, both of which do not consider the fetus a person. The pro-choice position is based on the belief that it is a woman’s fundamental human right to decide when or whether to have a child. They also believe that women should have the right to the most statistically and scientifically accurate comprehensive and unbiased information” (Lowenstein, 52). The pro-choice argument can be extended farther, “that a woman’s right to control her body overrides any claim made by the fetus.” (Cannold, 21). The pro-choice argument is more liberal in that it is not judging a woman for the choice that she will make, and is allowing a woman, or a family, decide whether it is a good time or a bad time to have a child, which is the fear of pro-life advocates.
The pro-choice approach to abortion is that the fetus is no a human being or a citizen of the world and as such has no rights. The only being that has right is the woman. There are some religions that incorporate the pro-choice view of abortion, but they are sects of some of the main religions like Catholicism, and Judaism. To say that the woman holds all the rights and control of the fate of the fetus is to say that there is not potentiality in the fetus and so it has not rights. It is also to say that even if the fetus did have rights it is the woman’s painful undertakings that are held in higher regard than that of an unborn, unknowing fetus.
These views on abortion, both the pro-choice and pro-life, are based solely on belief. The pro-life belief takes the approach that we are not individuals but a family and as such are responsible for the other members of the family. The pro-choice belief is that though we are a family we must allow each member to make the decision that best suits them during the circumstances that are being undergone during that particular period. Though it is easy to see that both groups belief strongly that abortion just for abortion is wrong, but pro-choice belief more strongly that abortion with thought is a more correct action.
An abortion has never been easy throughout the history of the human race, and may never be. As of September year two thousand there was a drug approved by the Food and Drug Association (FDA), this drug is Mifepristone (RU-486). This drug if used within seven weeks of pregnancy is “safe” and will not cause as many complications as a “traditional” abortion on a doctor’s office. In a “traditional” abortion women are at risk in future pregnancies like “excessive bleeding, premature delivery, cervical damage, and sterility.” This is but a small list of the much longer listing of reported complications of traditional abortions. The new medication to the battle of abortion is RU 486 (Mifepristone) and Misoprostol, together these drugs are named Mifeprex. The combination of these two drugs together may cause, “Excessive bleeding, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, fainting, back pain, fatigue, fever, viral infection, anemia, insomnia, anxiety” (France, Rosenberg, 29). These seem to be the only noted complications for Mifeprex.
To solve such a controversial and complicated issue as abortion is to feed yourself to the lions. The initial solution that came to mind was to start a governmentally funded program that would allow pregnant women to take a week of tours of abortion clinics, and seminars where both views of abortion would help the woman, or family members, decide before actually going through an abortion operation or before her/there final decision. But a program like this will have many set backs especially with the introduction of Mifeprex.
The reality of civilization is that knowledge is power. It is known throughout the world that the citizens of the Unites States of America tend to be conservatives. And as conservatives Americans tend to believe that humans younger than thirteen years of age can not reason, and are unable to make good decisions. It has been proven that starting from the age of six or so begin to make decisions and to reason, if this fact holds true then why not give the knowledge to children from grades four and over. It is also scientifically proven that males and females tend to go through puberty ranging from age eleven to thirteen.
If children have the ability to reproduce starting at age eleven, then why do we begin to teach our children about abortion after they have already had sex-education. In high school it is a requirement to take seven semesters of physical education and one semester of sex-education. In my elementary school I learned about sex in sixth grade in the month of May, which is just two month away from summer time. Why did I learn about sex after I began having feelings, and needs that I could not understand or even explain.
To solve abortion we must take the approach that children about the age of ten and on will begin to have feelings for the opposite sex, and will begin to experiment different things to try to find some understanding for these feelings. There needs to be curriculum for children of this age that will introduce them to this subject at the same time that they are beginning to have these feelings. It needs to be something that is focused and where young males and females can sit in the same room to view the video, or presentation. This has to also be accompanied by having a sit down day for parents with their children where parents speak to their children about sex and abortion. Children that learn about this issue and other will be better prepared when they get older, and fewer deaths may occur. A better informed youth brings about a wiser decision for the future.
The solution to abortion does not begin and end with ten year old children, but extends to high school aged youth. Teachings of abortion should also be a requirement in high school. If anything it should be a requirement to take one semester of abortion-education and one semester of sex-education. This requirement is something that is needed for today’s youth, but our more informed youth can later change it as they see fit.
This solution of course leaves out the current issue of abortion and does not exactly find a solution for the current times, but no all problems can have an immediate solution. Some problems must be solved within time. There is one clich? that still holds true even in today’s world, “Knowledge is power.” To give the youth the knowledge we are giving them control over their own destiny.
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