I believe, that although the decision will always remain in the hands of the mother, if the child’s life can be saved, then it should be, whether the child will stay with the biological parents or be put up for adoption.
Many think that abortion should be banned for a number of reasons, the first one being that they believe life starts at the moment of conception, and therefore they class abortion as murder, as it is still another human being. There has been a large amount of research into the time a baby can feel pain, and although nothing is definite, it is said that there is brain stem activity as early as fifty four days (nearly eight weeks).
Abortion also carries many risks for the mother, both physically and mentally. There are not many risks involved if the child is aborted before ten weeks, but of course, there are still a few risks involved, as no operation or procedure is risk-free. The most common complications are bleeding, pelvic inflammatory disease, pain, or in some cases, puncture of the uterus, which can lead to infertility after the process. Mentally also, many women feel guilty after aborting a child, which, in some cases can lead to depression. It can take a long time for a woman to get over the fact they have aborted their child, with many wanting to get pregnant again to bring a life into the world as they are full of guilt.
Another view to this argument is that people do not have the complete right to control their bodies in every situation. All people are subject to various restrictions on what they do with their bodies - and some of these restrictions (laws against suicide or euthanasia) are just as invasive. So they question, why should abortion be banned, but not these others?
There are also many religious views regarding abortion; for example, Buddhists do not have only one singular view on abortion, but they instead have the view that it is your decision as long as you fully understand what you are doing, and your reasons for doing so. Consequently, they do not encourage abortion, due to the release of bad karma for the mother. However, they do believe that if you know that the child is to be born with any sort of physical or mental disability, then it may be the kindest thing to abort it, saving it from a life of what they think would be full of suffering and pain. Other religions have a wide variety of views on the topic, but it varies with the individuals’ opinion. The Church of England for example, says that they “combine strong opposition to abortion with recognition that there can be strictly limited conditions under which it may be morally preferable to any available alternative.”
When we think of abortion, we tend to think of the mother first, and rarely the father, but he does have a say in it too, although in the few cases ever taken to court regarding conflicting views between mother and father, the mother tends to win, as it is her body involved. The number of abortions annually is rising, with about forty six million taking place worldwide, of which only twenty six million are legal, meaning that about twenty million illegal and obviously very risky abortions are taking place annually.
On the other hand, there are also many reasons why I believe abortion shouldn’t be banned; one of these being that many people are simply not in the right state of mind to look after a child at that specific time in their lives, and it would be fairer for all involved if the child is aborted at the earliest stage possible, to save as much unnecessary heartache as possible.
Also, many people who get abortions are victims of rape, who want to just forget everything about their experiences, to just start anew; these people wouldn’t be able to do this if they were to unwillingly have to keep the baby, and therefore, they need to abort it to help them recover from the trauma they have been through.
Induced abortion can be traced back to ancient times. There is evidence to suggest that, historically, pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and also many other techniques. I hereby think, that if it has been happening for so many years, then it should not be banned, as sometimes, it is needed.
I think that if abortion were to be banned, then it would cause a lot more pain than joy, as many people would still want an abortion, and would then do almost anything to get one, which could lead to illegal abortion clinics being set up across the globe, with a high price attached to safety. I think that we should keep abortions legal as we can perform them safely, with a lower risk of anything bad happening to the mother.
We hear many stories about abortion in the media, which unquestionably will assist us all in developing our own views and opinions on the topic. We see stories backing up each side, abortions which cause problems and ones which solve problems. There will always be stories regarding each side, which leads to a variety of opinions throughout the population.
Consequently, I personally do not think abortion should be banned, although I do believe that many people take the system for granted, and that abortions should only be available under specific circumstances. I believe they should always be performed before the baby has developed past 9 weeks, as that is where brain activity has been recognised, so that is where I class the foetus as actually being a real, living, baby.
