Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before birth, resulting in, or accompanied by the death of the foetus.

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Laura Kay 10PF

Abortion Coursework

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before birth, resulting in, or accompanied by the death of the foetus. Some abortions occur naturally because a foetus does not develop normally or because the mother has an injury or disorder that prevents her from carrying the pregnancy to term. This type of spontaneous abortion is commonly known as a miscarriage. Other abortions are induced that is, intentionally brought on because a pregnancy is unwanted or presents a risk to a woman’s health. An abortion can be carried out through the following methods.

Methods of abortion

The following methods are usually performed under general anesthetic.

Suction method

This method has to be performed before twelve weeks. In this type of abortion a vacuum machine dismembers the foetus; this is the most common early surgical technique. The cervix (neck of the womb) must be stretched open to allow the surgeons to insert a plastic tube into the womb. The surgeon then uses the suction tube to evacuate the placenta from the womb. A small metal instrument is sometimes used to remove any remaining fragments of tissue. It is used to scrape the uterus lining. The patient is in hospital for 1 day. Vacuum aspiration accounts for around 90% of abortionists in England and Wales up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Dilation and cutterage

This can be done at later stages but is usually only performed in extreme circumstances e.g. if the baby is seriously deformed. In this procedure a loop-bladed knife called a curette dismembers the baby. The mother’s cervix (neck of the womb) has to be stretched open prior to the abortion. Then a tube attached to a vacuum pump is used to remove any remaining tissue.  This can cause damage leading to death or premature delivery of a baby in a subsequent pregnancy. According to doctors, in Britain steps are now taken in National Health Service hospital abortions to soften the cervix to minimize the risk.

Induced abortion

This is again only done in extreme cases and at the later stages. A drug is given to kill the foetus and the mother gives birth.

Mifiprestone

This is a new drug which is currently being tried out in the UK, France and USA. It is now legal. This abortion drug can be given up to 9 weeks. It causes a miscarriage.

Lunchtime abortion

This is only available privately. A suction process is used under a local anaesthetic. It can be performed up to 12 weeks. It is unavailable on the NHS due to the fact that it is believed to be ‘too easy’.  The process lasts for half an hour and a patient can go back to work afterwards.

Are any of these methods humane? One argument is whether the foetus can feel pain. We don’t know the answer to this, therefore it is very controversial. Maybe these methods are why some people are so against abortion. How do these methods affect the mother as well as the baby?

 Abortion is a very controversial issue because of the contrasting opinionated views. There are many arguments regarding the topic of abortion such as when does life begin? Is abortion murder? Does the foetus feel any pain? These questions cannot be scientifically answered, they are opinion based, which is why abortion is so controversial. Everybody has the right to their own personal opinions, causing a large and sometimes distressing debate.

Nobody can say when life begins, it is very opinionated. Some people believe it is when the baby is first conceived, some when the heart beats and various people believe it is when the baby is actually born.

Here is more information about the baby’s development inside the womb.

Stages of a baby’s development 

Week number

1:    A growing bundle of cells enter the uterus

3:   Eyes, ears and blood vessels begin to form

4:   The heart starts beating

6:   All major organs are present in rudimentary form

7:   The embryo is the size of a grape

9:   Fingernails begin to form and eyelids close over the eyes

10:   The baby is about 2.5 inches long

11:   The baby can move its thumb to its finger. The two halves of the palette fuse and the vocal chords are in place

12:   The form of the genitals is established

13:   The skeleton begins to turn to bone

14:   Circulation is effective with the heart pumping 28 litres a day

15:   The head hair, the eyelashes and eyebrows are visible

16:   The mother begins to feel the baby’s movements. Thumb sucking begins

19:   The baby is half the length it will be a t birth

20:  The baby develops a pattern of activity and sleep. The arms and legs reach relative birth proportions

22:   There is a small chance that the baby would live if born now as the lungs are immature

26:   The lungs are sufficiently developed

28:   The baby responds to its mother’s voice

From studying this, different people will have different opinions. If life begins at conception, then all abortions are murder. We know that someone is dead when their heart starts beating, so does life begin at week 4 when the heart begins to beat? People may argue that you are not a human until you can survive independently outside the mother’s womb. However babies have been born at 25 weeks and survived. What adds to the controversy is that abortions are allowed up to 24 weeks. The implications of this are that people would argue that 1 week wouldn’t make much of a difference in a baby’s development therefore an abortion could be destroying a perfectly potential human being.

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Abortion has been used throughout the world for thousands of years. In the UK, abortion became illegal in the 19th century when the penalty for procuring a miscarriage was life imprisonment. As a result women trying to escape an unwanted pregnancy were forced to use dangerous methods. They either performed operations themselves or they visited back-street abortionists, many of which were performed dangerously and/or in unsanitary conditions. However when these illegal facilities were too unsanitary, too expensive or not available, the pregnant woman performed dangerous operations on herself. These included poisonous drugs, knitting needles, soap or lead solutions inserted through ...

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