About Abortions:
In the UK, the 1967 Abortion Act was introduced to mainly to stop illegal and dangerous abortions. By making abortion legal, politicians hoped fewer women would die or suffer as a consequence of badly performed abortions. Today, abortion is illegal in very few countries-even those with religious beliefs and traditions. During the 1960s and 1970s many governments relaxed their abortion laws and made it easier for women to terminate unwanted pregnancies. In a few countries such as the Soviet Union abortion is seen as an alternative to contraception. In China women are forced to have abortions because of the one-child-per-family policy. This policy is aimed at reducing the country's overpopulation problems.
Reasons for abortions with different circumstances
If you are thinking that there are no valid reasons for abortion, just imagine a fourteen year old girl who has been raped. How can she be expected to get on with her life and ever recover if she has a baby? How can she receive a full education? Every time she looks at the baby, she will be reminded of her terrible experience.
In some countries, for example, Russia and China, there is an absence of family planning. Abortion is used as a form of birth control. In Russia, a woman has on average four or five abortions in her lifetime. In China there are over ten million abortions annually. I think that the amount of money spent on abortions in these countries could be better spent on promoting contraceptives and family planning. I do not agree with abortion being taken as just the 'easy way out'.
If a sixteen year old girl goes to a party, gets drunk, ends up having sex with some guy she doesn't even know, and gets pregnant, what happens? I think it is very irresponsible of the girl to have let this happen, but I do think she should have the choice of whether to have the baby or not. It's not as if she was even going out with this boy for a while that he might even attempt to support her. It would not be an easy decision for her, her family may be unsupportive and may have religious beliefs, but it should the girl's choice and it should be well thought over.
Hydrocephaly cannot be treated; Cystic Fibrous also cannot be treated but can be prolonged with antibiotics and physiotherapy.
In either case, the child will not live their life, and in the case of Cystic Fibrosis the child will suffer all their short life.
In these circumstances the mother may very well have the foetus aborted, and why shouldn't she? She is only thinking of the child in this case, and the suffering it would face and possibly the death of it shortly after its birth. If the mother is told by her GP that her unborn child will be born with Cystic Fibrous, she might still want to have the baby but is she certain? She will have to give the child twenty four hour care, and it would be very depressing for her to watch her child growing up like this and knowing that he/she will only be in her life for a very short time.
Aborting because of serious disability is a valid reason, but If the child is just going to be born with a minor disability or with a disability that will not develop for about forty years, it is just cruel to have the child aborted to try for something better.
The abortion laws say that a foetus can be aborted if ' there is a substantial risk that if the child was born it would be seriously physically or mentally handicapped' and I agree with them.
Religious Views about abortion
Most religions do not agree with abortion but some are stricter than others about their beliefs.
The Roman Catholic Church deems abortion as totally unacceptable in any circumstance (including the probable death of the mother). Catholics have been taught that abortion is morally evil since Pope Pius VI had declared it.
The Church of England and the Church of Scotland argue that abortion is wrong because it does not give the foetus a chance to live but there are extreme circumstances i.e. when the mother is in danger for her life, that abortion is acceptable.
Judaism and Hinduism teach that life begins at conception, so abortion is discouraged except when the mother's life is at risk.
Islam teaches that life begins at the moment of birth, but abortion is discouraged except when the mother's life is at risk, and sometimes rape.
The Free Churches (Baptist, Methodist, and Evangelical) hold that abortion is a matter for the individual to decide. However woman from all religions continue to seek abortions. Many peoples attitude towards abortion differs from their religious leaders and believe that individuals have the right to follow their own consciences.
Modern technology:
With modern technology, a pregnant woman can now find out a lot more about her unborn child. This means she can find out if the child has a disability. The woman can then make the choice of having an abortion. In some cases this is good, in some it's bad. I think that if a child has a serious disability e.g. Hydrocephaly - this is when the child is born with water on the brain and has a life expectancy of only three days. Cystic Fibrosis - this is a serious lung disease where the child has problems breathing, children with this have a very short life expectancy (teenage years).
I also agree with the law that says the embryo can be aborted if ' there is a risk of injury to the woman's mental or physical health'. If a young woman has just got married and is expecting her first child, and finds out that there is a possibility that going through with labour will mean risking her own life, is it not better that this young woman lives and continues with her own life to produce another baby? It may be a hard choice to make but after all she could abort and try again so that both she and the child could live. It is hard for a new-born child to cope without its mother; the father might not have any experience or any other family around to help him.
Those with strong religious and moral objections to abortion argue that the rights of the unborn child override those of the mother. I think that the woman should be allowed to make her own choice, as it her body and it is her life that will be affected by the birth of the child.
Conclusion:
In conclusion I consider the dilemma of abortion is not one that can be overcome quickly. Each case is different; each woman has different needs, hopes and dreams. Who are we to judge one of the hardest decisions of her life? And who are we to say if it is right or wrong? , but we can express our opinions towards it. I believe that abortions should be available but that a woman should have a valid reason for aborting the baby. I don't think a woman should be able to walk into a clinic and have an abortion but they should need the consent of 2 doctors as they do now.
