This was one of the main reasons why the UK government decided to pass the “Abortion Act 1967”. Although the Abortion Act was passed in 1967, it didn’t come into effect till 1968. The law/act said that abortion was legal if
The mother’s life is at risk if pregnancy continues.
The mother’s mental or physical stability is at risk.
If there is evidence that the baby is mentally or physically disabled, or is unlikely to live at birth.
There is a risk of harm to existing children.
Two doctors have to independently agree on at least one of these reasons so that the abortion could go ahead. When the abortion law was passed in 1967, abortion was allowed up to the 28th week of pregnancy, however this was changed in 1990 to 24 weeks as the bay is able to survive and live after the 24th week once they have been removed from the womb. The law also states that the father of the baby has no right to object to the abortion even if the couple is married. This show that the Abortion Act has given women the freedom to choose what they want to do with their own body and reproductive system that is sacred and special only to them.
The UK isn’t the only country that had many debates over abortion, as there are many states in the United States, different areas had their own laws. The legalisation of abortion began in 1966 in Mississippi where abortion was allowed only for the results of rape. As the years passed other states introduced the legalisation of abortion not just as a result of rape but,
When a pregnant woman’s life is at risk,
The foetus is disabled and is unable to survive after birth,
Or if pregnancy has occurred as a result of intercourse between close relatives.
As abortion became more legal women became more eager to achieve the full freedom of their choice no matter what. This was seen as “Abortion on Demand” and in 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States decided on two cases that legalised abortion for any reason before the 24th week of pregnancy. However although the Supreme Court decided on this, the law did allow individual states to alter and change the conditions needed to have an abortion. The only thing that was completely legal in all states was that abortion could be carried out if it affected the woman’s health. The United States Supreme Court changed and added many new conditions to the law that was passed in 1973. The court gave the right to girls under the age of 18 to have abortions. This was later on changed to the condition where a girl having an abortion needed the consent from at least one of her parents. Although many laws have been passed because of the 1973 abortion law a final decision still hasn’t been made. The conditions of abortions keep changing and during the years there have been many protests and riots due to abortion. The discussion still goes on today.
There are many ways in which abortion could be carried out today. There are two categories, which the methods belong to. Surgical methods and medical methods.
Surgical methods include Vacuum Aspiration where the cervix is expanded with medical instruments and a tube is inserted which is connected to a suction pump. The suction pump creates a vacuum that sucks the child out of the womb. The remains of the baby are sucked into a jar, which allows the abortionist to see if the abortion is successful, or not. Dilation and Curettage is a method, which uses a loop shaped steel knife. Again the cervix is stretched open which allows the abortionist to cut up the body of the baby into pieces and slice the placenta from the walls of the uterus. Dilation and Evacuation is quite similar to the method of Dilation and Curettage but instead of a loop shaped steel knife it uses a sharp toothed instrument a bit like pliers. This instrument allows the abortionist to hold part of the body of the baby and then tear it away. The abortionist carries on to tear away and remove all parts of the body until nothing is left. This process involves a lot of bleeding as a result. Hysterectomy is a method that is similar to a cesarean where the uterus is cut open and the foetus surgically removed.
Medical methods include Prostaglandin. It is a process where a drug such as Misoprostol is injected into the mother, which causes the womb to contract. Once the mother is having contractions and the baby has been born prematurely, the baby is killed within the process. This method is used in late pregnancies. At times a poison such as urea is inserted into the womb to make sure that the baby is dead when it is delivered. Another medical procedure includes the Abortion/Morning after Pill (RU-486). This pill uses two strong artificial hormones to chemically induce abortions in women 5 – 9 weeks pregnant. A pregnant woman may take this within 72 hours of unprotected sex and 12 hours later again. This pill contains estrogen which blocks the progesterone a hormone needed to maintain the pregnancy.
There are many views in the world today on abortion. Many think it is murder and sin while many see it as a woman’s right and a step to freedom. I personally believe that it is murder because just like the description of the methods of abortion, it states that the baby is ‘killed’ within the process if it happens to survive. This shows that there is a deliberate killing of a baby even if it survives outside the womb of a woman after abortion. Many people would say that abortion is murder as it is possibly what their elders said when they were young. In the past people made judgements on issues such as abortion and people were led o think that it was murder, because of these judgements many women were arrested for life imprisonment during the 19th century for having an abortion.
Although I have stated about judgements and the effect they have had to make people believe it is the wrong thing I still believe that it is murder. I think that if someone close was to have an abortion friend and relatives shouldn’t start gossiping or making comments because it is an issue where the decision lies in the person having an abortion. People should start to show respect for people’s decisions and should show this by not making horrible judgements, which will lead others to think that.
