Every pregnant woman has an inalienable right to have an abortion. Discuss.

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Every pregnant woman has an inalienable right to have an abortion. Discuss.

The definition for abortion is, ‘premature expulsion of a foetus from the womb; operation to cause this’ (oxford popular dictionary).

There are two types of abortion: spontaneous and induced. Spontaneous abortion or miscarriage is when a foetus dies naturally inside the mother. Induced abortion is when the foetus is deliberately killed by taking it from the mother's womb.

In 1966 an abortion law reform Bill was sponsored by David Steel (Liberal MP). The Bill received several opposing arguments from religious groups, government ministers, doctors and medical organizations. This then influenced the Bill and changes were made to try and accommodate all those concerned, however the public support greatly outweighed those against legalizing abortion. So on 27th October 1967 in England, Scotland and Wales, the law was passed and abortion became legal and took effect six months later.

The right of women to control their own fertility is a fundamental human right and women will only be able to take a full and equal part in society when they are given the inalienable right to decide for themselves whether they want to have children.

In countries that allow abortion, the mother’s needs are put first before the foetus. It may be decided that she is unable to care for her child, by age, health, mental development and social damage, so she has an abortion. It is often thought abortion is unwomanly because women are destined to care and to protect. By having an abortion they are not being caring or protecting.

Some people are pro-abortion for a number of reasons. A lot of people think that abortion is ok in certain circumstances e.g. when the women was raped or on the grounds of incest, but these types of circumstances only account for a very small percent of all abortions which are carried out. Some people believe that it is the woman’s right, her life, her body, her choice. Many people think that if abortion wasn’t legalized then it would force many women to go to underground and get dangerous operations done by unqualified people.

The current law for abortion in the UK allow abortion if two doctors agree that by continuing the pregnancy means that there is a risk to the woman’s health physically or mentally, and if there is a strong risk of severe handicap in the child, however abortion is only allowed up to 24 weeks, unless it would cause server damage to the mothers health or cause death.  

The decision to have an abortion is never easy, but no one is better suited than the woman concerned to make that decision, as they are the most involved person in making the decision, and the decisions should never be forced upon them by the father to terminate or keep the child, unfortunately as most women live up to their stereotype, they will be the ones that do the majority of the work for the child such as care, nurture and support them, with some help from the father. Women have the inalienable right to have children; therefore they should also have the inalienable right to not have children. To be able to have offspring is a wonderful gift, however it does not suit all women, just as it does not al men yet this is viewed as more socially acceptable for men.

Women have continually been persecuted for having abortions and one of the main reasons for this is religion. In Britain, especially Christianity has had a major influence on the view of abortion, but the bible was written at a very patriarchal era, when women did not have any rights. However in the present day women do, yet many members of society, predominantly males, try still to repress the equality of women by taking away the right of what to do with their own bodies, and giving them the inalienable right to have an abortion.

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In the case of rape, people do not seem to be as quick to judge if an abortion is performed. How then is this any different from a getting pregnant by your partner unintentionally, as in both cases the child would be unwanted. This could argue as being a very strong point to back up why women should have the inalienable right to have an abortion. As the preservation of the existing life greatly outweighs the incomplete life being formed, every child deserves to be wanted and children that aren’t, don’t get to enjoy the quality of life they ...

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