Should abortion be legal?

Should abortion be legal?

Introduction

Abortion is illegal in Uganda; practically mandated in India and China, where there are one-child-per-family policies; a form of birth control in Russia; and perhaps the most contentious issue in the United States. In some countries, abortion doctors are criminalized, while in other countries, abortion providers as well as women who have abortions can be fined or jailed. In the United States, abortion doctors and clinic staff have been murdered, and recently in Brazil, a bishop excommunicated a 9-year-old girl and a doctor over an abortion. This girl was pregnant with twins after allegedly being raped by her stepfather; the doctor performed the abortion because he didn't think her 80-pound body could carry a pregnancy to term. Brazil allows abortion only in cases of rape and in order to save the life of the mother.

Legalizing abortion has been an ongoing debate, since Roe v. Wade in 1973. This is an important issue because of the moral dilemma and medical risk a mother must endure. An abortion is defined as the “termination of a pregnancy, followed by the death of an embryo or fetus, during the first twelve weeks of gestation”. This paper will address legalizing abortion and the ethical decisions associated with this view. The opposing argument will discuss abolishing the abortion law and the impact it will have on the mother and society as a whole.

Legalizing abortion enables a woman to have the right to choose what is best for herself and her unborn baby. There are a multitude of reasons of why abortion should be legal. A woman may choose to have an abortion due to a medical condition or unplanned pregnancy. If a woman is raped, it is most likely she does not want to carry the child of a rapist and raise the baby on her own. If a young woman is not mentally or financially prepared to have a child, yet accidentally gets pregnant, legalizing abortion allows the young woman to have a right to choose to not bring a baby into a life of despair.

It should not be up to the government to decide if abortions should be illegal. A woman has control over her own body. She can choose to do what she wants with it. It should not be up to someone else to decide what she can or cannot do to her body. If a person decides to get a tattoo, should the government also decide if this should or should not be legal? Just like abortions, tattoos can also cause life threatening infections.

Discussion

Women have the option to have an abortion through a surgical procedure at a clinic or a nonsurgical procedure in the privacy of their own home. The FDA has approved a drug called mifrepex, which allows a woman to abort the child without performing surgery. “This drug can be taken within the first few weeks of pregnancy. In order for the abortion to work, the mother has to take three mifrepex ...