Abortion is the act of terminating a pregnancy either through medical or surgical methods. There are multiple countries where abortions are illegal, and in the United States, and other countries, people are fighting to have abortion be illegal there too. Anti-abortionists will talk about religion and adoption, though adoption is an option, it may not always be the best, and religious scripture holds no weight in laws. Abortions are private medical procedures that should be legally done if someone so chooses. No one should take away anyone’s choice to do something with their body. Though you may be swayed to believe the shouters who protest outside of Planned Parenthood centers, let me explain why you shouldn’t.
There are two different ways abortion can be done. There are both medical and surgical ways to have an abortion. Many anti-abortionists will say that abortions are done b
...y ripping the fetus apart, however, that is not true. Medical ways include taking Mifepristone, Misoprostol, or Methotrexate (Harvard Health Publishing). Harvard Health Publishing describes these methods as pills, vagianl inserts and injections respectively. Mifepristone is a pill that, when taken, counters progesterone, a hormone needed for pregnancy. Misoprostol is almost always taken in conjunction with Mifepristone and is either a pill or a vaginal insert that causes contractions. Methotrexate is used less now because the FDA approved Mifepristone, however, it can still be used if the person is allergic to Mifepristone. Methotrexate is often used to treat ectopic pregnancies, usually by injecting it into a muscle, where it then kills the tissue needed for pregnancy.
The other way abortions are done is by surgical methods. These include menstrual aspiration, suction or aspiration
abortion, dilation and curettage, dilation and evacuation, or abdominal hysterotomy. Menstrual aspiration is done by inserting a small tube into the womb and a small syringe is used to suction out pregnancy material. Suction or aspiration abortions are done by dilating the cervix, inserting a tube and using an electric pump to suction out the contents of the uterus. Dilation and curettage is done by dilating the cervix, and inserting curettes to remove pregnancy tissue, a suction will often be used to make sure all the contents have been removed. Dilation and evacuation is done similarly to a suction D and C but with larger tools and the use of forceps and other special instruments. Lastly, abdominal hysterotomy is a rare major operation only performed when D and E cannot be done. It’s done by an incision in the abdomen, through which they remove the fetus. None of these procedures involve the “ripping” of limbs off of the fetus, like many would suggest.
Anti-abortionist will often say that instead of abortion, you could choose adoption. Though adoption is a possibility, it may not be the best choice. As of 2016 there were 434,168 children in foster care (The AFCARS Report). In 2016 there were a total of 623,471 abortions performed in the U.S. (Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2016). If none of those abortions went through, that would be a total of 1,057,639 children in foster care. Not only is that a lot of children, but children ages one through three years old have the highest adoption rate, being above 10% of the total of children adopted (The AFCARS Report). Adding an influx of young children
could possibly lower the chance of older children being adopted. Children ages four through twenty all are less than ten percent of children being adopted. People are more likely to adopt younger children, the more younger children there are, the less likely older children will be adopted. This leaves older children being more likely to live in foster care their entire lives. Even though children one to three make up most of adoptions, there are still 31,993 in that age range alone waiting to be adopted. In total, there were 117,794 waiting to be adopted in 2016. To say adoption is a better choice isn’t always true. Many of these children will spend all of their childhoods in foster care or waiting to be adopted. Adding to that will only make it worse. People need to start adopting before you add over 600,000 more children into the foster care system.
Another thing many anti-abortionists use as defense for their opinion is the bible. A verse that I have seen be used is Isaiah 49:15. The verse states “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast/ and have no compassion on the child she has borne?/Though she may forget,/ I will not forget you!” (The Holy Bible: new international version). This quote is often used to say that God will not forget the unborn child even if you do. However, using the bible as defence for your argument to create a law, doesn’t make sense. In the United States Bill of Rights, the first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” (US Const.). Not only does this amendment declare the freedom
of religion, it also declares the separation of church and state. By creating a law based on a verse from the Christian Bible, you establish Christianity as the religion for the country. In the same way you can’t force someone to go to a certain church, you can’t make people follow that church's religious text. Creating a law based on religion, establishes that religion, doing so goes against the U.S. Constitution. To argue using the Christian Bible, is to argue for nothing because you can’t create a law that's based on the bible. Religion is grounds for belief, not laws.
Lastly, the banning of abortion itself. Many countries have already banned abortions or only allow them for certain reasons. Countries like Madagascar, Iraq, Egypt, and Haiti have all banned abortions (The World's Abortion Laws). Countries like Mexico, Brazil, Iran, and Indonesia have banned abortions unless it’s needed to save the parent’s life. Countries like the United States, Canada, China, and Romania all allow abortions if requested. However, it didn’t always use to be like these. In 1966, Romania banned all abortions and forms of contraceptions (Stephenson et al.). This was done to increase the population of Romania, however, it did the opposite. Crude birth rates fell, after a short rise, and continued to fall. The mortality rate also began to increase. More abortion-related deaths started to occur, ten times the amount than any other European county at the time. For the decade of 1980-1989, Romania's maternal mortality rate was 150 to ever 100,000 births. This was due to women getting illegal abortions. Every year there were approximately 500 deaths due to postabortion hemorrhage, sepsis, abdominal trauma,
and poisoning in people of child-bearing age. The most common cause of death was postpartum hemorrhage and infection. These are complications that could be associated with unsafe abortion. The law was in effect for twenty-three years, resulting in 10,000 deaths due to unsafe abortions. Making abortions illegal doesn’t stop them from happening, it stops them from happening safely. It doesn’t “save lives”, it puts the lives of the parents at risk.
Abortions are the act of inducing miscariages, not the murder of a child and should continue to remain legal. Abortions can be performed many ways, not the gorey way many anti-abortionists describe them. Making these ways illegal doesn’t stop them from happening, it creates an unsafe form that results in thousands of deaths. And adoption isn’t always a good choice; it can lead to millions of children in foster care, without a family. Anti-abortionists will say that abortion is bad and shout bible verses, however, that isn’t ground for laws. Abortion isn’t bad, it’s not some henious act that some make it out to be. Anti-abortionists will say they are “pro-life” but not seem to care about the life of the parent. They’re not “pro-life”, they’re “pro-fetus”.
