Abortion remains one of the most controversial topics in the United States over the past many years. Abortion is defined as the premature termination of pregnancy by taking abortion pills. Over the years, this topic has dominated the public and caused a debate amongst Americans on whether it should be legalized or not. Much of the debate has been revolving about the morality of the whole thing, with religion playing a key role in this controversy. Abortion has become one of the ways that women use to end unwanted pregnancies. It is estimated that one in every four pregnancies in the world are endedthrough abortion. While the need for abortion amongst women continue to be a common thing, the access to the safe and legal abortion services tend to be far from being guaranteed, a situation that further adds controversy into the whole issue. In fact,access to abortion is one of the most contested topics globally,and the controversy is full of misinformation about the ramifications of limiting access to the necessary healthcare services. While abortion is a useful medical procedure that women can rely on to terminate the unwanted pregnancies, it can come with a variety of drawbacks as well.
Termination of a pregnancy is a common decision that most women make every year despite the continued controversy over the morality of the whole issue. Irrespective of whether abortion is legalized or not, it is a common idea that people will still regularly require to access the abortion services. According to the reports by a US-based reproductive health non-profit known as Guttmacher Institute, countries that only allow abortion in the instances of saving the life of the woman still have an abortion rate of 37 out of every 1000 people ( Drovetta, 2015). When done by a professional health care provider, abortion can come out to be very safe. The restriction of abortion by the government can, however, compel people to resort to using unsafe means thus resulting in complications. The recent study has shown that making abortion a crime does not stop abortion; it instead makes it less safe ( Faúndes & Shah, 2015 ). There is evidence that banning abortion does not result in the reduction of the number of abortion cases, because after all women still go for it, but to the unsafe ones. According to World Health Organization, unsafe abortion is “a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both” ( Assifi et al., 2016 ).
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Unsafe abortion has been identified as one of the causes of health problems in women. The consequences of unsafe abortion are fatal and can even lead to the death of the woman. The reports by WHO shows that unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal deaths globally and can even lead to many health effects that could have been prevented ( Wu et al., 2017 ). Women should refrain from seeking services from the untrained and unqualified people when having an abortion as this can lead to serious effects. The deaths and injuries that take place as a result of unsafe abortions can be prevented if such actions are avoided. Studies show that fatal consequences of unsafe abortions are more common in countries and states that restrict access to abortion, which force people to resort to alternative means, including unsafe abortions. Legalizing abortion can provide an opportunity for women to have access for such services from people who are qualified and avoid the cases of unsafe abortions.
The first step to prevent maternal deaths towards unsafe abortion is to ensure that people have access to sex education and increased accessibility to contraceptives. Having a safe and legal abortion can also prevent people from getting into risky and unsafe abortions. Evidence shows that having “information about and can access modern contraceptive methods and where comprehensive sexuality education is available,and there is access to safe and legal abortion on broad grounds” ( Paul & Norton, 2016 ). However, making abortion illegal prevents qualified doctors from providing such services leading to people seeking help from unqualified people.
While safe abortion can be a useful method for the women who want to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, the opponents of abortion argue that it is morally wrong whether it is safe or not. The argument is usually based on religion which views human life as sacred and thus needs to be protected. However, people have continued to do abortion in countries that make it criminal. In fact, there is very no significant difference in the number of people who do abortion those countries criminalizing abortion and those that make it illegal. The only difference is that criminalizing abortion increases the chances of unsafe abortion and more complications related to it.
In conclusion, abortion continues to be one of the hotly contested topics in the world. While the opponents view it as an immoral act based on a religious view, the proponents see it as a significant means to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. However, safe abortions have been confirmed to help women remove unwanted pregnancies and stay away from complications. Criminalizing abortion does not prevent people from accessing it, but increases their chances of resorting to unsafe abortions which are risky and can have fatal effects. Preventing unsafe abortions therefore require that people seek sex education, have access to contraceptives and have the opportunity to access legal abortion.
References
Assifi, A. R., Berger, B., Tunçalp, Ö.,Khosla, R., &Ganatra, B. (2016). Women’s awareness and knowledge of abortion Laws: a systematic review. PloS one , 11 (3), e0152224.
Drovetta, R. I. (2015). Safe abortion information hotlines: An effective strategy for increasing women’s access to safe abortions in Latin America. Reproductive health matters , 23 (45), 47-57.
Faúndes, A., & Shah, I. H. (2015). Evidence supporting broader access to safe, legal abortion. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics , 131 (S1).
Paul, M., & Norton, M. E. (2016). Ensuring access to safe, legal abortion in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Obstetrics & Gynecology , 128 (1), 171-175.
Wu, W. J., Maru, S., Regmi, K., &Basnett, I. (2017). Abortion care in Nepal, 15 years after legalization: Gaps in access, equity, and quality. Health and human rights , 19 (1), 221.
