Philosophy

Abortion is one of the most contemporary moral problems that have gained an increasing controversy especially in the United States. Abortion can be defined as the intentional termination of a pregnancy. This is a medical procedure which is carried out by doctors in an effort to save either the life of a mother or avoid many problems which may result if the said child is delivered. Every woman in the United States may face the need to procure an abortion regardless of class, age, race or marital status.

Abortion is one of the aspects which a woman should have unlimited access to (White, 113). In the article, On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Mary Anne Warren, a theorist, maintains that abortion should never be denied to any woman. She claims that the right of a woman to terminate the pregnancy which she does not need supersedes the fetus rights to life. According to Warren, any law that prohibits a woman from abortion infringes on a womans basic moral rights of having control over her well-being and her own body. Anti-abortion laws are true hindrances to a woman to pursue her health, freedom and happiness. Therefore, abortion should always be legalized.

Perhaps one of the theorist defending anti-abortion arguments is John Noonan. The concept of the human nature of a fetus is highly debated and the two theorists, Noonan and Warren tend to differ in their views. Noonan claims that, fetuses are human beings since they are conceived of human beings and therefore have full genetic code (White, 113) and on the other side, Warren makes a strong opposition saying that, abortion should be permissible since a fetus is not a person, an hence not the sort of entity to which it is proper to ascribe full mortal rights (White, 101). Mortal rights such as right to life should only be given to people not fetuses which do not qualify to be called people.

Commonly known as elective termination of pregnancy, abortion remains a common practice in the United States and other countries worldwide. In the United States, the US Supreme Court legalized elective termination of pregnancy following the court decision on the case of Roe v Wade (1973). In the modern America, there are more that one million abortions carried out each year. Similarly, there are over 30 million legal abortions performed each year worldwide and an additional 20 million abortions performed illegitimately.

Illegal abortions are dangerous as they account for a substantial percentage of deaths of women as a result of serious complications attributed to them. Most of these unsafe abortions are done by unscrupulous quarks posing to be medical professionals. In fact, deaths from abortions in the United States are very rare including the countries where abortion procedures are legally provided. This implies that, when abortion is carried out by a qualified medical doctor, it is a reasonably safe procedure (White, 83) and it can only be dangerous or life threatening if performed by unskilled personnel and in most cases in unhygienic conditions.

In rare occasions, patients may experience certain complications such as infections and hemorrhage which may require blood transfusion but these problems are well managed in competent hospitals where the condition of abortion patients is well monitored. However, the risk of death due to abortion may increase with the length of pregnancy (White, 95) but when done at the right time, abortion is absolutely safe. There is no need of making abortion illegal as the risk of death due to childbirth is about ten times more than the death risk associated with all performed abortions. The argument that abortion may lead to increased risk of death should therefore be out of discussion as childbirth poses a more risk than abortion.

Abortion has been perceived as a not a necessary procedure upon some lame reasons for abortion such as the avoidance of recurring pregnancies which do not pose any danger to the life or general health of the mother. Some mothers may wish to have abortion done merely because they dislike children, do not wish to commit themselves as parents or simply wish to escape the discomfort of bearing an unplanned for child. However, for such reasons or any other reasons that are provided including the need save life, any woman is fully entitled to procure an abortion at her request, provided that she finds a qualified medical doctor to carry out the procedure.

In conclusion, legal abortion is a safe procedure with minimized chances of infections and reduced death rates if procured during the first trimester of the pregnancy. Procuring an abortion is far safer than even carrying the pregnancy until term. Surgical and medical abortions are absolutely safe and effective especially when done by trained medical practitioners. Therefore, abortion should be supported as a mean of assisting women who desperately need the procedure for them to lead normal lives-the life they desire.