Abortion

Although abortion is widely accepted in our modern society there are several

serious drawbacks to this procedure. These are the health issue of the mother, the political

ramifications that it brings, and the moral conflict that it causes.The main controversy is, who's

right is it to abort? Many will argue and say it is the woman's right to chose what she does with her

own body, but what about the father's right? The man's involvement in the abortion decision is not

about the woman's choice, it is about his own responsibility to her and the child (Arthur 1999).

There are two sides to this abortion topic: the pro-life, which is those who are against abortion

altogether, and the pro-choice, or those who believe it is the woman's right to choose if she wants

to have an abortion. These two groups offer different solutions to the problem. The pro-life solution is

to have the child and basically live with him/her. They believe abortion is not an answer. The pro-

choice solution is abortion because of reasons they feel are appropriate.

When pregnancy is unwanted women perceive the choice of abortion as the least

of three evils: abortion, adoption, or keeping the child (Smith, 2000). Pregnancy changes a

woman's life, regardless of whether or not it ends in abortion. The woman making the abortion

decision looks at a variety of relationships to help her make the decision. Often, she will discuss

her options with a physician or counselor. If she does decide to get an abortion, there are many

factors she will have to face. According to an article in Business 2.0, written by David Shribman

(2000), women who have had abortions are at greater risk of suffering emotional and psychological

problems which may interfere with their ability to concentrate, make decisions, and interact with

others. As a result, it reduces the woman's level of job skills and employment opportunities. Post-

abortion women are more likely to engage in drug and alcohol abuse, often as a result of the guilt

and negative feelings held inside of them after the abortion. This may prevent them from entering

other meaningful relationships. They are likely to become pregnant again and undergo additional

abortions and are more likely to never marry, more likely divorce, and more likely go through a chain

of unsuccessful relationships (Shribman 2000). This inability to form a nuclear family reduces

household income and increases the probability that the woman and her children will require welfare

assistance.

Abortion advocates claim that since the fetus develops inside the women's body

and since the pregnancy will have a profound affect on the woman's life, the abortion should remain

the woman's decision. Bruce Robinson (1999) states that the woman's life is saved from unraveling

emotionally and are given the chance for a healthy, mature living because legal, safe abortion was

an available choice. In the vast majority of cases, continuing the pregnancy does not pose a threat

to the actual life of the mother, however, according to the opinion of an anonymous person in David

Bender's, Abortion: Opposing Views (1998), because it is so basic, the fight to life of the unborn

child should take precedence over other rights of the mother, just as the right to life of a born child

does.

Dr. Berkich, a pro-life activist, claims that medical science has proved that the

human embryo is biologically separate from its mother, therefore it is a human being (Smith 2000).

Other pro-life activists point out that from the moment of conception, after the sperm penetrates the

egg, a new individual is formed, genetically different from its mother and father. It is explained that

the baby's immediate environment are not part of the woman's body, but are formed by the child and

have the child's chromosomes. Therefore, given the necessities of life, a human embryo will grow

into a human child and then a human adult.

When it comes to making the decision of abortion, as a man, whether or not he

becomes a parent is not up to him (Bender 1998). A man's reproductive rights and emotional needs

have been ignored by society, however, research findings (Shribman 2000) have showed that the

father is the most influential in the woman's decision and therefore men are encouraged to speak

out. Tamara Roleff (Bender 2000) points out that even if men did speak out, it was not going to do

any good. Any introduction of a man's opinion could be falsely characterized as an attempt to

dominate women. She articulates that she now