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Should Abortion Be Legalized?

Hipal Patel

Argument Essay, Final Draft

WRIT 111-W01

Prof. Reine Bethany

May 6, 2008

Should Abortion Be Legalized?

Abortion of babies has always been a debatable issue. Abortion is basically intentional killing of an unborn baby. “On an average 126,000 abortion are carried out in a day and 46 million in one year. Moreover 78 percent of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 22 percent occur in developed countries. About 26 million women obtain legal abortions each year, while an additional 20 million abortions are obtained in countries where it is restricted or prohibited by law ,”(The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, n.d.). This throws light on the cruel act being performed all round the world every year. There can be various reasons of abortion, but the question prevails is that is it really just to kill an unborn baby which has life in the mothers fetus without any fault.

I believe that killing unborn babies is unacceptable. If one is ready to have sex, that person should be ready to have children as well. Care of children is the responsibility we have to take when we have sex. Sex and conception of a baby are two very connectable terms. The unborn entity is fully human from the moment of conception (origin of life). Abortion results in the deliberate death of the unborn entity. This killing is in most cases unjustified, since the unborn human being has a full right to life. If, however, there is a high probability that a woman's pregnancy will result in her death for example as in the case of a tubal pregnancy (pregnancy in which a fetus develops outside of the uterus), then abortion is justified. For it is a greater good that one human should live (the mother) rather than two die (the mother and her child). Or, to put it another way, in such cases the intent is not to kill the unborn though that is an unfortunate effect but to save the life of the mother. In a study by Michael associated with Council on Hemispheric Affairs, it was stated that a 22 year girl Olga Reyes from Nicaraguan was suffering from a tubal (ectopic) pregnancy. She was refused abortion by the doctors at Bertha Calderon Maternity Hospital as abortion in Nicaraguan was illegal in any circumstances and she got killed due to pregnancy. With the exception of such cases, abortion is an act in which an innocent human being is intentionally killed; therefore, abortion should be made illegal, as are all other such acts of killing.

Nevertheless if we look at the issue from human rights’ perspective all human beings are given some absolute right assured by the Constitution. One of those privileges is the right to pursue happiness. A baby can sometimes disrupt a woman's pursuit of happiness. She has the burden of carrying the fetus for nine months. This may endanger her career. Having the option to perform an abortion can solve that obstacle. Taking away this right would be invading on a woman's constitutional liberty. “In 1989, when people were asked whether a pregnant woman should be able to get a legal abortion if her pregnancy would force her to interrupt her career, 37 percent said yes and 56 percent said no while in 1998, only 25 percent said yes and 70 percent said no. On the other hand 48 % thought an interrupted education was enough to justify a teen-age girl's abortion in 1989; which dropped to 42 percent in 1998,” (Goldberg & Elder, 1998). People have their own views about abortion. Yet as the data reveals maximum percentage of people considered abortion of baby in as wrong.

However, there are some circumstances where the woman has no option other than to abort a baby like for instance when a woman is raped. No man would be ready to take responsibility of that child вЂ" being a father to a baby born due to rape. Moreover the society also neglects such a child and the woman and child both are often abused. In this situation the only possible alternative for woman is abortion. In a survey in Mexico of women getting raped “Mexican officials estimate that as many as 130,000 women are raped every year, a fifth of whom are likely to end up pregnant. But only a fraction of those - perhaps a few dozen women each year - are given permission for legal abortions, according to the Human Rights report.