Student

Abortions:

Since the birth of man, women have always been the carriers for the embryo; however, the creation of these embryos may not always be intentional. So the question: "as a person, do we have the right to kill this human being by having an abortion," arises and consequentially results in many different points of views throughout North America and the rest of the world. This question is not easily answered, but I believe that women in our society have the right to act upon the ability to receive an abortion. If conducted within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, these fetuses have not reached a mature state with the ability to feel pain, or even be consciously aware and therefore the act of undergoing an abortion is still acceptable in my point of view.

An abortion is simply defined as the ending of a gestation of an embryo or fetus in a womb. This can occur spontaneously, in the form of a miscarriage, or be intentionally induced through biochemical, surgical, or other means. In the 20th century, the ethics and morality of abortion became the subject of intense political debate in North America. Opponents of abortion consider the embryo or fetus to be fully human and abortion to be murder, whereas proponents of safe and legal abortion consider abortion to be a basic human right for women. From 1995 to 2000, the US Congress repeatedly passed, but President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would ban a late-term method of abortion called by its critics as "partial-birth" abortion. Subsequent attempts by many U.S. states to ban this method were contested in the courts, and in 2000, the Supreme Court voided such laws that do not include an exception when the health of the mother is endangered. U.S. opponents of abortions have used more militant tactics in recent years in attempts to disrupt the operations of facilities that perform abortions, and some extremists have even resorted to bombings and assassinations.

Some abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the stigmatization of disabled persons, preference for children of a specific sex, disapproval of single motherhood, insufficient economic support for families, and lack of access to or rejection of contraceptive methods. Abortions can be induced for medical reasons, or because of an elective decision to end the pregnancy. There are several procedures to undergo an abortion and they are divided into 2 terms, 1st and 2nd trimester abortions, where 90% of all abortions are performed within the 1st trimester, during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In the first fifteen weeks, suction-aspiration or vacuum abortion is the most common method which consists of removing the fetus or embryo by suction. Effective in the first trimester of pregnancy, chemical (also referred to as a medical abortion), or non-surgical abortions comprise 10% of all abortions in the United States. The process begins with the administration of either methotrexate or mifepristone, followed by misoprostol. The Food and Drug Administration currently approves the use of mifepristone up to 49 days gestation (7 weeks). From the thirteenth week up until around the twenty-sixth week, a surgical dilation and evacuation (D & E) is used. D & E consists of opening the cervix of the uterus and emptying it using surgical instruments and suction.

Early-term surgical abortion is a simple procedure, and when performed by competent doctors in first-world nations such as North America (before the 16th week), is safer than carrying the pregnancy to term. As with most surgical procedures, the most common surgical abortion methods carry a small risk of potentially serious complications. The risk of complications occurring can increase depending on how far the pregnancy has progressed, but are counterbalanced by complications that would occur from carrying the pregnancy to term. These risks include psychological and physical problems.

The main psychological problem resulting from having an abortion is the occurrence of PAS or Post-Abortion Syndrome. PAS is a mental sickness that generally appears 5 to 20 years after an abortion. Symptoms of PAS consist of: regret, guilt, anxiety, depression and thought of suicide, anniversary syndrome and thoughts or dreams of re-experiencing the abortion. The consumption