THE MANY SIDES OF ABORTION
...rtionists believe that the fetus is entitled to protection of life in accordance with the American Constitution. They argue that the fetus’ right to life outweighs the woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child. They dismiss the argument that it is acceptable to destroy the fetus because it cannot live outside the womb (Carol Emmens p.33). P// Anti-Abortionists also believe legalized abortion will lead to a decline in our society and our morality. They feel it destroys the dignity of men and women and reduces them to “expandable things” (Carol Emmens p.34). P// In the opinion of all Anti-Abortionist, liberal abortion laws will destroy our society and lead the country to become like Nazi Germany where mass murder took place (Carol Emmens p.35). In the eyes of Anti-Abortionists everywhere abortion is no different then murder. “True legalized abortion- a million and a half fetuses flushed down the disposal each year in this country-is yet another banal atrocity in a century where atrocities have become commonplace”. – Walker Percy. “Abortion cannot be justified under any circumstance because it constitutes the killing of an innocent human being at the very beginning of life. Pro-choice activists attempt to defend abortion by claiming that an unborn baby cannot be considered a person. However, modern science has clearly confirmed that human life begins at the moment of fertilization. Furthermore, the mere probability that a human embryo constitutes a human life warrants the complete prohibition of abortion. Abortion should be recognized for what it is: The murder of a sacred life.” – John Paul II P// On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the U.S. handed down two rulings that made abortion legal nationwide (Carol Emmens p.1). The abortion law states that P// Abortion is legal for any women regardless of her age, and its is legal for any reason through the first six months of pregnancy, and for virtually any reason thereafter (family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/facts/a0027729.cfm). P// The supreme court of the U.S. ruled that the fetus is not a person and is not entitled to constitutional protection (Carol Emmens p.42-43). “The constitution does not define “person” in so many words… The word person, as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn… We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins when those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus. The Judiciary at this point in the development of man’s knowledge is not in a position to speculate as to the answer. It should be sufficient to note briefly the wide divergence of thinking on this most sensitive and difficult question.” –Justice Blackman. After the law was passed to legalize abortion, many people were very upset. “May as well unleash an era of carnage and slaughter which could quickly eclipse the bloody record of Hitler’s Germany.” – St. Louis Review. After the ruling was made many Anti-Abortionists tried to have the ruling overturned, but were unsuccessful. However P// after several failed attempts to pass amendments and bills to outlaw abortion, the Anti-Abortionists were victorious in having federal funding for abortions cut off (Carol Emmens p.67). P// There are two types of abortion: spontaneous, and induced. Spontaneous, also known as a miscarriage, occurs in 15% of all pregnancies in the first three months or pregnancy. Usually attributed to an abnormality in the fetus. Induced abortion is when the fetus in forced to leave the uterus and dies as a result (Carol Emmens p.7). There are many various ways to have an abortion, many of which seem extremely cruel and unusual to most people, myself included. P// The types of abortion include: Menstrual Regulation, which is done within two weeks of a missed period. The contents of the uterus are withdrawn by suction; this method also has a 5% failure rate. Suction, is used in the first trimester. This method is used in 90% of all abortions. An anesthetic is injected into the cervix, the cervix is then dilated and a tube attached to a suction machine is inserted. The fetal tissue is sucked up through the tube. Then a curette is used to get rid of any clots of tissue that are left. This process takes five to ten minutes, and afterwards women experience severe cramps. Dilation and Curettage is used between the twelfth and fifteenth weeks. The woman is put to sleep, and the cervix is dilated and the doctor removes the fetus using a scraping instrument. Dilation and Evacuation is used after the twelfth week. After the woman is put to sleep, the doctor widens the opening of the uterus with dilators, crushes the fetus, and then extracts it with forceps. Many doctors refuse to perform these types of operations because crushing the fetus puts a psychological strain on them and the staff. Saline abortion done in the thirteenth and twenty-sixth week is similar to childbirth, and requires hospitalization. A saline solution is inserted into the uterus causing the woman to go into labor. The saline solution almost always kills the fetus. It takes an average of nineteen hours and is very unpleasant for the woman, doctor, and staff. There is a danger that the saline solution will seep into the woman’s bloodstream and cause hemorrhages, or lung and kidney damage (Carol Emmens p.9). P// Abortion can also be done by a very different method in the first trimester by a drug called Mifepristone or RU-486. The drug blocks the action of the hormone Progesterone in the woman’s body. Normally this hormone prepares the woman’s uterus to receive and nourish the embryo (David L. Bender p.83) There are many health risks to consider before deciding to go through with an abortion. P// Induced abortions performed within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy are among the safest and simplest forms of surgery, and both first and second trimester abortions, when performed by properly trained personnel, in general are safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. The major immediate complications of induced abortion, listed in order of frequency, are infection of the uterus, hemorrhage, and excessive bleeding, infection of the fallopian tubes which can cause infertility, punctures to the uterus, or damage to the cervix and anesthesia-related complications. Overall complication rates for le...