Argumentative essay

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Should the abortion be legalized?
Abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy before the fetus becomes viable. It can be either therapeutic or accidental. In the former an RU 486 medication is administered or medical equipment used to perform procedure. The figure 1 below illustrates the abortion procedure using medical equipment
Figure 1 the body parts are reached to with a looped clamp and pulled out part by part. The head is then reached for with a clamp and crushed so that it can come out of the virginal’s passage.
Background
The United States did not prohibit abortion in the past up until the 19th century. Antiabortion laws started being implemented with Britain being the first to do so. Abortion was only allowed if it was going to save the mother’s life. Though this, there were cases of abortion going on unpunished and being supported by the general public. A group of humanitarian reformists later arose and confronted abortion on the basis of being a “dangerous procedure”. The government also with the declining birth rate in the 1800’s, collaborated with eugenics movement and urged women to reproduce. As of now abortion is illegal in the United States with only American women being given the right to abort. Statistics show that between 80% and 90% of Americans approve of abortion in the case of poor health, a seriously defective fetus, or rape, and between 40% and 50% indicate approval for all other reasons as well.
A study of the different cultures shows that abortion is hardly allowed in places like Africa. In fact, most of the African languages don’t even have a word for abortion. Proponents have tried to come up with a concept “safe motherhood” but still it hasn’t convinced the society. Abortion is considered murder.
In a religious view, two religions have come up to condemn abortion harshly though almost all the religions consider it to be negative. Hinduism strongly condemns abortion in its texts. However abortion is practiced in Hindu culture in India due to cultural preference for sons. Christianity considers it a sin and though it hasn’t stated which kind of sin and how bad it was held to be, abortion is considered as grave as sexual immorality. Additionally there are minorities who disagree with the stand of their denomination on abortion for example the Catholics of free choice.
The debated points are of an almost similar weight but the most common is whether abortion is safe or not. Proponents argue that the whole procedure is safe. There are medical practitioners who can carry out the procedure and just like research has it the after abortion distress is just a continuation of the pre abortion symptoms. Medical abortions have a 0.5% risk of complications and don’t result in inability to conceive in future. They don’t affect the health of a woman. Research says that deaths from with abortion have reduced over the years as shown in the graph
Figure 2 figure 2 A graph of death related abortion cases. There has been a continual decline of the abortion related deaths over the years even with increasing population.
The opponents argue that abortion is unsafe. It causes women to miscarry, causes medical complications and may result in ectopic pregnancies (a life-threatening condition where, due to scar tissue in the womb from the scraping of the abortion, a fertilized ovum is blocked from going to the uterus and it starts developing in the fallopian tube and ultimately ruptures it). From the time abortion was legalized, ectopic pregnancies have risen 300%. These cases are usually under reported considering the back alley abortions. Moderates believe that abortion is the safer way out of some medical complications that could cause the loss of a mother and her child.
Another point that draws concern is the psychological trauma associated with abortion. In the view of proponents, psychological trauma cannot be traced solely to abortion. It is but a continuation of the scenario that exists before abortion. Just like any other difficult situation, abortion can cause pain and stress to a person. The American psychological foundation (AMF) says that stress is highest before abortion and there isn’t a syndrome associated to post abortion times. Opponents are of the opinion that all the stress after the abortion is based on the experience of abortion. Abortion causes psychological pain strain and stress. Though regarded as a woman’s right opponents consider abortion is a way of telling women they have no choice other than do away with the unborn. The moderates view is that psychological stress is due to guilt and pressure. If the perpetrator of abortion is not at peace with what is going on then she shall experience the trauma. This would also be the case for those who believe that abortion is wrong but still do it.
Another debatable view is the element of personhood. The proponents’ researches show that most of the abortions take place at the early stages of conception. At these stages the embryo cannot exist independent of the mother. They are the same person and therefore abortion can’t be punishable by law as harm to another person. The opponents’ view is that human life begins at conception and in that case the mother and the child are different individuals from the start. Aborting is in this case viewed as murder an the mother is charged for this crime. The moderate view is torn in between this two views giving preference to none. If unfertilized eggs are done away with in vitro fertilization then the idea that aborting is illegal, citing that life begins at conception, should be done away with. Still it is arguable that an embryo is a life in its own sense and shouldn’t be terminated.
Conclusion
The prolife and prochoice views have substantiated arguments on the case of whether the abortion pill should be legalized. There are many faces to the debate with key issues being safety (women’s health), psychological effects, personhood, use of taxpayers’ money to fund it etc. and just like other topics of a dynamic world it remains a matter to be debated and expanded upon.

Works cited
Burns, G. (2005). The moral veto: framing contraception, abortion, and cultural pluralism in the United States. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Frequently asked clinical questions about medical abortion. (2006). Geneva: World Health Organization.
Koterski, J. W. (1993). Life and learning: proceedings of the second University Faculty for Life conference. Washington, D.C.: University faculty for Life.
Maguire, D. C. (2003). Sacred rights: the case for contraception and abortion in world religions. Oxford [UK: Oxford University Press.
Merino, N. (2012). Abortion. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Olasky, M. N. (1992). Abortion rites: a social history of abortion in America. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossways Books.