Defending Abortion And Its Right To Be Legalized

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Defending Abortion and its Right to be Legalized

Morality, in a nutshell, describes the set of principles that govern an individual’s behavior.

The society generally perceives that there is one set of norms for what is right and wrong which

applies to everyone. One of the topics that spark a question of morality is abortion. Countries

around the globe strongly condemn the idea of abortion as it is considered as murder. However,

one must also look at the other side of the coin. Unwanted pregnancy poses psychological and

physiological dangers to a woman, thereby it is necessary to allow a woman to have a freedom to

resort to abortion by legalizing it.

Women should have the right to decide whether she needs an abortion or not. Abortion is

a personal and complicated issue. Any legal law that opposes abortion is solely based on the pro-

life ideology that thinks about morality alone and the norms set by the society on what a person is

expected to do. Making abortion illegal leaves women no other choice but to resort to abortion,

thereby risking their health. Unsafe abortion poses physiological dangers to women as it can lead

to complications such as incomplete abortion, heavy bleeding, infection, uterine perforation, and

damage to the genital tract and internal organs (WHO). Around 25 million unsafe abortions take

place each year worldwide (Ganatra et al.), wherein around 7 million women are admitted to

hospitals every year due to complications caused by unsafe abortion (Singh et al.). Provision of

safe and legal abortion can help control the rate of unsafe abortions and the complications that

accompany it.

Pregnancy is something that is needed to be planned and intended for healthy mother and

child relationship. Unwanted pregnancy, on the other hand, causes maternal depression and

parenting stress. Compared to pregnant women with intended pregnancy, women with an

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unwanted pregnancy have the higher likelihood to expose themselves to cigarette smoking,

drinking alcohol, taking medications and illicit drugs, and inadequate antenatal care. Moreover,

unintended pregnancy is shown to result mental health issues including depression, stress, and

lower levels of self-satisfaction (McCrory and McNally). Not allowing women to have an abortion

even if they wanted to, only leads to poor mental health not just for the mother herself, but also for

the baby she’s about to give birth.

Abortion as what pro-life supporters would say, is an act of immorality. It might be true at

some point but by looking at a wider perspective, it is more of a question of standing by a person’s

inherent right to choose and their right to life and safety. It cannot be considered immoral just

because it goes against what is perceived to be morally right by the society. Legal laws should not

only look at the ideology of the pro-life. The law must also look at abortion an option that mitigates

risks. Take into consideration that the consequences of pregnancy don’t end in childbirth. A mother

and her child must face the emotional, social, and financial challenges in life. If the child is born

in poverty, both the mother and the child must face the harsh reality tied to being poor. Every

woman has the right to choose abortion for her to not put her child into that suffering. As what

Jean Anouilh once said, “The only immorality is not to do what one has to do when one has to do

it.”

Every woman should have the right to decide what to do with her body and with the child

she is bearing. If abortion is what she deemed necessary for her well-being as well as her child’s,

the law should give her that freedom. Making abortion illegal forces a woman to continue with

unwanted pregnancy which can the lead to lifelong dissatisfaction and misery.

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Works Cited

Ganatra B, Gerdts C, Rossier C, Johnson Jr B R, Tuncalp Ö, Assifi A, Sedgh G, Singh S,

Bankole A, Popinchalk A, Bearak J, Kang Z, Alkema L. (2017). “Global, regional, and

subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010–14: estimates from a

Bayesian hierarchical model”. The Lancet.

Mccory Cathal & McNally, Sinead. (2013). “The effect of pregnancy intention on maternal

prenatal behaviors and parent and child health: results of an Irish cohort study." Paediatr

Perinat Epidemiology.

Singh S, Maddow-Zimet I.(2015). “Facility-based treatment for medical complications resulting

from unsafe pregnancy termination in the developing world, 2012: a review of evidence

from 26 countries”.

World Health Organization (WHO). “Preventing Unsafe Abortion.” World Health Organization.

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