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Defining Abortion in the 21st Century

Abortion

Abortion is a very polarizing topic that crosses into the lives of many, but it affects people in such different ways. There are simply only two ways to look at abortion; as a women’s choice to a medical procedure, or as murder. However, it is not as black and white as it seems, depending on the week of pregnancy and situational factors, peoples views can shift. The dictionary definition is, “the termination of a pregnancy after, accomplished by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or the fetus” (Merriam-Webster). The discrepancy lies in “death of the embryo or the fetus”, as one could look at it as a life that will become a human and deserves the same rights as any human, or that the fetus/embryo is not a human, and the woman’s rights trump the rights of the fetus/embryo. Every person has their own unique definition of abortion which is why it has become such a controversial topic.

Abortion as a medical term according to WebMD is a short, relatively simple operation. Its difficulty does increase the farther along the women is in pregnancy. For a first trimester, up to thirteen weeks, abortion doctors will use a suction technique. For the most part, the cervix does not need to be prepared to get expanded unless it nearing the end of the trimester. In the few cases where the cervix needs to be opened more the doctor will insert laminaria sticks, which is a kelp that can help dilate the cervix and induce labor by absorbing moisture in the surrounding areas. A speculum will then be inserted which holds the walls of the vagina open. A numbing agent will be injected into the cervix and then a tube along with the vacuum will be entered into the vagina trying to clear out any contents inside the uterus. These abortions that are performed by medical staff have a ninety-nine percent completion rate and only take five to ten minutes. The patient then waits for a half an hour to an hour under observation until they feel comfortable and are cleared to leave the clinic.

Depending on the country or state there are harsher or more lenient laws on abortion. The main circumstances that allow abortion are woman’s life, physical health, mental health, rape/incest, fetal impairment, economic, on request. Countries depending on reasons will grant the right to abortions. Most of Europe and all of America have very limited regulations on abortion. The Middle East, parts of Africa and South America have much stricter regulations. One of the biggest breakthroughs of the pro-choice movements was the court case Roe V. Wade. On January 22, 1973, the United States, “Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, struck down the Texas law banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure nationwide” (History.com Editors). Also, each state is required to have at least one abortion clinic. States, however, have the ability to create “trigger laws” that limit the ability to abortion depending on certain circumstances. In the 2009 case Planned Parenthood vs. Casey the court ruled that no state could impose a law that would restrict a woman who is looking for an abortion of a nonviable fetus. In the current political age, there are constant bills being pushed that are expanding or diminishing access to an abortion.

Organized religion has a very concrete definition on abortion, they believe it is murder. According to BBC, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism all agree that abortion is morally wrong and should never happen except for the few exceptions, such as the mother’s life at risk of death. The most outspoken of that group being the Roman Catholic Church. From the Church’s perspective, the word of God is that causing an abortion is morally wrong. A new, unique life begins at conception and that new life is independent of the mother and father. After conception, a human has formed not just a potential human. And that human has the undeniable right to life like any other person that walks on this earth. As Mother Teresa put it, “The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between”. It is crucial to the Church that they protect the rights of the unborn because the unborn cannot do it themselves and they believe that no one else will.

On the contrary, pro-choicers have a very different definition of abortion. Many define personhood as once the fetus is viable (being able to live outside the womb) and that does not happen until around the week twenty-seven mark of pregnancy. It is not murder if the fetus is not a person. Also, abortion is looked as a reproductive right. Pro-choicers believe that since it is the woman’s body it is her choice to decide what she wants to do with her pregnancy. Someone else should not have the ability to determine the fate of her body. That is why abortion has a more empowering connotation to pro-choicers then to others.

Asking two people to define abortion could result in two completely opposite meanings. At the end of the day, abortion is just a legal medical procedure, but that is not why it is such a controversial topic. The two main viewpoints are such opposites that finding a middle ground is near impossible. Defining personhood changes from person to person, some say it starts as early as conceptions, others not before the baby leaves the mother and most have views somewhere in the middle. Abortion is a rather broad word that carries lots of weight and different meanings depending on the person.

Works Cited

Abortion.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abortion.
Abortion: Religion and Abortion.” BBC, BBC, 2014,
www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/religion/religion.shtml.
Editors, History.com. “ROE V. WADE.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Mar.
2018, www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/roe-v-wade.
Johnson, Traci C. “What Are the Types of Abortion Procedures?” WebMD, WebMD, 22
Mar. 2017, www.webmd.com/women/abortion-procedures#1.

One Comment

  1. hbs422
    Posted March 5, 2019 at 4:23 pm | #

    meh

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