Essay About Lack Of Emotional Support And Survey Results

Abortion
Essay Preview: Abortion
Report this essay
INTRODUCTION
In South Australia in 2003, there were 5214 abortions . This means that in one year, there
were 5214 women that fell pregnant and chose to have their child terminated. This could
have been for medical reasons; such as the mother and/ or her babys life was in danger,
and so continuing with the pregnancy meant risking both of their lives; or it could have
been for non-medical reasons. These could be for reasons such as a lack of financial
support, the mothers age (too young or too old), lack of emotional support (not ready to
have a baby), or she may have felt pressured from someone else into not having the baby.
Whether or not legislation in South Australia needs to be passed restricting the current
practice of Ðabortion on demand is a controversial topic that is currently being debated
all over the state.
For this assignment I will be investigating this issue, and deciding for myself whether or
not I think that the South Australian legislation needs to be changed. I will do this by
answering three focus questions, using information collected from surveys and articles.
I chose to investigate this topic because I think that the abortion issue is so important, and
it affects so many people. I also think that the moral and ethical questions that are raised
by abortion (in particular Ðabortion on demand) tends to confuse people, and leave them
unsure of their personal opinion. This is why I chose to do this investigation topic; to try
and answer some of these questions for myself and figure out my personal opinion on the
issue.
What groups support or oppose Ðabortion on demand?
Supporting or opposing abortion on demand is something that many people are unsure about. I
think that this is why there are groups that are adamant that what they believe is correct, because
they have thought about the issue thoroughly and have come to a conclusion. I think that many of
these groups are also so determined for people to hear their point of view because they know that
there are still a number of people that are yet to make up their mind on the issue.
Groups such as Right to Life are firm believers in anti-abortion, and believe that any legislation that
would be brought in to help curb abortions would be beneficial. They view the fetus as a person,
with just as many rights as the women bearing the child, and so therefore they see abortion as
murder.
The other main supporters of anti-abortion legislation are religious groups. People who have a firm
belief in God also tend to have a firm belief against abortion.
There are however other people who are not necessarily apart of a group, but who just dont
support abortion on demand. This could be from personal experience, or simply because they
believe that people should have to face the consequences and take responsibility for their actions.
According to my survey results (Appendix 2), it showed that out of 13 females surveyed, only one
said that did not support abortion for non-medical reasons, while 1 was undecided, the other 11
women said that they supported both abortion for medical and for non-medical reasons. I think that
this would true for most of Australia, while there are a few women who oppose it, generally most
women support abortion on demand, whether they are married and have children or not, it doesnt
matter that much because women are able to put themselves in that position and ask themselves
what they would do.
Under what circumstances (if any) do people oppose abortion?
People have reservations about abortions, as they arent really sure about it. I think that the main
objection that people have about abortion is the time frame (trimester) in which it is going to occur.
In the survey results, the answers to the question regarding this were definitely the most varied and
spread out, with most people having a different stage at which they thought should be the cut off
stage (see graph below).
I think that most people would have their ideas of how long it is before an abortion is no longer
acceptable, and so I think that this would be one of the main things that people would object to
(having an abortion later than what they view as acceptable).
My survey also showed that people oppose abortion if there arent any medical reasons for the
termination.