Essay About Womans Right And Abortion Decision

Abortion
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Although abortion is widely accepted in our modern society there are several
serious drawbacks to this procedure. These are the health issue of the mother, the political
ramifications that it brings, and the moral conflict that it causes.The main controversy is, whos
right is it to abort? Many will argue and say it is the womans right to chose what she does with her
own body, but what about the fathers right? The mans involvement in the abortion decision is not
about the womans choice, it is about his own responsibility to her and the child (Arthur 1999).
There are two sides to this abortion topic: the pro-life, which is those who are against abortion
altogether, and the pro-choice, or those who believe it is the womans right to choose if she wants
to have an abortion. These two groups offer different solutions to the problem. The pro-life solution is
to have the child and basically live with him/her. They believe abortion is not an answer. The pro-
choice solution is abortion because of reasons they feel are appropriate.
When pregnancy is unwanted women perceive the choice of abortion as the least
of three evils: abortion, adoption, or keeping the child (Smith, 2000). Pregnancy changes a
womans life, regardless of whether or not it ends in abortion. The woman making the abortion
decision looks at a variety of relationships to help her make the decision. Often, she will discuss
her options with a physician or counselor. If she does decide to get an abortion, there are many
factors she will have to face. According to an article in Business 2.0, written by David Shribman
(2000), women who have had abortions are at greater risk of suffering emotional and psychological
problems which may interfere with their ability to concentrate, make decisions, and interact with
others. As a result, it reduces the womans level of job skills and employment opportunities. Post-
abortion women are more likely to engage in drug and alcohol abuse, often as a result of the guilt
and negative feelings held inside of them after the abortion. This may prevent them from entering
other meaningful relationships. They are likely to become pregnant again and undergo additional
abortions and are more likely to never marry, more likely divorce, and more likely go through a chain
of unsuccessful relationships (Shribman 2000). This inability to form a nuclear family reduces
household income and increases the probability that the woman and her children will require welfare
assistance.
Abortion advocates claim that since the fetus develops inside the womens body
and since the pregnancy will have a profound affect on the womans life, the abortion should remain
the womans decision. Bruce Robinson (1999) states that the womans life is saved from unraveling
emotionally and are given the chance for a healthy, mature living because legal, safe abortion was
an available choice. In the vast majority of cases, continuing the pregnancy does not pose a threat
to the actual life of the mother, however, according to the opinion of an anonymous person in David
Benders, Abortion: Opposing Views (1998), because it is so basic, the fight to life of the unborn
child should take precedence over other rights of the mother, just as the right to life of a born child
does.
Dr. Berkich, a pro-life activist, claims that medical science has proved that the
human embryo is biologically separate from its mother, therefore it is a human being (Smith 2000).
Other pro-life activists point out that from the moment of conception, after the sperm penetrates the
egg, a new individual is formed, genetically different from its mother and father. It is explained that
the babys immediate environment are not part of the womans body, but are formed by the child and
have the childs chromosomes. Therefore, given the necessities of life, a human embryo will grow
into a human child and then a human adult.
When it comes to making the decision of abortion, as a man, whether or not he
becomes a parent is not up to him (Bender 1998). A mans reproductive rights and emotional needs
have been ignored by society, however, research findings (Shribman 2000) have showed that the
father is the most influential in the womans decision and therefore men are encouraged to speak
out. Tamara Roleff (Bender 2000) points out that even if men did speak out, it was not going to do
any good. Any introduction of a mans opinion could be falsely characterized as an attempt to
dominate women. She articulates that she now