Abortion - Argumentative Essay

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

'ABORTION'

Our world today is full of unsolved, devisive and controversial issues. Most

of them relate to our morals, ethics and religion, thus creating a very strong 'yes'

and 'no', or 'good' and 'bad' side. Like the Chinese Yin and Yang sign, abortion

has a very prominent 'black' and 'white' side but also contains traces of each in the

alternating colour. This shows that if you were to come to any kind of conclusion

on abortion, there would still be a downside to it, and that is primarily why the

world cannot agree on this sensitive and emotional issue.

Being female myself, I can understand why a woman would want to have an

abortion. Being pregnant and wishing you weren't is probably the worst feeling a

woman can have. Knowing that if you brought a child into the world and you

didn't want it, or you would have to give it up for adoption is such a disheartening

way to start off, and you and the un-born child would be so much better off if

you were to terminate the pregnancy and wait for a more appropriate time, or in

the case of rape, put the past behind you and move on.

Society has attached a stigma to abortion. When we hear of women having

abortions, we seem to automatically think that she wasn't careful enough, or she

didn't use contraception. We forget to stop and think about the other possible

reasons she may have accidentally become pregnant. Just forgetting to take one

pill per packet can reduce it's effectiveness and also taking anti-biotics, or being ill

can also undermine the way the pill works. Condoms can tear or be forgotten,

and emergency contraceptives like the 'morning after' pill are underprescribed and

not readily available. Would it surprise you that over 50% of women getting an

abortion in Britain used some form of contraception when they got pregnant?

This obviously shows that women are having huge problems with using

contraception, and something needs to be done about it now. Starting by

educating women more on the pill and the way it works, the after effects of

abortion, and the risks of having an abortion. We don't want abortion to become

the easy way out though. People just need to know more about it and have to

satisfy specific criteria before having the pregnancy terminated, for instance by

interviews with doctor's, given unbiased advice, and consultations with people of

their specific religion. "It is hugely important to reduce the number of unwanted

pregnancies but we have to accept that abortion is a fact of life for many women,"

- Ann Furedi of the British pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

In the United States doctor's who administer abortions are being targeted

by anti-abortion activists and some have actually been murdered. The doctor's are

now having to take many precautions including wearing bullet-proof vests and

pulling blinds and shades down in their homes. One obstetrician-gynecologist had

to shut down his medical practice after he was terrorized by protesters who had

distributed 'wanted' posters with his photograph, mailed threats to his home and

listed his name on a 'baby butcher's ' web site. What makes a person think that

just because they feel strongly about an issue it gives them the right to go and kill

someone, or harass them till they fear for the safety of their family?

In Scotland the Roman Catholic Church offered a 12yr old pregnant girl

money in the attempt to prevent her from having an abortion. She was advised by

her teachers and a social worker to terminate the pregnancy mainly because of her

age and her family's financial position. But her parents were more convinced with

the advice given to them by the Scottish church's Pro-Life Initiative, a program

that offers alternatives to abortion. A writer of the Tabloid Daily Mirror argues

that "offering 12yr olds cash for babies