Child Psychology - Abortion

Child Psychology

Abortion, You decide

The topic of abortion has been a highly debated and highly controversial issue before America was even founded. There are many aspects of the debate and many angles that can be taken. In order to understand, and to form an opinion on the topic of abortion a person must be informed about the History of abortion, the methods of abortion performed today, the potential side affects of abortion, and the two different and equally debatable sides that are taken today. These are all very important issues to be informed about before making a decision on where you stand.

Abortion is not a particularly new issue or practice and is not exclusively concentrated on American culture. The first record of abortion dates back to 2600 BC, where the first abortion-causing drug was produced. Sometime after this recipe was created the Egyptians used it for contraceptive pessaries. This abortion recipe was neither healthy, nor effective; one of the main ingrediance in this very unscientific recipe was crocodile dung. After some time the Egyptians and many other cultures perfected the process of abortion, and in the 4th century AD St. Augustine laid down catholic rights allowing abortion up to 80 days for female fetuses, and up to 40 days for male fetuses. St. Augustine's decree is very significant in the history of abortion because it is the first time that the church has gotten involved with the issue of abortion and actually gave their own opinion. In 1564, the Italian anatomist Fallopius, founder of the fallopian tube, publicized condoms as a disease-avoiding device. In 1564, Pope sixtus forbade

all forms of abortion. Directly after the decree of Pope sixtus Pope Gregory XIV withdraws Pope sixtus's decree and allows abortions to be performed freely. In 1803 Some time after the Catholic Church's rain, Great Britain decreed that abortion would now be charged as a misdemeanor.

During colonial times abortion was legal before quickening, or about the fourth month of pregnancy, historic colonial home medical guides gave recipes for "bringing up the messes" with herbs that could be grown in anyone's back yard. Unfortunately these recipes were fatal and many women died. The first statutes preventing abortion were not actually against abortion. These laws were in fact against poison used in the home, or "poison control". In the 1840's the abortion business was booming, including the sale of illegal drugs that were prohibited by the poison statutes that were mentioned earlier. The sales of illegal drugs and of abortions were advertised openly in the media. To give you an example of how big the business was, the most popular abortionist was Madame Restell; she would openly provide abortion to any women who wanted one. She had offices that she operated out of in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. She also had traveling sales people that promoted her famous female monthly pill. Oddly enough in a historical twist the one group that was petitioning for abortion to be outlawed was the American medical association, this was an association of physicians. The very group that is now performing a majority of abortions that go on today. The American medical association's crusade against abortion was not entirely selfless. The reason the association decided to crusade against abortion was because they saw the white American birth rate declining and saw the immigrates birth rate moving up. In that day the economic status and ethnic heritage of the women receiving the abortions were very different from today, the average women who was receiving an abortion were upper class to middle class Caucasian women who were considered Americans. Horatio R. Storer, anti-abortion leader of the cause asked in 1868. " This is a question our women must stated;" upon loins depends the future destiny of the nation." The women's rights movement also opposed abortion, basing their hopes that women could time the frequency that they had sex, and that they could regulate their own motherhood.

In late 1869 these two groups won their fight against abortion. The United States of America for the first time spoke directly against the issue of abortion. The congress wrote a law that declared abortion was to be illegal in all U.S territories, these laws would stay intact until 1973 (Pollitt).

In the famous case or Roe vs. Wade, On Monday January 22nd 1973, 7-2-majority vote in favor of allowing first trimester abortion to be legal in the United States, the decision was permitted to be decided between the women and her physician. The father was not allowed to have say in the matter if the mother did not desire it. The court also ruled that abortion in the 2nd trimester of the pregnancy was allowed if it was required to maintain the health of the mother. The court went on to rule that abortion could be performed in the third trimester of the pregnancy if the mother's life was at risk (Hopeclinic.com).

Today the abortion issue is hotter than ever. Abortion is a hot topic at every election debate whether for president or local office. With republicans running all branches of the government hopeful pro-life supporters are rallying to make abortion illegal. There are many other points to abortion that affect someone's decision when choosing to go through a pregnancy or to terminate. Types of abortion are just another aspect to consider when making this momentous decision.

There are numerous types of abortions that can be performed. Two things decide what kind of abortion will be administered; the condition of the child and the condition of the mother decide the type of abortion that is performed. Dr. Robert Baird, in his book, The ethics of Abortion, has divided methods of abortion into three categories: those that invade the uterus and kill the child by instruments, those that kill the preborn child by administration of drugs and then induce labor, and the last is those that invade the uterus by abdominal surgery.

Before any procedure can take place dilation of the uterus must be performed. The uterus is normally dilated by manually increasing the size of the cervix using metallic curved instruments, called dilators. Studies conducted by UCLA show that this procedure would normally cause permanent damage. Rather than the cervix stretching naturally over a period of hours as it does in natural birth, it instead stretches within seconds at the hand of the abortionist. Once the dilation has taken place then the abortion will proceed.

There are seven popular types of abortion that are being used in abortion clinics across the country. I will cover all seven types