Abortion

Abortion

Abortion is one of the most widely argued subjects in our time, yet the average person does not have a complete understanding of what abortion is when they debate, defend, or condemn it. Abortion is the voluntary removal of a fetus or embryo from a womb during pregnancy, with the intent of avoiding childbirth or for the mother's safety.

History

Abortion has likely been around since the beginning of time, but modern Western abortion began with English common law which allowed for abortion to be performed before signs of life could be felt by the mother. Abortion was often performed using herbs or sharp objects, such as the "clothes hanger" that is often used to reference abortion. Abortion remained for the most part legal in most Western countries until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when religious and social reformers succeeded in banning abortion, which ended in the twentieth century due to women's rights groups campaigning and the Roe vs. Wade decision.

Debate

Anti-Abortion

The anti-abortion crowd is often referred to as the "pro-life" crowd because of framing, however this article will refuse to use any political framing that automatically validates one and invalidates the other. In this article, we will simply refer to the sides of the abortion debate as pro-abortion and anti-abortion, and nothing else. Arguments against abortion are almost completely religious in nature, though there are secular anti-abortionists, and anti-abortionists have begun using secular arguments. Anti-abortionists claim that abortion is murder, and as any other kind of murder should be outlawed. Tactics of the anti-abortionist crowd to overthrow Roe vs. Wade include creating more rules, waiting periods, and mandatory discussion with family for women seeking abortion, as well as religious anti-abortionists working in the medical field refusing to provide service to those seeking birth control or abortions. The anti-abortion field feels that a woman's choice does not matter as much as the life of an unborn child, though some anti-abortionists feel abortion is justified under certain conditions, like rape or medical complications.

Pro-Abortion

Pro-abortionists are those who favor keeping abortion legal, whether universally or for those who need it. Generally, pro-abortionists also favor less legislation, and requiring those in the medical field to provide the service regardless of religious objection. Pro-abortionists may not necessarily agree that abortion is morally 'okay', but nevertheless feel that abortion is a woman's right. Pro-abortionists also argue that making abortion illegal will force two deaths where there would have been one, as history has shown women continue to seek abortions but when made illegal, they are far more dangerous and often result in medical complications. Pro-abortionists also feel that keeping birth control and cheap or free and readily accessible abortions forces the poor into a deeper state of poverty, because they are forced to care for a child.

Methods

• Dilation and curettage
• Dilation and evacuation
• Hysterotomy abortion
• Instillation abortion
• Intact dilation and extraction
• Medical abortion
• Menstruation extraction
• Mifepristone
• Misoprostol
• Vacuum aspiration