The History of Abortion: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

Abortion is one of the most disputable issues discussed all over the world. Several decades ago, Abortion was considered only a social issue but now it has become more of political and ethical context. The issue of Abortion does not become an important ethical issue as long as modern medicine has not provided its relative safety, and only now, the issue has inflamed a sharp public controversy. This made a huge impact on both men and women’s lives. There are many different views on abortion dating back from the Old Testament to the present day. Let`s research this topic in Pro-life and Pro-Choice: History of Abortion Essay.

If we look into the history of Abortion, there are so many thesis that one can find, from Religious aspect to social aspect. The first ever recorded abortion is from Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BCE. The methods for abortion were non-surgical usually by physical activities like climbing, weightlifting, diving etc. During mid-1800s, states began passing laws to make abortion Illegal as it were considered risky as doctors had a primitive medical education. But now as the technology emerged in every field, medical practices have also taken a big change over time. There was the case which highlighted in 1973 at United States, which is famously known by Roe v/s Wade where the Supreme Court made the abortion legal and possible for women to have safe and legal abortions from well-trained medical practitioners. This led to dramatic decrease in pregnancy-related injuries. Jane Roe, 21 years old women, represented all the women who wanted abortions but could not get them legally and safely and has aroused in Texas where the law prohibited legal abortion except for to save women’s life and that law led to large number of women to go for Illegal Abortions. 

Henry Wade, Taxes Attorney General, defended the law that made abortions Illegal. After hearing the case, Supreme Court has ruled that Americans have a right to privacy including the right of a women to decide whether she wants to keep the baby or not and it was completely kept in the hands of the women and the doctors who can make decisions without state interference. Since that day, In United States Abortion has been Legal. Not all the countries have implemented the law, there are few countries which still follows the religious concept and believe that Abortion means Murder and no human have a right to kill someone especially a small one who have not yet came into world. For several decades, there was a conflict among the activists about the concept of whether Abortion should be banned or not. This can be understood more clearly in further essay. There are two extreme views concerning abortion which are Pro-Life, those who are against abortion and Pro-Choice those who Permit abortion and are in favour of it.

To begin with Pro-life, abortion is an example of killing a human being who is inside a woman's body. Every human being, even the child in the womb has the right to life. No one except god has the right to take away the life of individuals. It is ethically and morally incorrect and this can be explained by taking into account the responses of people from the same subject matter. Since it is never allowed to harm or kill people in society, it is equally immoral and unethical to abort a child. We can compare this to deontological ethics; it is described as the morality of the action should be on whether the action itself is right or wrong under various rules. It is also described as duty, obligation or rule-based ethics. Here we can relate it by taking into account religious beliefs. All religions have certain rules that they have to follow. Every religion says that life is a gift of god and everyone has the right to enjoy this gift. God is the only one who has the moral right to end all life. In these circumstances, abortion is a sin because it goes against the divine order. Another point to consider is that abortion will reduce the number of children available for adoption. Just because the parents do not want the child, they do not have any right to take the life of the child. A woman who willingly has sexual intercourse is aware that she is taking a risk of bringing a human into existence. They are aware that contraceptive pills or condoms can even lead to pregnancy. 

So, pro-life supporters argue that when they become pregnant, it is their responsibility to accept the pregnancy. The women have a duty of care for the foetus that is in their womb. They cannot deny that responsibility. If the woman cannot raise the child under any circumstances, she has the option to hand over the baby to the childcare centres. Every country has a childcare organization that accepts unwanted babies and takes care of them. They also allow families to adopt those babies who can give them a better life. Kant also believed that every individual has a sense of moral law within themselves. They have a natural sense of what is right and what is wrong. When a woman knows about the consequences of having unprotected sex and still takes the wrong decision of killing an innocent baby. Families who are willing to adopt these babies are plenty. There are women who have health issues and could not be pregnant. These women are willing to adopt the baby and give them the standard of life they deserve. Women do not realize the blessing of becoming pregnant and giving birth to a child. There are women who want to be pregnant but they cannot because of several health issues. They try each and every treatment in the world to Conceive and spend money on it. World health organization has calculated that over 10% of women are unsuccessful in conceiving. Couples are trying hard to conceive but are unable and this couple may be ready to adopt a child. 

Mothers share a special bond with their offspring and most people would agree that they do have to rape case; Thompson does bring up a good point about the woman not giving permission to have a child in her body for nine months. However, I must point is the fact that it is no stranger but genetically 50% similar to the mother that will be formed in her body. With that being said, aborting the foetus would be similar to ailing a part of the mother in the form of the foetus. This is obviously wrong and should not be allowed. In addition to that, the baby can feel pain during an abortion and that is scientifically proven. Science of embryology and mainstream of medical research has proved that babies can feel pain at 20 weeks. Some research states that babies at that stage can feel the pain more acutely than adults. Furthermore, there are women who abort their babies even after 20 weeks when they literally tear off the limb of the foetus. The procedure for late abortions is taken place by using the dilation and evacuation method, which consists of opening a women’s cervix with seaweed and draining amniotic fluid from her uterus and pulling the baby apart limb by limb. In many cases the foetus dies just like a human would die. It bleeds when the procedure is conducted. There is no law when the baby dies in such cases. The people who are committing a such crimes should be stopped. People, the court, and our law are ignoring social justice because here there is no mistake of the child who was killed just because the mother did not want the child. 

Women who participate in aborting their child can face issues like physical, social and psychological damage. They can have headaches, stomach pain, and a lack of Menstrual cycle. They often lose their self-esteem and think that they are worthless and they maintain social distance from people. They are afraid of society and avoid any communication with people. Moreover, many women regret it and start feeling sad which eventually leads to depression. They feel guilt in their heart and think about the unborn baby all the time. When the depression gets worse some may even commit suicide. They doubt their decision. They fear about a second pregnancy. They are ethically incorrect and have failed in taking the right decision. Women should give deep thought when they take this step because they are not only harming the baby but also themselves. It is necessary to remember that every human child should be wanted, nurtured, loved and cherished. From the ethics point of view, Immanuel Kant argued the idea of categorical ethics, a law of morality that all humans have the duty to obey. He states that if you decide to do something that is morally good, then you should be able to will that everyone else would act in the same way. To compare with abortion, will you agree that every woman in the world should have an abortion? Will you be able to bear every woman having an abortion in the world and there are fewer kids born every year? The human race will go extinct if this continues. Kant’s theory also states that killing a human is immoral and aborting a child is clearly murder and a person cannot kill another person being without violating a moral absolute. He says that we should do things that are right and not because of our desires and need. Women abort a child for various reasons such as; to maintain body, for career etc. and these activities of the women show that they are aborting because of their personal needs which is completely immoral. Kant was an absolutist which means that the action is either right or wrong regardless of the situation. If a woman does not want the child because of certain situations that do not permit her to give birth to a child. It is also believed that there must be a universal morality that must be capable of being applied to every situation without exception.

Same as Pro-Life, there are people who support abortion and they are called as Pro-Choice. They say it is the right of a woman to choose what she wants with her body and nobody has a right to force her in what to do. It is always not necessary that pregnancy has happened because of mutual understanding between the couple, sometimes it is an unwanted pregnancy too, where the woman gets pregnant without her wish like getting pregnant because of Rape. And in some situations where women who are medically at risk and pregnant with sever disabled children also need to go for abortions. Proponents, identifying themselves as Pro-Choice, contend that Abortion is a right that should not be limited by governmental or religious authority, and which outweighs any right claimed for an embryo or foetus. They believe abortion should only be used as a last resort. The Proponents who are in favour of Pro-Choice believe that ‘women have absolute rights over their bodies, and conceptus is the part of women’s body until birth’. This is where the Principle of Individual Freedom arises, where people should have a choice to determine what is best for them in their own circumstances. 

The pro-choice does not make claims on the morality of abortion – we leave that as an individual choice for every woman faced with an unwanted pregnancy. To state why abortions should not be banned by sharing a few consequences that usually occur. Men cause women to be pregnant but it is women who alone bear the pregnancy and the child. In countries with backward thinking and countries which follows religious values like India and Saudi Arabia, for centuries, unmarried women who became pregnant were humiliated and, in some cultures, even killed. It is believed that an unmarried pregnant woman brings shame to the family and to society and the child born is called ‘Bastard’. No man would marry such a woman and she is forced to turn out of her own house by her parents. Such women have no way to make a living and children would be denied in property, and education and socially shunned. In many cases, an unmarried woman risks her life, her family and all social positions if she gives birth. If abortion is made illegal, then such women do not stop themselves to abort the baby and can take extensive steps of killing themselves to protect the prestige of their family. In history, thousands of women bled to death or died from infection after taking dangerous and unprofessional abortions like hitting their stomachs and throwing themselves downstairs. Not only that, any child born without women's willingness and love, those children grow up in misery and become a miserable adults and commit so many crimes.