Abortion

The removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy (dictionary.com). Is it right for a women to end her child's life, or is it murder?





In the United States, laws for abortion started to appear as early as 1820's. The laws forbade women to have abortions after the fourth month of pregnancy. Since 1973, the Supreme Court established that abortion was legal in the United States. This was extremely controversial, and now each state can determine how abortion can take place in their state.





A woman has the choice to have an abortion during her pregnancy, however once the baby is born he or she cannot be killed. There are many types of aborions.





RU-486 is a drug that produces an abortion. The drug has to be taken after the woman misses her period. This drug can be taken up to two months into her pregnancy. This drug has been used in Europe for a number of years, but only within the last few years has it been available in the United States.





Suction-Aspiration must be done within the first trimester. It's a surgical process were the cervical muscle ring must be paralyzed and stretched open. This process is less humane than others. A doctor places a powerful suction tube with a sharp cutted edge into the women's uterus, from there it tears the baby into peices and the baby then will be sucked out of the women and places in a bottle. This is the process that is used in most abortion clinics.





The Dilation and Curettage (D and C) procedure is similar to the suction-aspiration. A curette, a loop-shaped steel knife, is inserted into the uterus. The baby and placenta are then cut into pieces and scraped out into a basin. This method is also used in hospitals for women that have had miscarriages or trouble with their menstral cycle.




Another procedure is the partial birth abortion. This procedure is done as a baby is being born. A slit is done near the baby's spine and the brain is sucked out with a vacuum. The baby is then born "brain dead."




For years, churches have preached about the negatives of abortion. Most of these arguments are valid. It is a living being. It is growing and changing. But what happens if the mother was using a drug or a medicine that would negatively impact the baby? Would it be right to bring a baby into the world who is deformed or has a limited brain capacity? Would it be right to bring a child like that into the world and have a lifetime of pain and greif, just because it is a new life? I have a cousin who has a condition where he was born perfect, but is now a vegetable. Would it have been better for him and for his family to have been aborted?




My great-grandmother died of a self-inflicted abortion in 1924. She used a hanger and bled to death. Their family was very poor, and there was very little food. She felt that she had no choice but to get rid of her child, and was trying to protect her other children. My grandfather was only 4 when she died, and it hurt him. If abortion had been legal at that time, she would have been around to see him grow, get married, and have children.




I believe that a woman has a choice until the end of her first trimester. I believe this because not much of the baby has not developed, and that the mother has time to think about her serious decision. Sometimes the decisions for abortion may not be crystal clear to an outsider, but the mother is choosing to have an abortion and it is a hard decision to kill another human, especially your own child.