The Problem with Abortion

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On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion and in turn the termination of pregnancy had become the most frequently performed operation on adults in the United States. An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by loss or destruction of the fetus before birth. An abortion may be spontaneous or induced. The latter is an act with ethical and legal ramifications. Where I stand on the issue of abortion is somewhat confusing to me even sometimes. I do not think that it is right to kill a baby, but on the other hand I would rather see a child be aborted than it thrown in the trash after birth or abused and neglected by the parents. I believe that there are many situations that can occur that will factor into whether this procedure is just or not.

Abortions can occur in several different ways. Spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage, occurs when the embryo fails to develop, when there is complete or incomplete expulsion of the procedures of conception – the embryo or fetus, and placenta – or when the fetus dies prior to 20 weeks from the woman’s last period. Induced abortion is a procedure intended to terminate a pregnancy and to produce a nonviable fetus at any gestational age. Most induced abortions in the United States are performed in the first trimester, within 12 weeks of the last missed period (LMP). Statistics say that one baby is aborted every 20 seconds. There are many different ways to induce abortions. The suction abortion is when a powerful vacuum tears the placenta from the uterus and dismembers the body of the developing child, sucking the pieces into an attached jar. The second method is dilation and curettage or D&C. This is usually performed between the seven and twelve weeks of pregnancy; the doctor inserts a curette, a loop-shaped steel knife, into the womb through the dilated cervix. As the curette scrapes the wall of the uterus, the baby is cut into pieces. The third method is dilation and evacuation, D&E. This method is similar to D&C except that forceps must be used to grasp the baby’s body because the child’s advanced development. The baby is dismembered as the abortionist twists and tears the parts of the body and slices the placenta away from the uterus. Another method is done using a Saline Solution called “salting out.

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