Ethical Issues With Abortion

The issue of abortion has long been a controversial one. There are people either for abortion or against abortion. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “abortion is a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus.” Even though, a person might be unprepared for the responsibilities of having a child, an abortion is unethical because it leads to possible psychological complications and possible physical consequences with the mother. Abortion may seem like the easy way out, but there are a lot of unanswered questions for a woman who want an abortion. Having an abortion can cause many problems for women who chose to get one.Health Science researchers Curley and Johnston reports, “All who had abortions reported

symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and grief lasting on average [of] three years”(p. 279). The report demonstrates that all the women in the study experienced some kind of distress after their abortion. Merriam Webster dictionary defines Post-traumatic stress disorder as, “A psychological reaction occurring after experiencing a highly stressing event that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and avoidance of reminders of the event.” Some of the post-traumatic stress disorders are anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, sleep deprivation and regret. The most common post-traumatic stress disorder experienced among abortive women is depression. Depression typically does not start until a few weeks after an abortion. Since women are ashamed to go for treatment on post-traumatic stress disorder, they have a hard time coping with the symptoms of depression. Abortive women spent many months suppressing the awful feeling of their abortion, because they are afraid of others reaction.
A case study was documented by Boulind and Edwards on a Zimbabwe woman named, Grace, who had an abortion.

Grace was going through post-traumatic stress disorder of depression. She did not know the source of her depression until she saw a psychologist. During each section, Grace recounted her post-abortion story to the psychologist who was treating her. Trying to remember what had happened was hard for her. Grace said she felt ashamed, guilty, and regrets about the abortion. She tried to move on with her life by avoiding the negative feelings concerning her abortion, but it ended up in her depression. Boulind and Edwards states that, “In a study of five black South African women who had an abortion experienced aftermath feelings of guilt, shame, regret and grief: Twenty eight percent of the women were reported depressed” (p. 541). Similarly, Grace felt guilty after her abortion. Grace is one example of many of the women who experienced post-traumatic stress

disorder.
Compare to adult women, young adult women are more prone to experience post-abortion distress. According to Johnston and Curley,
“Young adult women are vulnerable to risk factors associated with post abortion mental health problems because of their developmental stage. The factors that can effectively predict post abortion distress are single relationship status, lack of social support, concealment of unwanted pregnancy and abortion, social pressure to have an abortion, mature coping skills, and repetitive abortions. Young women have multiple abortions because they act out emotions of guilt, grief, anger, or confusion after their first abortion compared to adult women who verbalize these emotions. Acting out behaviors after abortion includes engaging in high-risk sexual behavior, such as unprotected sex, indiscriminate and promiscuous sexual encounters, which leads to more pregnancies and abortions. Women under twenty five years old are likely to experience their first abortion and have a forty percent change of experiencing another; young women are at risk for having psychological distress after abortion” (p. 280).
The quote explains that young adult women who choose to get an abortion have problems getting over the abortion without a support system. This is like a domino effect which might lead them to have multiple abortions.
Women also experience physical consequences after an abortion. The American Pregnancy Association points out that, “the physical effects that might occur after an abortion are abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, spotting and bleeding.” All of these effects do not happen to the same person since each person is different. Some women only vomit after an abortion whereas other women bleed for quite a while before the bleeding stops. I watched first hand one of the physical side effects of abortion. I was in the house when my aunt came from the hospital. She had just come from having an abortion because of certain intense complications that was happening to the unborn child. My aunt was saying something when she vomited near the beginning of the stairs. That was the only time I saw her vomited. There are severe sides affects but they are rare. That does not mean those side effects can not occur to some women. There is always a first time for everything.
Instead of choosing to have an abortion a woman who is pregnant can give the baby up for adoption. Adoption does not only save the life of the infant but also give couples the opportunities to become parents. By not going through with an abortion can give women the opportunity to experience the gift of giving life, instead of experiencing the after math of having an abortion. Adoption can be an easier process than abortion; you can choose to have an open adoption or a close/ private adoption. Being able to say to yourself I helped create a family rather than say to yourself I ended a life can really make a difference in your life.
Usually, the responsibilities of having a child frighten parents, even those who feel prepared to be a parent.

Imagine a frighten adolescent who just finds out she is pregnant. The first thing that might run through her mind is, “How am I going to tell my parents? What am I going to do?” she is freaking out because she is not ready for this. She asks herself even more questions like, “How am I going to take care of this child, when I barely have the financial means to take care of myself?” The other situation includes a woman who does not want a child or a woman who wants to fulfill her dreams before settling down. Some of the responsibilities of being a parent are providing the best education for your child, disciplining your child, protecting your child and loving your child. If a woman chooses to abort the unborn baby, she will not experience first time parent with her first child. She will experience the physical and psychological side effects after an abortion and will have to live with her decision for the rest of her life.
Choosing to have an abortion can lead to many complications for the mother. Whereas, not having an abortion do not lead to future complications for the mother; that person will not have to regret killing an innocent baby. Instead of having an abortion, the best choice is to give the baby up for adoption to a family member, close friends or a family who wants a child but cannot have

one.