Women Health: The Legalization of Abortion

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Perspective on Abortion

Issues pertaining to abortion have always been contentious in both, the contemporary and traditional human society. Indeed, so emotive has the issue been that it has become one of the topics that have to be and are discussed in politics. Abortion is often defined as the deliberate termination of a pregnancy prior to its attainment of full term and with no intention whatsoever of keeping the fetus. In essence, it always results in the death of the unborn child, which explains why there has been all-ranging controversy. Questions have often been raised about the legality of abortion with different sides making assertions on why it should or should not be legal. While there are varying opinions on the subject, abortion should remain legal in the United States.

First, the legalization of abortion offers immense protection for the health of women. For a large number of women that have ailments such as sickle-cell anemia, kidney disease, severe hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and other ailments that are life-threatening, carrying a pregnancy to full term can often be complicated. Indeed, a large number of pregnancies often render the women that have such conditions worse off than they were and place them in near-fatal circumstances. In essence, it is imperative that women are allowed to abort legally.

On the same note, the prohibition of abortion often results in deaths of women. Scholars have noted that the prohibition of abortion would not essentially stop women from undergoing the procedures. In instances where they feel that it is imperative that they go through the procedure, they always undertake it albeit in secret and dangerous circumstances where they cannot access medical care (Boonin, 20...

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...and the number of children that they would like to have. Further, laws that prohibit abortion have often been seen as discriminatory against women who belong in the lower echelons of the economic ladder.

References

Boonin, D. (2002). A defense of abortion. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kaczor, C. R. (2011). The ethics of abortion: Women's rights, human life, and the question of justice. New York: Routledge.

Keown, J. (2002). Euthanasia, ethics, and public policy: An argument against legislation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Norgren, C. A. E., ACLS Humanities E-Book (Organisation), History E-Book Project., & American Council of Learned Societies. (2001). Abortion before birth control: The politics of reproduction in postwar Japan. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Watkins, C. (2005). The ethics of abortion. Detroit: Thomson Gale.

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