Abortion

Abortion is not just a religious issue but is a worldwide dilemma that is begging to be addressed by every nations code of law regardless of its political, economic and religious affairs. It is also a great source of debate whether it is morally right or mortally wrong to allow it. Different groups around the world are fighting for the rights of the unborn (anti- abortionists or the rights of the mother only (abortion advocates . !sing contraceptives does not mean a person is using abortifacients unless of using specific drugs (morning-after pills, suppositories and objects (I!Ds . Different methods were there to attain the premature e"pulsion of the fetus. #hroughout the centuries, herbs as abortifacients were very common. A certain $hinese emperor even introduced mercury as abortifacients to his royal concubines. %ngland uses lead to achieve abortion reali&ed from the water pipes they are using. Assertive e"ercises such as wal'ing, lifting heavy things and riding animals were common. (ippocrates (author of the oath suggested pregnant prostitutes to jump touching their buttoc's with their heels every time to achieve self- induced abortion. Abortifacient pills were ordinary and are introduced in the eighteenth century. )outheast Asia uses the massage abortion as the most usual one. (istorically, before the )panish con*uest of the +hilippines, the custom laws did not penali&e abortion. A common fol'lore ,tiyana' originated from it and is 'nown as an evil creature that used to suc' blood of the other humans and unborn babies as well. #he $ode of (ammurabi (-./0 1.$. treats abortion as a crime. #he Indian 2edic law gives penances to those women who see' abortion especially when the male seed of the upper three castes is preserved. #he $ode of Assura (Assyrian law is the first law to have imposed a death penalty to a woman who procures ac*uires abortion against her husbands wishes. %arly writings of the $hristians also ban abortion in the Didache (teaching of the twelve apostles , the oldest source of the law of church. #ertullian, a third century scholar believes abortion is murder itself as a man who will be a man is already one. )t. #homas A*uinas teaches that abortion is a grave sin against natural law. Aristotle, a 3ree' philosopher thin's that abortion is not the 'illing of the human if performed early. (e considered that an embryo will gain a soul at the 40th day (if male or 50 th day (if female in a process called ensoulment. 6odern theologians continue to argue in the process of ensoulment considering that in the moment of conception7 the fertili&ed egg should be human itself and already having soul. $atholic teaching condemns abortion as a grave sin violating the 8ifth commandment that prohibits murder. )everal councils such as the %lvira, Ancyra, #rullo, $haceldon and 6ain& condemns abortion as a sin as grave as se"ual immorality. #he -9/5 papal bull issued by +ope +ius I: says that abortion is as worse as homicide and deserves e"communication and only a bishop could give an absolution. ;egally, +hilippines is a country with abortion that has no e"ceptions. !nder the )ection <, articles <=/ to <=5 of the >evised +enal $ode, abortion is a crime whether it is unintentional or intentional. #here were no statements for the victims of rape or incest. #his is critical for when abortion is illegal, many see's it in dangerous ways. !nited )tates permits abortion as a right of privacy from the ruling of the >oe vs. ?ade court cases. #he result of it, many died of abortion in the +hilippines that in the !.).