Introduction

Nowadays we can observe in our world that people are too excessive in the thing that

God has been given to us, the nature to use properly, animals to also respect and preserve, and

even ourselves (our body). As we can see in the social media, in our everyday life, and in our

society there have been an increasing number of abortion cases throughout the world. This

scenario has been driven by among other issues social and economic factors. Abortion is the

termination of pregnancy. It is the removal of the fetus before it is viable and developed. It is

usually done before the fetus gets to 25 weeks old. It is either spontaneous or persuaded abortion.

Abortion refers to the induced type (Malcolm 1977 page 12). In developed countries such as

USA, Japan, Britain, China, etc. or even in the Philippines in these present times but is not legal.

However, abortion is legal whereas most developing countries do not encourage and permit

abortion. This brings about the differences in safe and unsafe abortions. Abortion accounts for

over 70,000 maternal deaths worldwide. Abortion has a long history. In the past, it was done

using crude tools such as sharpened tools, physical trauma and other traditional methods. With

advancement in the field of medicine, contemporary methods are now used and involve the use

of medication and surgical procedures (Nada 1998 page 61).

Each country in the world has different legality, cultural and religious statuses and

prevalence of abortion. The ethical principles towards abortion and removal of pregnancies also

vary. Countries such as the United States of America and Britain have heated politics

surrounding the issue of abortion in pro-life and pro-choice campaigns (Ted 1995 page 66).

These are based on the argument that for one group, it should be legalized and for the other,

abortion should not. Most governments in the developed countries have legalized abortion. Many

developing and underdeveloped countries have not legalized abortion and have no control over
what is done by the medical personnel. Abortion and childbirth complications have been the

leading causes of maternal deaths the world over. With the advent of the 21st century, maternal

deaths have declined. As I have learned in the subject Rel. Ed this has been attributed to

education on family planning as well as the use of contraceptives. But sometimes contraceptives

have its side effects that can harm the users. So better have an education and family planning.

Discussion

Induced Abortion

A third of pregnancies occurring in the world today are unintended. A fifth of these

pregnancies end up in induced abortion. Induced abortion is the forceful removal of the fetus

from the womb of the mother. The developmental age of the fetus is the determining factor of

what procedures could be used to conduct the abortion. The procedure is also limited by the

legality of abortion in that country, doctor patient preference and the regional availability of such

services.

Induced abortion is either therapeutic or elective. Therapeutic abortion is done by

medical personnel in an effort to save the lives of patients. Patients suffering from such things as

illnesses, multiple pregnancies and complications could have this procedure done on them to

avoid having complications at childbirth that may lead to loss of life (World health organization

1979 page 16). Elective abortion is done at the request of the woman. This is usually done for

non-medical reasons.

Spontaneous Abortion

It is commonly referred to as insufficiencies or miscarriages. They are unintentional.

They usually happen before the 20th and 24th week. Many pregnancies are usually lost before
doctors are aware of the presence of an embryo in the uterus. Spontaneous abortion is caused by

chromosomal abnormalities, vascular diseases, diabetes, infections, uterus abnormalities and

trauma among others (Isabel 1992 page 123). The most frequent causes of spontaneous abortion

are age and a history of spontaneous abortions. Accidents and trauma have also been linked with

the high rates of miscarriages among women. The best example for this is maybe rape, whereas

the victim was force to have intercourse in a particular suspect.

Causes of Abortion

As we all know there are so many causes why abortion happens and triggers a pregnant

woman to abort the fetus inside the womb. Abortion is caused by a myriad of factors among

them are social, religious and economic factors. The societys desire for convenience has been a

factor influencing the rates of abortion. Children and pregnancy are seen as a hindrance to a lot

of fun and pleasure. One would easily remove the pregnancy in pursuit of this pleasure. The

society accepts this circumstance and even encourages it by allowing governments to legalize

abortion. The lack for respect for life is a religious factor towards promoting abortion. People no

longer appreciate new life forms. One would not think twice before doing an abortion. Raging

debates have come up suggesting that a fetus is not a life form until it is born. Such debates could

easily change peoples mindsets to disregard life.

Economic issues including poverty and insufficient funding have promoted abortion.

Many young mothers have chosen to do an abortion citing the inability to take care of the child

once it is born. Usually such young girls do not have an income to support themselves leave the

unborn child.

Stigma has contributed a lot in ensuring that abortion becomes a common thing. Girls

who get pregnant while still very young get criticism especially in the developing countries. In
most cultures, such a thing was unheard of. It was unheard of for one to get a child outside

marriage. If one would have such a child, she would be excommunicated. Developing countries

have not fully come out of this and girls who get pregnant though young are looked upon as ill-

mannered individuals.

Rape has been a big reason why people abort their children. When rape has occurred, and

one does not intend to keep the pregnancy, she would choose not to keep the baby. The

experience of being raped is too big a burden that the evidence of such an ordeal in the form of a

child would not be acceptable. Many girls would quickly abort to rid themselves of this

psychological trauma. Young girls have a better chance at furthering their education once they

get rid of the child. As is stated above, it is education that can moderate the increasing number of

abortion.

Methods used in abortion

There are two main methods used during abortions i.e. use of the abortion pill and

surgical removal;

(1) The abortion pill is used for pregnancies up to nine weeks old. A combination of two

drugs is taken. They are taken within 48 hours. The effect of the drugs is that the womb contracts

and sheds its lining. The process is painful. This pain is experienced on the lower abdomen. It

may cause diarrhea and vomiting. But as what mention above it has a side effect to the user and

it is also harmful.

(2) Surgical removal can be done when the fetus is at 13 to 14 weeks. A sterile tube is

inserted through the cervix and into the uterus. Suction is done pulling out all the materials in the

uterus. The woman may leave the hospital the same day after the procedure has been done. At 14

and 15 weeks, surgical dilation is done using forceps to remove the unwanted fetus. This is also
the things that I have heard during our discussion on abortion, and it so shameful for the one

doing it. For me I think surgical removal of the fetus is the worst thing in doing abortion.

Complications of abortion

The very big problem and most common in doing abortion is bleeding. Bleeding occurs

normally for a few weeks. It decreases as one nears weeks 5 and 6. In cases of excessive

bleeding, there are chances that the uterus may not have been emptied completely. So I think

some of blood will remain inside the uterus. Thus it may cause some diseases.

Pelvic inflammatory disease. This disease affects the vaginal area. The vagina produces

an unpleasant vaginal discharge. The body temperature of the individual rises, and she

experiences severe abdominal pains. Inflammation may happen in the womb due to emptying

problems (Shirleen 2003 page 40). It may be caused because the womb had not been completely

emptied. This would require that a new evacuation be done for the woman.

Pain is a normal problem for the abortion process. It is often relieved by using painkillers.

In instances where there is excessive pain, one should consult the doctor to have her uterus

rechecked. The uterus may be punctured especially during surgical termination of pregnancy.

The tools used may create a hole in the uterus causing complications. Such a patient is kept in

the hospital for observation and checkup (Bodo 1998 page 159).

Advantages

Abortion gives a chance to young women especially those below the age of 21 years to

pursue their education. A young girl caught in a situation where she has to carry the child to term

will mean that she cannot do anything else. She would have to stop learning at some point to

address the needs of the child. Most likely, she would have to stop schooling all together to take
care of the child. By getting rid of the fetus, she is able to continue pursuing her educational

needs.

Abortion has been of help to women with health issues. Women with diseases such as

heart disease, hypertension and sickle cell anemia have been able to avoid serious medical

complications that arise from childbirth through abortions. Such complications could easily lead

to loss of life. Usually a doctor may prescribe such a procedure when he realizes that the life of

the mother is in danger.

Abortion gives women identity. In the chauvinistic societies, women have no power at all

over their reproductive sense. The inculcation of abortion into laws and codes of ethics has

helped the women by giving them power over their sexuality.

Abortion has been used to control family size. Young motherhood is easily avoided

through abortion. A woman may choose to have an abortion to prevent her from becoming a

mother at a very tender age.

Parents have used abortion as a way to reduce the number of children that they may get.

Parents have used this to trim the numbers of children. They would discuss whether they wanted

the baby or not and would remove it in case they do not want it. This helps regulate the number

of children and aids in family planning.

Most it again are rape victims have found solace in the fact that they could easily remove

such children that would arise from such action. Rape victims would not want to keep the baby

because of psychological trauma that they would associate this child to. Removal of the child

would remain the best option to end this.

 For me these advantages are questionable though I did not demand to ask, I just keep it. I

think that these advantages are just mere compensations about what really are the facts around

abortion. But of course if there are advantages there would be also disadvantages. Good that

there are so many disadvantages about abortion, so that most of the woman who is pregnant

would have no more intention to abort their child.

Disadvantages

As a Catholic Religion we are against in the very idea of abortion, in a sense that,

abortion indicates brutality to the unborn child. This is because abortion is killing. It does not

give the new fetus a chance to survive. It is hinged on religion, which condemns the act saying

that all are equal before the almighty.

Abortion encourages infidelity by women. Women would engage in sexual acts outside

the marriage context with the view that they would remove such fetuses if they happened to

implant themselves in their uterus. Once a woman gets pregnant, she would easily remove the

pregnancy and continue with her life.

Abortion has the potential of lessens chances of a woman getting a child later in life.

Abortion interferes with the uterine wall. At other instances, it may lead to total damage of the

uterus. This would result in bareness hence a woman would not get a child when she needs it

later in her life. Such actions may also cause hormonal imbalances that could be attributed to the

barren nature of the women later in their lives.

Abortion promotes irresponsible behavior. This is because it gives women and men alike

the freedom to commit careless sexual activities. This is because they know that they could
easily get rid of the pregnancy if they so wish to. This freedom makes them care less about their

sexuality.

Concurrent abortions may lead to medical complications. Some of these complications

include uterine infections, recurrent miscarriages and sepsis among others. Consistent use of

such methods causes the hormones to change. This means that the hormones are tuned to a

program where they cannot sustain a full pregnancy to term. The body gets used to rejecting any

pregnancy hence the case of consistent miscarriages may pop up.

Abortion may end up causing psychological impairments. Examples of this include

depression and guilt. Some women may feel depressed after losing their baby. This could be the

case especially, if the child was their first and the abortion was done as a medical thing that they

had no control over. Continuous miscarriages may cause such individuals stress and eventual

depression. This would ultimately affect the biology of the mother affecting the subsequent

pregnancies. This is because the brain would have been tuned to reject any pregnancies due to

such depression.

Alternatives to abortion

Churches, nongovernmental organizations and the government run campaigns against

abortion. In such campaigns, they ask mothers to look for other options other than abortion.

Some of these options include adoption as well as being provided with the necessary help to

enable them carry the pregnancy to term.

Adoption is a widely used practice in many countries. It involves the transfer of

ownership of a child to other parents who would love to take care of it. The child is usually given

to adopting parents because the mother could not afford to raise him or would love to pursue
other things. Adoption is an option that comes in convenient because the mother is relieved of all

duties about the child as it is taken up by a different family. The mother is assured that the child

would be safe with the adopting parents. The mother can then go through with her plans without

the child getting in the way.

Providing support to such mothers is another option that has been explored.

Nongovernmental organizations and church groups have come together to pull resources to

support such young mothers through their pregnancy. This is because of fight against abortion.

We might have to unite in order to stop the increasing amount of abortion in every country where

we belong. They also have been of importance in supporting them as they take care of the child.

They support them with such things as financial resources and psychological counseling. Thus,

supporting each other will have a successful end to every problem we encounter. As God

commanded us that Thou shall love your neighbor as our self, hence even a child in a womb is

considered as our neighbor for once they were developed they are already humans. So we better

not to abort a child but just to have a family planning in order to have a control to any situation

might come.

Conclusion

It would be necessary for us not to get rid of it, especially for those women who get

pregnant or even some of people that could have encouraged those are pregnant to abort their

child. Though we would have a debate on abortion that it could be legalized abortion would still

be unethical in anyway anyhow. Even if we base it on natural law, moral law, divine law and so
on and so forth, abortion is evil that it could only give us problems and illness in our life. Let us

always remember that life is so precious!