THE EFFECTS OF ABORTION

A Research Paper

Presented To

The Faculty of Anselmo A. Sandoval Memorial National High School

March 2019

By:

Walter M. Ilagan

G10- Siemens
Thesis Statement

Abortion is the very painful for woman and man who find themselves facing the moral
delimma of wether or not to terminate a pregnancy .Its one of the most polarizing moral
issue most people are on one side to the other very few are undecided.

This study thought to answer the following questions:

1. What is Abortion?
2. Advantages and Disadvantages Abortion?
3. How to prevent Abortion?

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 I. Introduction

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

scenario has been full among other factors social and economic factors. Abortion is the

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

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

Abortion refers to the induced type (Malcolm 1977 page 12).

In developed countries, 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. This

has been attributed to education on family planning as well as the use of contraceptives.

Abortion is one of the most controversial “rights” that is being debated for years, but

people do not have any agreement. Millions of lives are not present with us

because of the concept of abortion. People have votes on both sides, and the

government is considering different aspects to form laws about abortion. However, it

is the activity that is equally debated on both sides by using ethical concerns,

health concerns and right of freedom. Abortion can bring psychological land

physical problem for women, and it can result in challenges for ethical values

and social l structure of families .The medical procedure of ending a pregnancy is

known as abortion which results in the death of a baby inside the womb within 24

weeks of pregnancy. Another name given to this process is termination or the

termination of pregnancy. There are many ways of abortion. Some use the surgical

method of aborting a child, and the other is simply with the help of a taking a pill a n d

b o t h t h e s e m e t h o d s d e p e n d o n t h e we e k s t h a t a wo m a n h a s b e e n

p r e g n a n t ( C r a i g ) . Miscarriage and abortion are two different things. Abortion is

done by medical intervention.

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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 gestation age of the foetus 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.

It is commonly referred to as miscarriages. They are unintentional. They usually occur

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 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.

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.

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 II. Body

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 foetus, 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.

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.

Woman can make their own decision without the legal barriers.The advantages of

abortion incorporated into situations such as if you want your freedom and right to have

an abortion. If you were young and it was it mistake and inconvenient for you would not

have the baby.

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Disadvantages

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. The spiritual books go against the very

idea of abortion.

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.

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.

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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 handy 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. They have also

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.

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 III. Conclusion

Abortion is a social, medical and a religious issue. It is entrenched into the legal laws of

every country in the world in one way or another. It has a place in the lives of individuals

directly or indirectly. Ethical values arise out of such deeds as abortion that determines

the direction that one chooses. Other mechanisms that control abortion include the legal

and religious aspects of society.

Providing the necessary support in the form of financial aid and psychological support to

mothers contemplating abortion could serve as the best way to curb such deaths

resulting from abortion.

There are advantages and disadvantages of abortion of almost equal measure. Abortion

presents a double-edged sword in its advantages and disadvantages to individuals and

society. It should be after careful consideration that abortion should be done (Patricia

1992 page 93

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viii
Curriculum Vitae

Name: Walter M.Ilagan

Age: 17

Address: San Teodoro Mabini,Batangas

Weight: 45

Height: 150

Gender: Male

Civil Status: Taken

Religion: Roman Catholic

Educational Background

Elementary: Bagalangit Elementary School

2007- 2013

ix
 Table of Contents

Thesis statement………………………………………………………………………….i

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………ii

Body………………………………………………………………………………………….iii

Advantages…………………………………………………………………………………..iv

Disadvantages……………………………………………………………………………….v

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………vii

References……………………………………………………………..……………………viii

Curriculum Vitae……………………………………………………..………………………ix