Should Abortion be Legal or Illegal

Introduction

The issue of abortion remains a deeply polarized topic, with both its legality and moral justifiability facing much contention. There is no single viewpoint detailing what possible conditions justify or sanction abortion, perpetuating across societies, cultures, and religions. Society's perspective on abortion and the implementation of abortion laws have changed significantly over time. Up until the 1920s in the United Kingdom, abortions meant to preserve the life and health of the woman were deemed criminal. The legalization called for regulation and the introduction of universally agreed-upon guidelines to award abortions to genuinely needy women.

Contemporary society is one full of controversy concerning abortions: fervent anti-abortionists exist, who equate the termination of a distinct potential person to killing, outlawing the procedure at any time. Individuals at the other extreme, including pro-choice advocates and modernists, advocate for laws and policies that revoke the protection of a fetus at any time or stage prior to birth. The practice of abortion has been associated with many primary participating stakeholders; upholding governments, healthcare providers, individual rights, and women’s advocacy groups with various vested interests are primary among them.

Individuals facing abortion represent a varied group of individuals with differing experiences, views, beliefs, and values that drive their understanding of the procedure. A woman’s decision to procure an abortion may be intricately entwined with her immediate social, economic, and emotional environment. To this point, individual emotions about abortions are muddled with moral, religious, ethical, and political questions. The abortion debate is neither new nor exclusive to a specific society or race. Abortion laws, as implemented in a contemporary society, and the debate are representative to a substantially large extent of what is noticed in many cultures today, barring a few exceptions or peculiar national or ethnic carryovers. The dynamics within countries concerning abortions can also be observed today: illegal abortions under dangerous conditions are often performed and accessed due to numerous and diverse reasons. The challenges faced by both women and healthcare providers vary from society to society, as does the attitude of the public and the government towards abortions. Given this dynamic construct, fostering open discussions on abortions and inculcating an understanding and recognition of these differing perspectives is imperative. The discourse reflects a sampling of the influencers' opinions and attitudes towards abortion and if or when they can be justified.

Arguments for Legalizing Abortion

Abortion remains a contentious social issue with significant variation in laws and societal attitudes towards the practice across different nations. The debate regarding abortion is multifaceted, intertwined with considerations of political ethics, practical healthcare, and women’s rights. This essay will critically consider the debate, outlining the legal situation and discussing the arguments that have been advanced by both sides.

There are several arguments that have been advanced in support of liberalizing access to abortion. It is frequently claimed that illegalizing the practice will do little to reduce its incidence, instead leading to more dangerous abortions that pose a serious threat to women’s health. As such, some argue that access to abortion should be part of healthcare. There are many cases in which preventing access to services that are in high demand does not reduce their prevalence, but instead increases the associated risks; criminalizing drugs, in many cases, has made them more dangerous, and alcohol prohibition is generally thought to have been a failed experiment. Furthermore, critics of conservative policy argue that it is grossly unfair to force a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term when such an outcome might cause immense psychological distress. It can also place considerable strain on a woman’s social and economic resources to force her to precariously balance work and family instead of receiving an education or pursuing a career. Moreover, a significant proportion of women and girls endeavor to terminate pregnancies by resorting to self-harm in circumstances where safe and legal procedures were difficult to obtain. In low-resource settings, preventing death from dangerous abortions is absolutely a priority, and legalizing would be the preferred course of action.

Arguments against Legalizing Abortion

One of the predominant arguments against the legalization of abortion is anchored on moral, ethical, and religious grounds. Prominent among this view is the belief that life begins at conception, and procuring an abortion after conception is equivalent to taking a human life. From that perspective, the psychological and emotional consequences of abortion are profound. Individual women who abort, pro-life supporters argue, often face deep depression and may ultimately become suicidal. They also argue that the values of society are eroded whenever the killing of any innocent human being is condoned. More specifically, legalizing abortion negatively impacts the traditional family structure, often leading to the breakdown of community standards and eventually public health. Another argument against the legalization of abortion is that it devalues life. If life can be so easily disposed of, these opponents assert, it will result in a general disregard for older people, disabled people, and others without the power to protect themselves.

Legal arguments against abortion appeal to moral judgments about fetal capacity, the effects of a permissive abortion policy, and the rights of fathers. If fetuses are morally valuable, and if abortion is legal, there will be an increase in irresponsible sexual conduct, an increase in out-of-wedlock births and mother-only families, and a decrease in special consideration and services for women. Abortion policies should dictate that the state will protect fetuses' rights, except where fetuses' interests conflict with a pregnant woman's rights. This view is reinforced by favoring comprehensive sex education and programs that accept the widespread use of birth control. Today, many people are turning against abortion and are filing laws to make abortion illegal.

International Perspectives on Abortion Laws

As this chapter will illustrate, global laws and attitudes towards abortion are diverse, highly influenced by individual nations' and colonial histories, religious beliefs, and socio-political climates. However, in highlighting policy and practice in a number of countries, as well as the international normative, human rights, and public health discourses pertaining to reproductive rights, new insights and ideas may be gleaned on the topic of abortion. The obstacles reformers encounter, including the weight of religious and historical factors, as well as the impact of human rights and civil society movements, elite conversations, and the changed public attitudes and experiences of some, are also explored. Challenges to restricting abortion are considered, as are the inequities suffered by women forced into illegal and unsafe abortions, or who seek formal and informal abortions for personal and economic reasons. Countries across the world differ greatly with regard to when and under which conditions abortion is permitted. Abortion law and the enforcement of the laws are impacted by the broader social, political, and economic context. However, while abortion incidence is generally lower in countries with more liberal abortion laws, legal restrictions do not necessarily result in lower abortion rates. Despite legalized abortion being restrictive in most countries, from a global perspective, it is far more common for a woman to live in a country with less restrictive abortion laws. Economic and public health outcomes also vary by the level of abortion restrictions. While the unmet need for contraception has decreased, unintended pregnancies worldwide continue to occur. Proponents of legalized abortion argue for the economic, public health, and humanitarian arguments in support of the practice. Abortion rates generally remain high in countries with restrictive abortion laws, in many of which proportionately many abortion seekers die from the complications of unsafe illegal abortion. The public health argument is typically a motivating factor when the laws are liberalized. This is the key argument posed by health professionals and civil society organizations in contexts where the legal status of abortion is restricted and data indicates that unsafe abortion is the cause of many maternal fatalities.

The Implications of Legal vs Illegal Abortion

When we provide the legal framework for the termination of pregnancy, what legal and criminal implications are left? Illegal abortion. Women convicted of illegal abortion may face fines or imprisonment. The people who provide illegal abortions also face criminal charges. The legal debate runs parallel to the ethical debate about the right to an abortion. In societies that value individual liberty, a woman must have the right to decide what will happen to her body. Women who are forced to carry pregnancies to term against their will can experience deep depression, guilt, and grief. Women who are forced to have children they did not want or cannot care for are more likely to abuse or neglect their children. Some of them may turn to infanticide, a crime that is even more repugnant to most people than abortion. Women denied an abortion face significant economic hardship raising their children alone.

Illegal abortion is a major public health problem. Data from many countries show that increased use of contraceptives, combined with effective, safe, and legal abortion, decreases maternal mortality rates. Legal abortion is generally very safe. In contrast, illegal abortions involve risks including a high rate of complications, pelvic infection, hemorrhage, perforation of the uterus, and death. Women seeking illegal abortion report concern about recognizing practitioners as doctors and are careful to avoid clinicians in their own communities in order to maintain confidentiality. In addition to stigma and fear, illegal abortion can also disrupt a woman's family and children, jeopardizing her relationship with her partner and her ability to move up the economic ladder and provide a decent life for herself and her family. The lack of legal support can also threaten the well-being of the entire family. The basic illegality of the abortive act, the law controlling it may be used against the woman seeking an abortion, and even the use of police interrogation and investigation, intimidation, and prosecution against such women are causes for great concern. Many empirical studies testify to the negative consequences of not knowing whether an abortion is legal or illegal when durable legal support is absent. The psychological distress felt when an illegal abortion is sought has been well documented. Cited mechanisms of coping include denial, repression, cognitive dissonance, thought reframing, and self-conceptualization. It is the shame and guilt surrounding their need to terminate a pregnancy legally that lead those arrested to almost constantly attempt to present their mental health in the best possible light, a process often observed when women who have had illegal abortions are interviewed for research purposes. Ethical and humanistic reasons for exclusion of the problem of illegal abortion are enlisted. Economic, socio-psychological, and socio-medical implications are considered. Administration of abortion and the human rights of women in various countries of the world is given as an example.

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