Feticide is not the right way to do it; let your little angel live.
Introduction
“The little angels who come to spoil.” The process of having a baby through birth is tasking, both emotionally, physically, and Financially. A typical term pregnancy that goes for 42 weeks is both tasking to the parents who may have a change of mind before giving birth. Having a cute baby after carrying it for nine months does deserve all the efforts with some parents enjoying the process. However, some people have a contradicting opinion of bringing up babies. This has led to increased cases of feticides. Feticide is the destruction of the fetus between 22 weeks and delivery. There has been an increased case of feticide in the world, with a reported 56.66million deaths of fetuses recorded yearly. In the UAE, it is said that there are less than 2 million babies who die annually, with the number of feticide unknown. Over the 21st century, feticide has gained prominence among many people in the society (Mason & Laurie, 2006). However, it’s essential to ask: Is feticide important or nature should take its cause? This essay seeks to explore why people undertake feticide as several issues have been highlighted that it may be due to budgetary burdens, fear of the unknown, and avoiding responsibilities.
Body
The prospect of having a child engulfs the mother with massive emotional disruption that needs attention. The first instance when a mother learns that they are carrying a baby, they are overcome with emotional imbalances. Will they be able to bear the child? Is there financial capability to take care of the child. These questions contribute to the mother opting for an abortion. Career women view children as spoilers when they want to achieve higher and better goals for themselves. This may compel them to undertake an abortion to avoid losing the opportunities they are after. In some instances, the pregnant women may undergo hormonal changes that influence emotional imbalance hence a change of feeling that may push them to get an abortion. This has been witnessed due to the gullible nature of pregnant women in undertaking decisions. According to an Indian report, some women hate children, and this may give them an urge towards securing an abortion (Save the Children India. (2019). The process of birth is highly opinionated, and ladies are always worried about the outcome. This is considered for both the lady and the child. All these reasons are only geared towards attaining a better life for the mother and can only be described as a self-centered way of viewing life.
The sanctity of life is engraved and enshrined in the doctrine of religion. The ability to predict the outcomes of the future is not made possible to the human being. This should go over a beam of hope to pregnant women . to understand that it is through supernatural powers and Gods will that they were able to conceive and get pregnant (Castano, Muñoz-Rojas, & Čehajić-Clancy, 2020). It should also make them respect life and embrace the pregnancy by living life. Relieving any stressful situations and having the knowledge that tomorrow holds a better future for both themselves and the baby. This will create a positive view, which is a better environment for both the mother and the unborn baby. Positivity aids the mother to ensure that against all the odds, everything will work for the better of the baby. Its never all doom and gloom for the baby and the mother (Clark, 2015). The positivity attracts good health, making the pregnant woman glow with good health while avoiding all forms of regrets. This makes them understand that wishes are like vehicles without direction and will only take up their energy of dealing with pregnancy issues that are coming on the way. However, the failure to undertake positivity and acceptance of the situation will lead the mother to contemplate feticide as an option outside the pregnancy.
Nevertheless, when a pregnant lady decides to undertake an abortion, it’s hard to change their mind and convince them otherwise. They will go ahead and get an abortion, but they should consider that an abortion puts the life of the mother in danger. Apart from the psychological and mental effects of abortion, physical effects have been categorized as heavy bleeding, infections, incomplete abortion, and damage for the cervix and internal organs. Furthermore, in intense scenarios, abortion may lead to death (Reardon, 2018). Some mothers may end up with breast milk after abortion, which becomes a significant psychological barrier to healing (Jerman, Frohwirth, Kavanaugh, & Blades, 2017).
Furthermore, there have been cases where mothers discriminate on the sex of the child before birth. This has been highly witnessed in Asian communities. This has contributed to many abortions in women (Shah, Gyawali, Aro, 2018). Abortion is prohibited in other countries and permitted under medical grounds in others, but it all depends on the moral values of the people. Most states, although they have moved to legalize abortion, there are still some that protect the law of life and its sanctity. These countries describe abortion as homicide and belie that life begins after conception (Huq, Raihan, Shirin, et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Deciding the fate of a pregnancy, whether to give birth to a child or not, may lie squarely on the hands of the mother after conceiving. Most of the women may present with ego-centric behaviors, which contribute to them getting abortions for the baby. This includes careers, opportunities, finances, parenting, etc. While it may seem all doom and gloom for the mother, there is a goodwill and mantra in the positivity that develops after pregnancy. This positive energy drives the mother to preserve the fertility to term against all the odds. For religious women, it is prohibited and against ethics and ethos to terminate pregnancy by all means. This compels a pregnant woman to avoid perceiving a chance of abortion. However, it is evident that despite putting the baby in danger, pregnant women put themselves at high risk when securing feticide. Complications can range between physical related to mental related. These effects are adverse and may affect the women. Different countries uphold different values and laws that may govern abortion. This is why women who are pregnant should use their moral standing to ensure that they make the right choice of ensuring that their babies live.
References
Mason JK, Laurie GT,. (2006). Mason & McCall Smith’s Law and Medical Ethics. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press;. p. 146.
Save the Children India. (2019, May 13). Female Infanticide in India. Retrieved May 7, 2020, from https://www.savethechildren.in/resourcecentre/articles/female-infanticide-in-india.
Jerman, J., Frohwirth, L., Kavanaugh, M. L., & Blades, N. (2017). Barriers to Abortion Care and Their Consequences For Patients Traveling for Services: Qualitative Findings from Two States. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 49(2), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1363/psrh.12024
Castano, E., Muñoz-Rojas, D., & Čehajić-Clancy, S. (2020). Thou shalt not kill: Social psychological processes and international humanitarian law among combatants. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 26(1), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000410
Jean Clarke (2015) It’s not all doom and gloom for teenage mothers – exploring the factors that contribute to positive outcomes, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 20:4, 470-484, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2013.804424
Reardon D. C. (2018). The abortion and mental health controversy: A comprehensive literature review of common ground agreements, disagreements, actionable recommendations, and research opportunities. SAGE open medicine, 6, 2050312118807624. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118807624
K.J. Shah, B. Gyawali, A.R. Aro, (2018) Ending discrimination at the womb: Ethical perspectives on tackling female feticide in Asian countries, Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, Volume 6.
Huq ME, Raihan MJ, Shirin H, et al. 2017Why Abortion is Illegal? Comparison of Legal and Illegal Abortion: A Critical Review. Mymensingh Medical Journal : MMJ. Oct;26(4):944-952