The Abortion Debate
Abortion has and continues to be a topic of controversial debate in social, political, and legal contexts globally. The debate touches on the legality of abortion in the legal framework and the effects of legal stances on the rights and health of women. Globally, antiabortion (prolife) and prochoice (abortion supporters) continue to clash in political discussions and public demonstrations in support of these different stances. In the United States, the issue of abortion has been divisive with different segments of society and political classes taking on opposing sides. For instance, while the Democratic Party is more inclined to the pro-choice position, the Republican Party is more inclined to the pro-life position. The same divisions are evident not only in the party following but also in other parties such as religious leaders, academics, and physicians. Majorly, while prochoice supporters argue in favor of abortion as a woman’s right to control over her body and base this argument on the right to privacy as articulated in the fourteenth amendment, pro-life supporters are opposed to abortion based on the argument of a fetus’s right to life also in the constitution under the Bill of Rights. However, both positions do converge on certain aspects such as allowing abortions when the life of the mother is threatened and discouraging abortions after the viability stage (when a fetus can survive outside the womb) (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). Even so, the debate continues with some advocating for outright bans on abortions and others supporting the outright decriminalization of abortions. However, all factors considered, the decriminalization of abortion or the adoption of less restrictive measures is more beneficial than the criminalization of abortion.
The enactment of less restrictive abortion laws or the outright decriminalization of abortion is consistent with one’s right to privacy in the United States Constitution and holds more water than the criminalization of abortion based on the prolife right to life argument. In the landmark Roe Vs. Wade supreme court ruling of 1973, the supreme court, based on the right to privacy, invalidated laws restricting abortions by deciding that the state’s interests did not exceed those of the woman bearing the pregnancy until the viability period during which the fetus can survive outside the womb (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). The decision set precedence for legalized abortions in the United States. The argument here is that a woman has the right to decide what to do with her body and because the fetus exists within the body, it is legal for the woman to abort an unwanted pregnancy (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). The prolife supporters counter this decision by arguing that the fetus is human and thus possesses the right to life and abortion takes away this right. However, this argument is controversial in itself as debates over whether embryos and zygotes should be treated like a human is strenuous (Mikołajczak, & Bilewicz, 2015). Legal arguments tend to bend towards the argument of personhood – that one is considered human if they possess traits of personhood such as reason and fetuses clearly lack these traits (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016; Mikołajczak & Bilewicz, 2015). However, this issue is a cause of serious religious and scientific debate with some parties arguing that life begins at conception and others at birth.
Evidence shows that the legalization of abortion has substantially reduced mortality rates and that mortality rates are higher in countries with more restrictions on abortions than in those without (Marecek, Macleod & Hoggart, 2017; Faúndes & Shah, 2015). Globally, 14.5% of maternal deaths are as a result of unsafe abortions that can be prevented by legal abortions (Faúndes & Shah, 2015). During the pre-legalization ruling of 1973 in the United States, deaths resulting from illegal abortions were substantially high (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). However, the periods following the legalization have seen reduced deaths due to medical abortions that are relatively safer, with less than one in a hundred thousand deaths from medically legal abortion (Zane et al., 2015). As technical advances grow in the field of medicine, abortions are becoming safer and safer (Sheldon, 2016; Zane et al., 2015). Statistics also show that abortion rates are higher in countries that have strict restrictions than in those without (Marecek, Macleod & Hoggart, 2017). Consequently, mortality rates in these countries are also high because women are forced to seek illegal and unsafe abortions (Faúndes & Shah, 2015). Here, prochoice supporters argue that legalizing abortions is beneficial to the overall health and wellbeing of women. On the contrary, prolife arguments posit that legalizing abortions increases the tendency of women to obtain abortions, and thus the cases of abortions are more likely to increase. However, the available evidence refutes these claims, as it clearly shows that the legalization of abortions does not increase abortion rates (Faúndes & Shah, 2015). In fact, the rate of abortions has decreased over the years in the United States.
The legalization of abortion is important to the welfare of women and is supportive of the push for equality between both genders and should, therefore, be encouraged. The argument here is based on the fact that women should consider their welfare first. As such, the argument is inclined towards the autonomy of women in making choices regarding their lives (Marecek, Macleod & Hoggart, 2017; Sheldon, 2016). Autonomy encompasses one’s ability to act independently without undue social, political, economic, or legal pressure. Therefore, the legalization of abortions would enable women to take control of their lives and to make independent decisions that matter to them (Marecek, Macleod & Hoggart, 2017). Pregnancies come at high costs for most women and can permanently affect the course of their lives (Sheldon, 2016). For instance, pregnancies can result in job losses, early marriages, discontinued studies, and in the event of unwanted pregnancies resulting from rape and incest, they can cause shame and low self-esteem. Also, unsafe, illegal abortions can result in social backlash and discrimination that negatively impacts on the wellbeing of affected women. Those opposed to abortion (prolife) counter this by arguing that unborn babies are persons (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). Therefore, aborting would be to interfere with the rights and autonomy of the unborn (Sheldon, 2016). In refuting this position, pro-choice supporters argue that the life of the mother and the unborn are, in most cases, intertwined, and the unborn cannot maintain life apart from the mother (Chemerinsky & Goodwin, 2016). However, a mother forced to give birth to an unwanted child is more likely to develop a negative attitude towards the child, thereby resulting in abuse and neglect. Children that grow under such circumstances can develop criminal or bad behavior resulting in increased crime rates. Therefore, abortion should be legalized because it guarantees the welfare and autonomy of women and also helps reduce cases of abuse and discrimination.
Conclusion
Abortion laws continue to shape public and political debates in the United States and elsewhere in the world. In Delaware State, abortion is legal with respect to the Roe Vs. Wade supreme court ruling. However, the issue of abortion is both a national and state problem and is expected to generate much more debate with challenges to the Roe Vs. Wade ruling expected in the supreme court some time to come. However, current research shows that legalizing abortion is more beneficial than its criminalization.
References
Chemerinsky, E., & Goodwin, M. (2016). Abortion: A Woman’s Private Choice. Tex. L. Rev., 95, 1189.
Faúndes, A., & Shah, I. H. (2015). Evidence supporting broader access to safe, legal abortion. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 131, S56-S59.
Marecek, J., Macleod, C., & Hoggart, L. (2017). Abortion in legal, social, and healthcare contexts.
Mikołajczak, M., & Bilewicz, M. (2015). Fetus or child? Abortion discourse and attributions of humanness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 54(3), 500-518.
Sheldon, S. (2016). The decriminalization of abortion: An argument for modernization. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 36(2), 334-365.
Zane, S., Creanga, A. A., Berg, C. J., Pazol, K., Suchdev, D. B., Jamieson, D. J., & Callaghan, W. M. (2015). Abortion-related mortality in the United States from 1998–2010. Obstetrics and gynecology, 126(2), 258.