Abortion

Definition:Just to be clear, abortion, as understood from the Merriam-Webster dictionary is the following: “The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks.”http://www.merriam-webster.com...As has been stated - above - is that there are many different procedures to carry out an abortion. Each type of procedure differs depending on how far along the pregnancy is. During the first trimester you have an option of medication based or surgical forms of abortion. During the second you no longer have the option of a medication based abortion - and during the third trimester - most states in the US and quite a few countries - unless it is for a medical reason - outlaw this type of abortion. http://www.nhs.uk...http://americanpregnancy.org...According to a CDC.gov survey from 2003:“For women whose type of procedure was adequately reported, 89% of abortions were known to have been performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation [D&E]) and 0.9% by intrauterine instillation.”http://www.cdc.gov...Their research was conducted since 1969. This means that the instillation abortion mentioned by you above, is actually quite rare. According to other sources, it is a method done when there is a health problem for the mother or the child. Also, the fetus cannot actually feel pain because the neural structures have simply failed to develop - and won’t be developed until the 24th week of pregnancy which is usually passed the point that most women can get an abortion unless continuing endangers the life of the child or mother. http://www.nhs.uk...In conclusion to the first part: no, the type of abortion you suggested above is not one that is carried out widely. It is only done when lives are in danger. It is a rare procedure that most women do not undergo if they plan on having an abortion. This brings me to my own arguments rather than the evidentially based ones above.Further: there are several situations in which abortion is considered to be an option. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Endangering the health of the motherIf childbirth is endangering the health of the mother, many mothers do consider this to be a viable option for the sake of their own lives. If the child has no chance of living outside of the womb and the birth is causing the life of the mother to be at risk - it seems as if an abortion at any stage would be crucial to the survival of the mother. Unfortunately, not all places allow abortions to be done when the woman is in danger. In Ireland, a woman cannot have an abortion. It is appalling that these women are not being considered when they face a life and death situation. When the mother is mature enough to realize she cannot take care of the childSometimes, when an unwanted pregnancy occurs, the mother must take it into her own hands to realize if she is ready for the child. She isn’t always be selfish when she has an abortion. She may have other obligations to her family that she must fulfill and simply can’t if she were to raise a child. Raising a child is a huge undertaking and it isn’t for everyone. Also, if the woman isn’t at a stage in life she believes she can support a child, then it is in her own interests, the child’s interest, and society’s best interest that the woman is able to take control over her own body. When the woman is rapedWhen a woman is raped, and circumstances forbid the woman from being able to take care of the child - it is the man’s fault after all, if it is a rape case - then the woman must decide whether she wants to keep a baby whose father is a rapist and whether she wants to take care of a child she had no control over of having conceived. Some may argue that adoption or other options are available after the pregnancy if the child is unwanted and cannot be cared for by the mother. Obviously for some this is an option - but for others it simply isn’t an option to see your own child being raised by someone else. The politics of abortionAbortion highly political in that in many ways it’s about control. Women want control over their own bodies and they don’t want a man or a government telling them that that’s how they should be using their bodies. Women are women not vessels to produce children. Women are more than just that. http://www.amnesty.ie...The risks of having children are greater than what’s realised. It takes a severe toll on one’s body and it’s at least a nine month process that really does cause severe health risks. Another issue is what determines life. A fetus isn’t alive until a certain stage of the pregnancy. The definition of life is long and complex and stretches beyond the reaches of this specific round or even debate. It has been a debate philosophers have discussed through time and millennia. The final argument you mentioned about, ‘Abortion is a risk because what if that fetus becomes the next president, a wonderful brain surgeon, or possibly will find the cure for cancer?’ is not a very strong one because you could easily say the opposite. What if the child becomes an evil dictator or a mass murderer? We can’t know that. It’s out of our control. I’m not using the argument back, I’m just showing that the argument is very weak. I look forward to a reply.