Reasons Why Abortion is Wrong

Undoubtedly one of the most controversial issues in the world today, 'abortion' has ignited an intense debate and left people divided into two groups - one in favor of this practice and other against it. In the United States, the term 'pro-choice' describes the group in favor of abortion which calls for doing away with all the restrictions on this practice, while 'pro-life' describes the group of people who are against abortion and call for more stringent measures for outlawing this practice. While the pros and cons of the practice have put the two groups at loggerheads, the 'pro-life' group has garnered a great deal of support among the masses as a result of strong arguments against abortion that they put forth.

Abortion Facts and Statistics

It's the ignorance about some important facts about abortion which makes people defy logic when taking a stand on this issue. In a broad sense, the term 'abortion' refers to the termination of pregnancy - either by removal or expulsion of the fetus or embryo from the uterus. It can either occur spontaneously as a result of complications during pregnancy or can be induced by resorting to some surgical or medicinal procedure. Informally though, the term abortion is more often used to refer to the practice of 'induced abortion' which is considered illegal as per the abortion laws of various countries. On the other hand, the term 'spontaneous abortion' is used to refer to as miscarriage.

At the same time, one also needs to take into consideration the fact that abortion, in case of human pregnancies, can be categorized into two types - therapeutic abortion and elective abortion. Therapeutic abortion refers to voluntary termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, i.e. to preserve the pregnant female's health, while elective abortion refers to voluntary termination of a pregnancy for non-medical reasons. When carried out in safe environment, the risk of maternal mortality is pretty low. Statistics reveal that unsafe abortions results in 70,000 deaths across the world every year - and that is just an estimated figure with the actual figure being in multiples of the same.

Arguments Against Abortion

Pro-life groups put forth several anti-abortion arguments to support their stand on this issue. In a broad sense, these arguments can be categorized into ethical, emotional and scientific/medical arguments. On ethical grounds they argue that abortion is wrong because fetus is an innocent human with the right to live, which, in turn, implies that aborting a child amounts to murder. They also argue that pro-choice groups who deny that fetuses have life do not value human life, as the fetus is but a potential human being of the future. Again selecting arbitrary characteristics, which is as good as giving some people more rights than others, amounts to unjust discrimination against the unborn.

While pro-choice arguments suggest that the fetus is incapable of feeling pain until the 24th week of pregnancy, pro-life groups are least impressed by this argument. Their counter argument states that the very fact that the fetus is growing inside the mother's womb implies that it has life, and this in turn means that harming the fetus amounts to harming a human being. In most of the cases, the decision of opting for termination of unwanted pregnancy is something that's taken when the pregnant female is not in a clear frame of mind. In such circumstances, if unwanted pregnancies are extended to childbirth there is always a hope that the female will accept the child eventually. In worst case scenario, even if she doesn't, letting someone adopt that child - which will make sure that he lives, would be a lot better than opting for induced abortion.

Various religious groups which oppose the practice of abortion often argue that it amounts to interfering with Almighty's decision. They further add that if the Almighty has decided to bring the child on this planet, he must have definitely planned something for the child. Skeptics may show some disinterest in these arguments, but then there also exist some arguments on scientific grounds which have to be taken into consideration. These arguments most often revolve around the mother's health as it is believed that abortion can result in physical complications such as infection, recurrent miscarriages, blocked fallopian tubes, damage to the reproductive system, etc., as well as psychological problems triggered by depression and guilt.

If all these reasons are weighed against the arguments put forth by pro-choice groups, it becomes a bit difficult to say which of the two sides have an edge in the debate. After all, the arguments put forth by those in support of abortion, like the female should have the right to opt for abortion as ultimately she will be the one who will go through everything, do seem convincing to some extent. Yet another fact that has to be taken into consideration when contemplating the idea of outlawing abortion is that it would result in more instances of illegal abortions, wherein the chances of fatality are quite high.

All being said, one question still remains unanswered at the end of the day - if unwanted pregnancy is something that's making the couple opt for abortion, shouldn't they own up to their mistake and raise the child, instead of being so cruel towards the unborn?