Abortion: Mother's Choice or Baby's Right

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Courtney Stricker

Mrs, Pahlow

English 4

8 January 2015

Abortion: Mother's Choice or Baby's Right?

                 Millions of innocent lives are taken everyday, millions of potentional shining stars are harshly ripped away from the world.  A world they didn't choose to be a part of, and world they had only just begun to experience.  All around the world, women are making the decision to abort their babies, to murder their own child.  However, half of them know no other option, they weren't informed about adoption.  Being rushed into making a split decision, out of fear they choose to loose the baby, in order to loose the problems and chaos they were told it would bring.  Abortion is a cruel doing, but it doesn't end there.  The women that follow through with such a procedure, for whatever reason, will live with the guilt of it their entire lives.  Granted, abortion has been practiced for a very long time, but the effects still remain the same, physical and emotional pain.  The explanation, history, and effects of abortion are all equally important and equally discussed.  This topic was chosen because it is a widely debated subject and the true information is often distorted by the internet or word of mouth.  Also with all the differing opinions being tossed about, this will allow all who read it to be informed of the true facts of abortion.

                Having an abortion doesn't only change the mother's life, it also changes the child's life; in fact, it determines if the child will have a life.  Unfortunately, between and including the years of 1973 and 2011, nearly fifty-three million legal abortions occurred in the U.S. Alone.  This doesn't include those who had abortions illegally.  Being informed of the pre-procedure, procedure, and risks and reasons is only the beginning of a strongly debated topic.

                There are lots of people who know about abortion; they usually know that it involves the killing

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of a fetus as well.  More specifically, a surgical abortion is a procedure which removes the fetus and placenta from the mother's womb; therefore, ending the pregnancy.  However, before the unborn child is removed the mother may need to go through a pre-procedure.  Comprising of three separate procedure types, the pre-procedure can be quite tedious and is a vitally important part of the abortion process.  In addition to the ultrasound to confirm the presence of a baby, laboratory testing and physician counseling take place.  Physical exams, medical and personal information, and information regarding the father's liability are all taken into consideration during physician counseling.  Not only do these pre-abortion tests aid the health of the mother, but the baby's as well.  In fact, if a blood test concerning the Rh factor is not taken, you could be seriously risking your baby's life.1

                The second stage of the abortion process is the actual procedure.  Like any procedure done at a hospital or clinic, the patient lies on an exam table.2  In order to ease the pain and stress of an

abortion, the mother may receive a sedative, which in turn would cause her to feel relaxed and sleepy.  
Additionally, numbing the cervix will allow little pain to be felt during the procedure.  Done the day before the procedure, laminaria, or seaweed sticks, are used to slowly dilate the cervix.  Within five to ten minutes the pregnancy tissues are removed by a tube, or vacuum.  After the procedure, medicine may be given to the mother to aid the uterus in contracting.  In turn, reducing bleeding.  The removing of the tissues is the quickest part of the whole process, so, while it may seem simple to follow through with, the aftermath of the abortion may not be as simple.  

                While it may seem hard to believe, there are a lot of different reasons mothers choose to abort a pregnancy and a large amount of risks they are illing to take for following through with the procedure.   It may seem unimportant as to why women make the decisions they do, but mothers consider abortions for various reasons.  One of those reasons can include pressure from the father.  If the father doesn't want the child, and is more outspoken than the mother, then the mother may feel pressured to rid of the baby.  Even if she doesn't want to, it has happened before.  Additionally, the baby may have a birth

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defect or a genetic problem that neither parent wants to deal with or are incapable of handling.  If the baby is harmful to the mother's health, then an abortion may be necessary for the mother to live.  On the other hand, there are still risks for the mother, even if she and the baby have perfect health.3 These risks include, but are not limited to; damage to the womb or cervix, uterine perforation, excessive bleeding, infections, scarring, reactions to medicines or anesthesia, and failing to remove all tissues, therefore having to have a second procedure.4  Finally, after the procedure is completely done, the woman will stay in a recovery area for a few hours.  Because the medicine(s) may