Abortion, Is It Murder or Not?

Abortion, is it murder or not? There is a great controversy over many individuals on whether or not abortion should be legalized. As a utilitarian I believe that legalizing abortion will maximize happiness for the greatest number of people while minimizing their unhappiness. Abortion is defined as a deliberate termination of a pregnancy and it has been a real-world ethical issue for a long time. There are different viewpoints from debates provide arguments on whether it is ethical or moral to terminate a fetus’ life during a pregnancy and before the normal childbirth. Therefore, the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo before viability and 5 million hospital admissions per year globally. An estimated 44 million abortions are performed globally each year, with slightly under half of those performed unsafely. "In 2011, approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.21 million abortions in 2008, 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2011, nearly 53 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).

Based on available state-level data, an estimated 1.04 million abortions took place in 2012 —down from an estimated 1.16 million abortions in 2009 and 1.13 million abortions in 2010. In 2011, the highest number of reported abortions occurred in California, New York and Florida (84,990); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (120), South Dakota(600) and North Dakota(1,250) (AGI). In 2005, the abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC)". Half of pregnancies among American women are unintended ; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-one percent of all U.S. pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. (AGI). Forty percent of the world's women have access to legal induced abortions.

Nowadays, modern medical technologies allow people to have an abortion based on their own wills and needs in many countries. The Induced abortion this has a long history and has been performed by various methods, including herbal abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, physical trauma, and other traditional methods. The legality, prevalence, cultural and religious status of abortion vary substantially around the world. Its legality can depend on specific conditions, such as incest, rape, fetal defects, a high risk of disability, socioeconomic factors or the mother's health being at risk. In many parts of the world there is prominent and divisive public controversy over the moral, ethical, and legal issues of abortion. Those who are against abortion generally posit that an embryo or fetus is a human with the right to life and may equate abortion with homicide, while proponents of abortion rights emphasize a woman's right to decide about matters concerning her own body.

On the other hand, approximately 205 million pregnancies occur each year worldwide. Over a third are unintended and about a fifth end in induced abortion. Most abortions result from unintended pregnancies. In the United Kingdom 1 to 2% of abortions are done due to genetic problems in the fetus. Specific procedures may also be selected due to legality, regional availability, and doctor or patient preference. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or elective. Abortion this is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion when it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman; prevent harm to the woman's physical or mental health; terminate a pregnancy where indications are that the child will have a significantly increased chance of premature morbidity or mortality or be otherwise disabled; or to selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple pregnancy.

Spontaneous abortion, also known as miscarriage, is the unintentional expulsion of an embryo or fetus before the 24th week of gestation. A pregnancy that ends before 37 weeks of gestation resulting in a live-born infant is known as a "premature birth" or a "preterm birth". When a fetus dies in utero after viability, or during delivery, it is usually termed "stillborn". Premature births and stillbirths are generally not considered to be miscarriages although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap. The most common cause of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester is chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo or fetus, accounting for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy losses. Other causes include vascular disease, diabetes, other hormonal problems, infection, and abnormalities of the uterus.

Medical abortions are those