Essay, Research Paper: Abortion 7

Legalizing abortion was supposed to help reduce child abuse, since it was assumed most abused children were unwanted at birth. This theory, though, has been disproved since scientific studies show that child abuse has actually risen since abortion has been legalized. In 1973, when it was legalized after the Roe versus Wade Supreme Court case, there were 167,000 cases of child abuse in the United States. Yet, in 1980 there were 785,100 cases of child abuse and neglect reported. Since 1980 it has steadily increased to over 2 million cases per year. In the following paragraphs I will explain to you why I think abortion is totally wrong.
When does life begin? This is a question posed by some pro-life advocates. In 1981(April 23-24) a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held hearings on this very question. Most of the scientific community believes that life begins at conception. Dr. Hymie Gordon, Chairman of the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic, says: By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception.
Dr. Alfred Bongiovanni, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, concludes, I am no more prepared to say that these early stages represent an incomplete human being than I would say that the child prior to the dramatic effects of puberty... is not a human being.
Why some women chose to have an abortion is beyond most people. The devastating things that can happen to you are enough to make any women think twice about her life changing decision. Recent studies have pointed out a dramatic relationship between the rate of abortion and the rising incidence of breast cancer. In fact, as the rate of abortion rises in America, so does the rate of breast cancer, with those women who have aborted having significantly higher rates. Not only that but 24.3% of women experience complications in future pregnancies. The complications include: excessive bleeding, premature delivery, cervical damage, and sterility. Having a first trimester abortion can result in PID, also known as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Abortions can result in tubal or eptopic pregnancies. Women under 20 are at two times greater a risk of having medical complications, and have 150% a greater risk of a cervical injury. After two or more abortions a woman s chance of a miscarriage is increased by more than 200%. Not only physical complications occur, but emotional problems affect some women. After aborting the baby, some women report feeling relief, which is what most abortionists want you to hear. What you don t hear is that women most frequently feel guilty and depressed. Furthermore, numerous studies reveal that women who have had an abortion experience a high incidence of depression, stress, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings and substance abuse.
The New York Post reported a story on December 6,1998. It told of a young woman laying on her deathbed in a Brooklyn abortion facility. Her fianc was in the waiting room receiving a page that Tommy Boy Records had just signed him to a contract. The young woman was pronounced dead after having a LEGAL ABORTION at the Long Island College Hospital. Paramedics arrived on the seen too late to perform CPR, after getting a call that a woman wasn t breathing. The couple had planned to be married in January or February. She was four months pregnant.
On the other side of the spectrum, abortion could be a positive thing if the mother is infected with the HIV or AIDS virus and her baby would be born with the deadly disease. If the mother has been raped and becomes impregnated, she may want no reminder of the horrible thing that has happened to her; the child could cause emotional distress to both of them. Another reason pro-choice people support abortion is if a young girl at the age of twelve would happen to become pregnant, she would not be able to care for her child adequately. Giving birth could endanger her life as well as the child s. This could also affect a woman who is very small and weak because of anorexia or bulimia.
Note
+ Before abortion was legalized the following numbers are the estimated cases of abortion per year
+ 1970 - 193,491
+ 1971 - 485,816
+ 1972 - 586,760
+ From 1973 to 1997 abortions have risen to almost 1,500,000 per year. It is estimated that 36,458,656 have been performed during this time span.