Kate Gallaway 1
Teacher, K. Brooker
Social Justice 12
January 2019
Abortion is a very controversial topic that has arguments from both ends. They were performed during ancient times but not necessarily “safely” per say, until the 1900’s. Some are pro-choice and in favour of letting a woman decide what is best for her and her situation, while others are pro-life and believe you are in fact murdering a potential life. But which side has the more compelling argument?
Abortion is illegal or restricted in more countries than it is fully legal. Women will seek out precarious forms of abortion to avoid these laws. The bottom line is, if a women absolutely does not want to have a baby, she will not. Access to legal, professionally performed abortions could lead to less injuries or deaths. Although many countries have safe abortion opportunities, women may still choose to go to an illegal business with inadequate procedures. The reason behind this could be the difficulty of getting legal permission. For example, in Iowa you only have 45 days to report a sexual assault as a reason for receiving an abortion. Most victims are not comfortable coming forward that soon, or would not be aware of the pregnancy by this point. The psychological damage of being forced to have the child of somebody who raped you is powerful. The mother could see the the one who assaulted her within her child, or not emotional connect properly because of the circumstances.
If a woman is not ready to have a baby, it could lead to the child being unwanted or the family/mother could be financially unstable. No child should come into this world unwanted. This can lead to bad or absent parenting in the future. The child could then develop psychological issues, including insecurity and vulnerability, poor behaviors including substance abuse and aggression, and social issues and loneliness. If a child is going to be brought into a financially stable life, it’s already at a disadvantage. In Canada 21% of all single mothers live in poverty while 1 in 5 children are impoverished (Canada Without Poverty, 1). A study at Ohio State University took 138 mothers and evaluated the different financial stress they had. 8% of the babies were born underweight, all the mothers at the greatest financial stress within the group.
If you think about it, getting an abortion is denying somebody a well earned life. As soon as you make the decision to terminate y...
