Abortion Is A Vice And A Crime Against Humanity: Arguments Against Legal Abortion In The USA

Lack of subtle boundaries between ethics and laws is the mother of significant controversies that humanity face. Some actions may be regarded as unethical, but they are not necessarily illegal. On the same vein, not all legal provisions are ethical. The history of abortion in the United States of America typically exemplify these controversial dilemmas. The Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) defines a legally induced abortion as “as an intervention performed by a licensed clinician (e.g., a physician, nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) that is intended to terminate an ongoing pregnancy.” (‘Abortion | Data And Statistics | Reproductive Health | CDC’). For more than two centuries, abortion has remained a complicated issue that draws contentions whenever it is raised. Even though it has never enjoyed universal protection under the law or ethical considerations, abortion is legal in all the fifty states of the USA.

All American women, at any month of pregnancy, have the legal rights to abort, for virtually any reason. These rights came into existence when the US supreme court made landmark rulings on Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases that swept away all the restrictive barriers against abortion and introduced autonomous abortion rights in the Constitution in 1973. The ruling was premised on Ninth and Fourteenth constitutional amendments that were established in the 1960s –the legal precedents that guaranteed all women “right to privacy” which extend to abortion. Even with legal protection, abortion remains a sinful, unethical, and unhealthy vice that needs to be illegalized. By this dint, this paper explicitly explains why abortion should be abolished while considering exceptions that might necessitate it.

Before the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases of 1973, abortion was only allowed, especially in Georgia and Texas, if it was deliberated to save the life of the mother, the fetus was severely deformed, or the pregnancy was a result of rape. It is only fair to agree that these exceptions were plausible. Embracing abortion for any other reason is not only unethical but also controversial as it contradicts that very law that allows it. The Fourteenth amendment upon which the court ruling was based obliged all states in the USA no to deprive any person life, property, or liberty without a due process of the law. A quick study of the US constitution would reveal that the unborn are protected from any form of crime that may interfere with their lives. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 was signed into law by George W. Bush to protect the unborn from murder or assault. The law treats the unborn – “child in utero” –as humans and prohibits persons from engaging in any deliberate killing or attempting to kill an unborn child. The law goes further to stipulate that if activities like stalking, bombing, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other federal crimes result in injury or demise of a mother and her unborn child, then the perpetrators of such activities are charged with two offenses.

The law explicitly provides that it is not applicable in cases of abortion in which the mother has consented to, any form of treatment, or acts of the mother whether legal or illegal that may result in the death of the fetus. However, a juxtaposition of the provision of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 reveals that even abortion is a crime if it is done without following the due process of the law. It is undeniable that not all abortions are consented to by mothers. Indeed, about 64% of the abortions done in the USA result from coercion. Such coercion leads to violence that often escalates to homicide –the primary cause of death among pregnant women — intensifying pressure to abort mostly come from employers, parents, husbands or partners, personal religious or academic guides or any other groups. From this point of view, it is clear that most abortions are carried out against the will of the expectant persons which is an outright infringement of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 (Mooney). In summary, the 1973 supreme court ruling was fallible and can no longer hold as binding precedent as far as legalizing abortion is concerned.

Away from the legal controversies surrounding abortion and its affiliated practices, by social standards is far much detrimental. It is a vice that obliterates the social fabric that holds societies together. The traditional oath ethically forbids abortion –the Hippocratic Oath –the oath that doctors swear before they start practicing medicine (‘Abortion – Pros & Cons – Procon.Org’). The old version of the code stipulates that a doctor should not give a woman a pessary to instigate abortion. Even the modern of the oath holds that a doctor must not play God in their practice. And talking of God, for Christians, abortion is treated as an iniquity or sin. Even though the bible does not directly forbid abortion, a more in-depth interpretation of its verses leads to a meaningful conclusion that it is a sin (Masci).

First, as used in the bible, brephos, is a Greek word which refers to both the born and unborn child. The holy scriptures in Jeremiah chapter one verse five say, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.” (Authorized King James Version) In this verse, God is telling Jeremiah that He knew him before he was conceived and before Jeremiah was born, God had already sanctified him. In the book of Exodus chapter twenty verse thirteen, it is clearly stated that people should kill one another. Christian revere the Bible as a holy book whose dogmas are unquestionable. It is therefore blasphemous and hypocritical for Christians, who are the majority in the USA, to legalize abortion which a complete violation of the biblical doctrines that condemn the killing of human beings, unborn inclusive. Even for other religions, abortion is prohibited. For instance, in Hindus holy book Kaushitaki Upanishad equates abortion to killing another person’s parent. The ancient Buddhists also condemns abortion because it is the deliberate destruction of life. In Islam, abortion is synonymous to haram meaning it forbidden (Brockopp). While these religions condemn abortion, they also their doctrines are flexible enough to allow it in cases where it is the only solace –minors who cannot deliver, the life of the mother is jeopardized by the pregnancy, the mother is mentally unstable, or any other dire situation. Notwithstanding one’s religion or faith, abortion is irreligious that should be avoided.

Currently, the US population is split into pro-life and pro-choice facets over the legitimacy of abortion. While the pro-life side claims that life begins after fertilization rendering abortion an immoral act that only inflicts pain and ultimately ends with the premature death of the fetus or both the mother and the fetus, the pro-choice contends that abortion is choice that women should make without hindrance from religious, legal, or any other authority. The claims of the pro-choice facet may make sense when viewed from a narrower perspective. However, a critical analysis of the allegations and abortion in its entirety would reveal how fallacious they are.

From basic biology, the human reproduction process is sexual. The fertilization process starts with sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. Sperm from a man fertilizes an ovum from a woman to form a zygote that develops into an embryo, then a fetus and the process continues. With this knowledge, one fact stands out. A man’s sperm is a necessity if a woman is to get pregnant either by artificial insemination or by sexual intercourse. Therefore, regardless of the composition of proponents (women and men) of abortion, their claims are partial. They overemphasize on a woman’s role in reproduction and consent in abortion and ignore the vital role that a man plays in the reproduction process. Besides, such claims do not take into consideration the welfare of the unborn baby. Pioneering anatomical and neurobiological studies proved that the spinal reflex –the first response to pain –is developed during the first trimester of the human gestation period (Bailey).

Consequently, a fetus can detect pain during that period. The pain caused by abortion’s mechanism to the mother and the child is usually severe and excruciating. By this dint, terminating an innocent life in the disguise of protecting another which might not be a danger is ethically wrong and despicable. All rights are universal and equally protected by the ethical standards and law. Besides, childbearing is a preordained responsibility of women. There are several ways of preventing unwanted pregnancy that include using contraceptives, abstinence, and other techniques. An unborn is not supposed to suffer because of a mistake made by the parents. Alternatively, there are a lot of people in the world who are not able to biologically reproduce. It is ironical that around 2.6 million people are seeking children to adopt while about 700,000 abortions are aborted every year. The number of babies given up for adoption in the USA has drastically dropped from 90,000 in 1971 to 18,329 children in 2014 (‘Abortion – Pros & Cons – Procon.Org’). Abortion denies several people a chance to rear children, and it should be abandoned.

Human life, which starts at conception, is precious and priceless. Therefore, the notion that the rights of an expectant woman surmount that of the child she is carrying is wrong, save for the circumstances where the pregnant woman is a minor who cannot deliver, mentally ill, or her health condition cannot allow her to carry the child (Cantens). Nonetheless, abortion on other grounds only creates a culture where the precious and priceless human life is dispensable. Legalization of abortion only echoes a message people can dispose of anyone or anything that is deemed inconveniencing to them. According to CDC’s abortion surveillance report, in 2015, about 638,169 legally conducted abortions, which translates to an abortion rate of 11.8 out of 1,000 people, were reported. The abortion ratio to live births was 188 to 1000. The majority of the abortionist were females in the age bracket of 15-44 years (‘Abortion – Pros & Cons – Procon.Org’). Guttmacher Institute found out that young African American women are more likely to abort than women from other ethnicities. About 23,720 black babies were aborted in New York City by 2015 while the number of live births was only 23,116. Accordingly, abortion disproportionately the population of African American babies.

Guttmacher Institute reported that about forty-five percent of women who do abortion every year had done at least one abortion in the previous years. These statistics suggest that the majority of women in the USA, use abortion as a form of contraception. Further studies indicate that since abortion was legalized in the USA, contraception rose by thirty percent while birth rates have reduced by six percent. Such practices may have adverse socioeconomic and political effects. From 2011, there has been a worldwide seismic shift in demographics. In the USA, it is projected by the year 2035, one out of five people will be sixty-five years and above –an indication of an aging population (‘The Aging Of America – Interactive Graphic – Nytimes.Com’). The aging population has profound implications not only for the policymakers but the entire society of the USA. The soaring aging population in the USA is attributed to myriads of factors. However, the declining birth rates in Europe and the USA have been described as “demographic time bomb” whose consequences will be catastrophic. First, aging populations are associated with low work output, massive retirements, health complication that spark huge expenditure on treatment and care, and many other problems.

Noteworthy, aging is a natural phenomenon that humans cannot control. However, by procreation, the aged, retired, or deceased in the labor market can be replaced. From this perspective, it is inferable that abortion –whose contribution in the declining birth rates is significant –is a formidable impediment as far as the replacement of deceased, retired, and aged in the labor market is concerned. Therefore, abortion is a significant threat to economic growth. In other words, abortion is a vice that eliminates potential contributors.

Aside from the burden that accompanies the aging population, the soaring rates of abortion translate to a substantial economic burden. It is estimated that about 24% (250,000 abortions) of the costs of abortion in the USA is subsidized by taxpayers, 6.6% (70,000) by federal taxpayers and about 17.4% (180,000) is paid by the state taxpayers (Conover). The cost of performing a first-trimester abortion procedure is approximately $397 while that of a second-trimester process is $854. The fractions abortions financed by either federal insurance policy like Medicaid is 15.6% and about 7.3% is funded by non-Medicaid insurance. The abortionist’s foot about 69% of abortions bills. Regardless of the organization or the person who foots abortion bills, the most obvious truth is abortion is very expensive.

Despite the dissenting views that abortion does not lead to health complication, recent studies have compellingly linked abortion to depression. Young women who prematurely terminate their pregnancy are more predisposed to high levels of anxiety and depression. They may be depressed for more than five years following the termination of their pregnancy. It is also estimated that 173,000 of American women are likely to commit suicide after aborting. Additionally, the suicide rates among abortionist stand at 34.7 out of 1,000. It is essential to note that abortion affects not only women but also their male spouses or partners. About 51.6% of men whose partners abort are regretful, 45.2 % are engulfed with extreme sadness, and 25.8% become depressed. All these conditions can quickly escalate anxiety disorders, mental disorders, or behavioral disorders.

Furthermore, abortion is a risk factor that predisposes women to future medical complications during pregnancy. Epidemiological research has revealed that the previous history of induced abortion instigates around 15% of miscarriages that happen during the first trimester of gestation. Also, abortion through vacuum aspiration is a risk factor for miscarriage in the first trimester in the proceeding pregnancies (‘Abortion – Pros & Cons – Procon.Org’). Cancer is a chronic lifestyle disease that is responsible for escalated morbidity and mortality rates. Abortion is highly linked to breast cancer. Even with advanced technology which ensures painless abortion, it is a significant health concern which may bring unprecedented, overarching, and pervasive health complication to the abortionist.

Conclusively, abortion is a vice and a crime against humanity that should not be practiced in the USA, a country that boasts of civilization. It brings more harm than good not only to the abortionist but to the entire nation. It has far-reaching consequences that are experienced in all dimensions of society. Legally, it indirectly contravenes the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 which protects that rights unborn, it a complete violation of the religious doctrines, ethical standards, and others may societal values. Moreover, the socioeconomic burden that accompanies it is quite massive for the taxpayers to bear. It also affects the economy adversely as it impedes that replacement of retired, deceased, and the aged workers in the job market. Health-wise, it is a risk factor that disposes people to depression that can escalate to mental, behavioral, and other forms of disorders which may also lead to suicide. It also predisposes women to breast cancer. Therefore, if there is a compelling reason for abortion, women should refrain from it. Imperatively, the US government should reconsider that Roe v. Wade and initiate amendment in the constitution that prohibits abortion on grounds other than the exceptions.