Abortion

An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy before the fetus is viable, or capable of living outside the womb. An abortion may be spontaneous or induced. The latter is an act with ethical and legal ramifications.Spontaneous abortion occurs when the embryo fails to develop, when there is complete or incomplete expulsion of the products of conception - the embryo or fetus and placenta - or when the fetus dies prior to 20 weeks from the woman's last menstrual period (LMP). Induced abortion is a procedure intended to terminate a suspected or known pregnancy and to produce a non-viable fetus at any age. Although discouraged by most religions, induced abortion has been practised in every culture since ancient times.

During the 19th century several countries passed laws prohibiting abortion to protect women from the dangerous methods then in use. Today about half of the world's people live in countries where abortion is available on request and another fourth live in areas where abortion is permitted to protect the woman's health. The most restrictive policies tend to be found in fundamentalist Islamic countries and countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In the USA legal induced abortion was generally unavailable until 1970 when a few states legalised their abortion laws. Early in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court declared most restrictive abortion laws unconstitutional because they violated the woman's right of privacy.

Opponents of legalised induced abortion believe that human life begins at conception and that abortion is the intentional killing of a human being and is thus morally wrong. Members of the Right to Life movement have lobbied for a constitutional amendment on the rights of the unborn child. The counterpart to this position is the "pro-choice" stance. Its proponents generally believe that human life begins when the fetus can survive outside the womb and that before then - since the fetus is not a separate human - it is morally acceptable to terminate the pregnancy. They argue that legal abortion is safer than illegal abortion and relieves the psychological and social problems associated with bearing an unwanted child.

The Greek Orthodox Church recognises and celebrates the beginning of life in the womb and considers induced abortion a crime since God gave life and only He can take it back. However, God also gave us free will and I believe that it's a woman's undeniable right to decide whether or not she will give birth to an unwanted child.

Comments

[Haruko]

I don't agree with you Anastasia. A woman must to respect her body, even more when she is pregnant and she has no right to kill a living creature. The fetus is living, is a life even if it is not seperate from womb. A woman to be complete must get married and have children. For me there are no unwanted children.

[stefanie-cy.blogspot.com]

When I was 19 I got pregnant and my first reaction was an abortion. I was very young, still a student with great dreams for my future career and financially depending on my parents. CH agreed with me for the abortion. At the hospital, the doctor advised me to give it a second thought, go home and return the following day if I still wanted the abortion. I had thought about it all night and I decided not to go back to the hospital. When 7 months later I held my baby son in my arms I felt so very thankful to that doctor who had advised me to think about it. So I am against induced abortion. Maternity is a miracle.

[Lucy]

Stefanie is right. Maternity is a miracle and abortion is a crime.In case the baby is still unwanted after it's born,it can be given for adoption. There are many childless couples who would be so willing to offer that baby love and affection

[Anastasia]

Haruko, I believe that a woman nowadays can excel both in her career and in motherhood. However, if a woman does not wish to give birth to a child, I strongly believe that she shouldn't do so.

[Anastasia]

Stefania mou, you know how much I admire you for going against all odds and for achieving so much in your life. What I am saying, is that abortion should be a choice. The doctor you mention only asked you to think about it. And that's what all doctors should do. But the final choice should be the woman's choice.

[Anastasia]

Lucy, I'm against the view that a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy should be forced to go through the moral and psychological stress for 9 months! Women have the right to choose what they really want in their lives!If a woman doesn't want a baby, she has a right to decide whether to keep it or not.

[Andreas]

An abortion can result in many medical complications later in life : the risk of ectropic pregnancies doubles and a chance of a miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease also increases.

[Jeff]

Though women have a hard time choosing abortion as an option for unwanted pregnancies, they have been making that choice since a long time.
Ultimately she is the one who would be going through the actual "Labor" of continuing pregnancy, delivering a baby, bringing it up, parenting it well, in addition to other obligations she has to do in her daily life. To get it done with little or no help from the partner and families needs a well-balanced body and mind.
There is nothing called pro-choice and pro life. Both ideologies meet at one common point i.e. Pro-Life - Life of the baby and Life of the mother. Life of the baby ultimately depends on mother’s health and its best to allow the mother to choose for her when she wants a baby.
While we argue about the mental well being of a woman, how do others get to decide What would be more traumatic to the woman, abortion or childbirth and the unending list of duties waiting to be accomplished.
An attempt to restrict the abortions would rise not only the percentage of illegal and unsafe abortions but also the expenses of the procedure. A new law would be needed to tackle the illegal abortions and further legal hassles would have no ends.

[Anastasia]

Right Jeff. Women must realise that they have a choice and as far as abortion is concerned, whatever this choice is it must be respected! And those of them who decide to have an abortion after all, also have rhe right to have this abortion legally and safely!

[Constantinos]

Despite the risks and various moral issues, I believe that a woman should be the one to decide whether she wants to go through pregnancy and childbirth or not. And as Jeff says sometimes childbirth can be more traumatic for a woman than abortion which might eventually come as a relief.

[sophia-a-sophia.blogspot.com]

If a woman kills her newborn baby because she doesnt want it or for any other reason, she will be accused for infanticide and will spend the rest of her life in the prison. Life begins from the moment a woman conceives, so abortion is a crime of infanticide.

[Alexia M]

I am for abortion if a woman's health is in danger or if the genetic examination shows that there is something wrong with the baby. In this case I don't think is right to take risks with a woman's health or give birth to a child who will suffer for the rest of his life.

[Laura]

Abortion and euthanasia have become pre-eminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself - the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others.

[Anastasia]

Thanks for the info, Andreas. I appreciate that greatly.

[Anastasia]

I couldn't agree more. A woman has the right to decide about her life and the life she carries in her womb - it's part of her.

[Anastasia]

Definitely, Alexia. I don't think there's a doctor who wouldn't recommend an abortion if the woman's life was at risk.

[Anastasia]

Laura, I believe in free will and the individual's right to choose - regardless of whether this choice eventually proves to be good or bad.

[Anastasia]

A fetus is not a baby, Sophia. And I am for reducing the time for legalised abortions - 20 instead of 24 weeks. Yet, what matters most is the woman's mental health as well. Don't you think she has every right to decide about her future life? Why should society force a woman to go through an unwanted pregnancy?

[christina-1977.livejournal.com]

I had an abortion 3 years ago. Before you doom abortion and consider it a crime, just think for a while how a woman feels when she isn't prepared psychologiacally to go through pregnancy. I felt awful. I did not want that child and I did not want to go through pregnancy. No one could make me change my mind and I don't regret my decision.

[Anastasia]

Christina, this is what abortion is all about to my mind : let a woman make her own decisions about her future life. And let us all respect these decisions!

[Andy Green]

Very well said Anastasia, however i must disagree with your argument. God gave us free will, not to take life, but to save and cherish it. you see our will is truly free when it is at union with the eternal will, God's. if we celebrate that life begins in the womb and God told us to cherish life, then there is no other option, if we are truly free than to save it.

[Anastasia]

Andy, I believe that all human beings are responsible for their lives and their choices. To me God gave us free will unconditionally. If a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy for her own good reasons, she must be free to do so.

[Andy Green]

Indeed, God allows us to choose what we want, however, we cannot choose the consequences of what we do. in this case, terminating the person inside. additionally, if it is a person inside instead of a fetus, it has curtain rights in the eyes of God. rights that the mother is to protect instead of destroy.

[Anastasia]

I agree that it's a crime to kill a foetus as this equals premedidated murder. But getting rid of an embryo should be any woman's free choice rather than give birth to an unwanted child who is very likely to suffer and be deprived of love.