Abortion as a current public policy issue/controversy in the news today
Controversies arise because of different opinions of people due to individual uniqueness in beliefs, logical reasoning, religious, political, and social economic backgrounds that often lead to heated and argumentative discussions. While there are numerous public policy issues, the paper tables the scope, cost, policies, solutions, stakeholders, and institutions that address abortion in the United States of America as an issue aired in the news nowadays.
Thousands of issues seem right in the eyes of majority, but are appealing to the minority or persons benefiting from them (Lejano, & Leong, 2012, p. 796). The argumentative topic on abortion is a concern for public as depicted by the participation of several people in today’s news all over the world.
However, in looking at the fundamental issues related to abortion, education, legal and activism, sex and sexism, drug and substance abuse, and health care reform cannot be overemphasized considering the fact that abortion is a process and not an accident.
The question over whether or not the government should legalize abortion has hit the recent news with Americans having divided opinions. The United States’ abortion procedures ignited public attention in 2010 and 2011 (Campbell, 2011, p.963: Gerwin, 2012, p. 632). Opponents stress that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion inflicts excruciation in the unborn child.
Proponents claim that failure to legalize abortion makes pregnant women opt to risky abortion methods and that governmental or religious authority should not limit their abortion rights (Bisignano, 2009, p. 745). Consequently, the issue has seen the emergence of social and political activists who have polarized the debate on abortion in order to gain popularity within the public.
In my view, it does not matter the sides where one belongs to as long as the arguments can withstand the test of time, are in line with the fundamental freedoms and rights of the people, and are in accordance with societal moral standards and principles.
Both the proponents and opponents acknowledge that abortion is an issue of life and death, which is accomplished out of one’s personal initiatives. Just like death, abortion does not discriminate based on the doer of the act whether a well-informed or uneducated mother, poor or rich mother, young or old mother, under or not under the influence of drug.
The outcomes and objectives are related (Gerwin, 2012, p. 634). However, any attempt to minimize the long lasting abortion debate should aim at changing people’s attitude towards sex, drug, and substance abuse that enhance early or unplanned pregnancies among women. Besides, prevention is better than cure. With endless arguments on abortion, adequate education and awareness as well as proper health care reforms on abortion are inevitable.
Description and analysis of the scope of abortion
Throughout history, abortion methods have often been unsafe since they can result in serious injuries and sometimes death to the women. The fundamental argument for allowing abortion has been to abolish unsafe abortion methods done in societies where abortion was illegal and without the support of specialists. The variation in arguments on issues of abortion is indeed a public concern (Campbell, 2011, p.967).
Both opponents and proponents to some extent accept that abortion can act as a last resort under unavoidable circumstances such as when a woman’s life is at risk and or in case of rape or incest (Pollman, 2012, p. 185). The community argues that surgical and medical abortions are the most common types of abortion procedures used by women while therapeutic, elective, spontaneous, and induced abortions are rarely used (Lejano, & Leong, 2012, p. 807).
However, death of the infant or mother or both may occur whether or not a specialist helps in the process. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than eighty percent of the US counties provide abortion services where an estimated five times black women as white women do abortion per day (Uscinski, 2009, p. 798).
The legislative enactment and amendment on abortion is another fundamental public concern. The amendment ensures that federal ban on public funding for abortion forms a part of the States’ constitution in order to reduce the scope of the State privacy law. In addition, the national abortion reporting laws and policies in America fail to inform and guide on issues related to public policy in a timely manner (Gerwin, 2012, p. 642).
The US started criminalizing abortion since 1821. Physicians mainly influenced the move fearing its safety. By 1965, the entire US had outlawed abortion. However, according to World Health Organization Report released in 2006, each year, abortion causes several maternal deaths in regions where it is not legal (Uscinski, 2009, p. 998).
In this case, people discuss issues of life and death and problems arising from the legalization and illegalization of abortion (Campbell, 2011, p.972). Compliance with abortion reporting laws has also proven difficult. There is the inability of ascertaining the inputs of various medical conditions to maternal deaths and giving complete reports on abortion (Pollman, 2012, p. 199).
Lack of reliable measurements makes calculation of the relative safety and danger of induced abortion and delivery not viable. The challenge has spackled a public debate. Moreover, public health agencies are unable to enforce the existing reporting laws making it problematic in understanding the real issues about abortion.
The stakeholders and affected constituencies
Issues of abortion do not have specific stakeholders because they cut across all humanity. However, the humanity can be categorized into primary, secondary, and key stakeholders. Beneficiaries are those who aim at gaining either money or service from the abortion process. They include individuals who are experiencing the risk for a particular problem or abortionists and those who help in carrying out the process: the physicians (Gerwin, 2012, p. 650).
Secondary stakeholders comprise those directly involved with beneficiaries such as parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends, teachers, counselors. Secondary stakeholders also involve people whose jobs or lives can be influenced by the abortion process especially if they do or fail to report the act of abortion (Lejano, & Leong, 2012, p. 811).
They comprise community members, employers, contractors, proprietors, police, and other law enforcement agencies. Key stakeholders include those with an interest in the abortion outcome and those who can influence decisions government officials and policy makers (Uscinski, 2009, p. 805).
Government officials and policy makers such as state or federal agencies, governors, local board members, and legislators have the responsibility of devising, passing, and enforcing laws and regulations, which may or may not fulfill the set goals (Uscinski, 2009, p. 812). In deed, if the governments allowed women to abort unnecessarily, some of the world’s great leaders and scientists would not have been born.
If death occurs, the families and communities in which it occurs are affected psychologically, socially, economically, and politically (Campbell, 2011, p.966). Women, their spouses, and the unborn are the direct bearers of the consequences of abortion. According to Breast Cancer Prevention Institute (BCPI) and the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) in 2006, abortion increases the likelihood of women developing breast cancer and future miscarriages (Pollman, 2012, p. 206).
Relevant political institutions to the policy discussion about Abortion
Even though physicians do not entertain social, cultural, and religious issues in analyzing the relationship between abortion politics and policies, abortion has proved to be a divisive political issue in the United States since the reign of Roe Wade (Pollman, 2012, p. 183). Political institutions are central in the issue.
Consequently, through federalism, judicial review, and a private health care system, the Americans consider abortion simply as an individual right rather than a medical requirement (Uscinski, 2009, p. 814). The nature and structure of the US political parties give abortion proponents and opponents the opportunity to initiate and accommodate abortion issue in their political agenda.
Legal complexity, political factors, structures, and values are responsible for evolution of abortion policy. Political institutions and ideologies “…affect the nature and timing of policy decisions on abortion thus contributing distinctively to policy differences across nations” (Bejesky, 2012, p. 967). The controversy surrounding the topic of abortion sparkled in the US Congress health care debate in 2010 with the opponents and proponents in the House of Representatives and the Senate trading accusations.
Unlike the proponents who want equal treatment of all in the health care services, opponents of abortion did not want beneficiaries of insurance subsidies to receive Federal funding for any abortion (Gerwin, 2012, p. 645). The health care reform bill sailed through the House of Representatives that followed by the signing of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and an executive order by President Barack Obama to ensure that federal funds are not used for abortion services (Pollman, 2012, p. 218).
President Ronald Reagan declared the Mexico City Policy during Mexico Conference that limits all nongovernmental groups sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from enhancing abortion services (Uscinski, 2009, p. 803).
While in 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum repealing the Mexico City Policy stating that it weakens efforts of promoting safe and effective voluntary family planning programs. The observable of economic challenges and political interests indicate forces influencing fertility-related practices, values, and policies in the United States
Policies proposed to address Abortion
Abortion policies in the United States involve criminalization of abortion in the states and enactment of abortion laws by the federal government. Despite state public debate on abortion in 2011, Roe Wade declared federal actions that the majority of the state anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional (Gerwin, 2012, p. 647).
The declaration forced proponents to push for federal policies that would restrict abortion. Congress passed Hyde Amendment bill for the Department of Health and Human Services limiting federal funding for abortion, which was an amendment that had been under constant review since its inception (Pollman, 2012, p. 221).
Moreover, abortion policies aim at maintaining morality, economic development, and national security. Congressional attacks on reproductive rights intensified opponents of choice and pro-choice to introduce abortion policies that promote their political agendas (Pollman, 2012, p. 195). The Health Care Reform adopted by both houses has imposed abortion restrictions on women by barring them from insurance coverage and accessing abortion services.
Judicial nominations defend reproductive health care for the future generations (Campbell, 2011, p.970). Notwithstanding, courts are paramount in asserting all human rights including ensuring access, threats to abortion rights, and reproductive choice in the US.
Therefore, Prevention First amendments and Rights for a Fetus Act aims at denying millions of women their abortion coverage further weakening their access to abortion care (Deirdre, 2011, p.196). Prevention First Act aims at increasing access to preventive health care services and to initiate programs, which reduce unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) provides that only parents should be involved in helping a minor woman. However, any trusted person within or without the family can be federally prosecuted for helping a woman who may be a victim of family abuse, rape, or incest. NAF emphasizes that state abortion legislations impact directly on women’s health across the country (Gerwin, 2012, p. 636).
It guarantees protection of abortion providers and abortionists. NAF public policy advocates for fair and independent judiciary that guarantees women’s right to safe and legal abortion. According to the Supreme Court ruling, federal abortion ban interferes with physicians’ ability to make proper medical decisions (Pollman, 2012, p. 212).
Solution to Abortion and the Factors behind the Solution
A part from suitable education that changes and creates awareness on sex, drugs, and abortions, congress should adequately finance Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in order to gather data for a national abortion report to upgrade surveillance (Deirdre, 2011, p.193). This will ensure effective public policy implementation on abortion issues as stipulated in the report.
In addition, governments should encourage every state to adopt the goal of issuing cumulative statistical data on abortion on a timely basis including monthly and annual reports (Uscinski, 2009, p. 801). Publication of the reports greatly helps policymakers, private sector actors, and other stakeholders in devising, testing, and evaluating awareness, education, and public health strategies in order to make abortion less frequent and ultimately rare (Pollman, 2012, p. 203).
The federal government should urge all states to revise their statutes to improve standards of care in the growing role of medical abortions across the nation. Laws should clearly stipulate the roles of pharmacists, non-physicians, nurses, and midwives who purport to perform abortions as well as any institution that employs a physician from within or outside the state in the country who prescribes drugs for abortion (Campbell, 2011, p.973).
Moreover, abortions may or may not involve minor and major operations. Therefore, parental notice legislations deserve more attention in order for them to receive timely information in case of abortion (Pollman, 2012, p. 234). Congress should reinforce abortion-reporting laws with the help of the public and or impose realistic financial disincentives on the states that deliberately fail to submit reports.
Cost of Abortion to the Americans: How much would it cost to address the issue? If the costs are unknown, why are they unknown?
Ideally, the strength and inconsistency of abortion legislatives in the US make the cost of addressing very unpredictable. However, lack of sufficient comparative data on abortion policy execution and law implementation have put a lot of emphasis on laws and legislation as well as judicial decisions whose implementation requires thousands of the US dollars (Gerwin, 2012, p. 639).
The executive has increased the price of competent abortion services, rates of maternal morbidity, mortality, and medical techniques, and knowledge among care providers and consumers leading to higher costs of public policy on abortion in the US.
There is legislation that measures and determines the extent of psychological damage in an individual resulting from abortion. The psychological disturbance has diverse effects on humans especially when no immediate attention is given. The study published by the Southern Medical Journal in 1998 and 2002 identifies that more than one hundred and fifty percent of women who aborted are more likely to commit suicide in relation to those who carry the pregnancy to the term.
In addition, more than fifty percent of men whose partners have abortions reported regret, sadness, and depression (Uscinski, 2009, p. 796). Notwithstanding, those who steer abortion are “more interested in making profits instead of assisting their clients” (Deirdre, 2011, p.190). Irrespective of the method, any abortion costs about between three hundred and fifty to one thousand dollars.
A study in 2009 indicated that, while abortion industry makes over eight hundred million dollars annually, the country uses nearly equal amounts towards abortion including public policy issues. In my view, instead of a women wanting to or aborting, they should give their unwanted babies to persons who cannot biologically conceive in order to save the country from spending such a huge amount of money on abortion-related issues.
Is the public policy issue one faced by both the federal government and state governments?
Indeed, many problems that befall different communities in the United States of America can not only be solved by the State or Federal governments but also through initiatives and actions taken in the private sphere (Gerwin, 2012, p. 646).
As the government aims to adopt laws and regulations to address public policy problems, individuals and families with or without the involvement of civil societies such as socio-economic and political associations establish programs towards obtaining a lasting solution to the problem (Campbell, 2011, p.965: Reynolds, 2011, p. 973).
However, policymaking process can prove very challenging in terms of who will benefit and bear any risk resulting from them. Consequently, the stakeholders repeatedly reassess, re-examine, and revise the undertakings thus making the process lack a clear starting or end.
In addition, the process of making public policies involves the problem, players, and the policy. It takes place following rational model stages. Agenda setting is the first step in which agencies and government officials discuss the proposed problem (Deirdre, 2011, p.187). The option formulation step precedes the implementation stage, and involves laying alternative solutions and final decisions regarding the best policies (Pollman, 2012, p. 189).
During implementation, the private sector, public sector, and other government organs can easily interpret policies to check for several common challenges such as personal interests, political affiliations, and personalities that influence the players through the entire process.
Conclusion
The interest of the public is to understand and be involved in formulating abortion policies that will recognize and guide women and girls doing abortion, at any stage of the child development, in the presence or absence of physicians (Campbell, 2011, p.962). In addition, the existence of a strong public curiosity about making abortion a rare event in spite of its legal status in the nation cannot be overruled.
Therefore, the only suitable way to gather the right information about abortion and to protect abortionists’ privacy and individual health is to examine and understand the scope and cost of and the policies, solutions, stakeholders, and institutions that address abortion in the United States of America as it is in the news today.
Reference List
Bejesky, R. (2012). Public diplomacy or propaganda? Targeted messages and tardy corrections to unverified reporting. Capital University Law Review, 40(1), 967.
Bisignano, J. (2009). Current issues in public policy: ‘Whistleblowing’ and the intentional distortion of news. Journal of Law & Public Policy, 6(1), 745.
Campbell, A. (2011). Policy Feedbacks and the Impact of Policy Designs on Public Opinion. Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law, 36(6), 961-973.
Deirdre, K. (2011). The Public Policy Pedagogy of Corporate and Alternative News Media. Studies in Philosophy & Education, 30(2), 185-198.
Gerwin, L. (2012). The Challenge of Providing the Public with Actionable Information during a Pandemic. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 40(3), 630-654.
Lejano, R., & Leong, C. (2012). A Hermeneutic Approach to Explaining and Understanding Public Controversies. Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, 22(4), 793-814.
Pollman, E. (2012). Information issues on Wall Street 2.0. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 161(1), 179-241.
Reynolds, R. (2011). Google news and public policy’s influence on fair use in online infringement controversies. Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development, 25(1), 973.
Uscinski, J. (2009). When Does the Public’s Issue Agenda Affect the Media’s Issue Agenda (and Vice-Versa)? Developing a Framework for Media-Public Influence. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited, 4(1), 796-815.