The subject of abortion and birth control was a delicate theme for ages, it was a source for debates for determining the validity of the mentioned topics. The difference in the religious and cultural background for the debaters through the history made the outcome of this debate, taking in consideration the technological progress in the modern world interesting to examine. This article mainly focuses on some of the questions surrounding the abortion and the birth control such as: Is abortion moral; Are there benefits for legalizing abortions; the contraceptive in its various forms as a birth control; Sexual education. When using different sources it is not necessarily that the article supports and agrees with their statements, as the goal of the article to give an idea of the general points of view and to discuss them.
The morality of the abortion was and still is a sensitive issue in the world today as the world is divided into separate groups of opposing parties. In the article “Is there Life After Roe Wade?” (Mahowald, 1989), the author talks about the morality and legality of the abortion and what was changed since the case of Roe V.Wade.
The author neither takes the side of the supporters of the legality of abortions nor their antagonists in their debates. In his article the role of church is not mentioned as the religious point of view for morality.
The position to abortion though it is in general would be a matter of eternal accusation of immorality by some people and justification by the other. The procedure of the abortion could not be taken as an absolute definition which not relevant to other issues.
Such as issues as the health conditions of the pregnant woman, the circumstances that surround her pregnancy, the social conditions for the newborn baby, and the age of the mother. In addition it should be taken in consideration that most of the debates go through the differences between abortion as a termination of the unwanted pregnancy and the abortion as a termination of fetus.
These debates will not clear the subject of the abortion and its moral or immoral value. The circumstances surrounding the abortions are sometimes more immoral than the abortion itself. Showing practical solutions that could make the moral decisions about pregnancy easier but will not totally make it acceptable definitely show that the issue would still have its share of controversy in the future. (Mahowald, 1989).
In spite of the delicate matter of the abortions and the battle that surround them for the legal and the moral side of this case, there are some evident benefits of making abortions legal in some countries. In countries in which abortion has been legalized , there are a decrease in the quantity of incompetent abortions that involves risking the life of the women.
In countries where abortions has become available the women of certain categories such as the older women or the women with diseases has the right to stop the unwanted risky pregnancy, and as a result the women who decide to take responsibility of giving birth are healthier and more able to the cope with the difficulties of childbirth. As a result the overall mortality of women increases in the countries where legal abortions take place. The other benefit is the rising welfare of the society as a result of the decreasing number of unwanted children. Children who most likely to be neglected, abused and rejected from their families and as a result get a mental or neurotic illness who most likely if not healed may commit a crime in the future.
“Medical abortions on request and good quality care in this area are a tremendous advance not only toward individual health and the dignity of women, but also toward a more loving, caring, and more responsible society, a society where cooperation rather than violence will prevail”. (Morgentaler, 1996).
The general point of view in decreasing the number of abortions is the use of contraceptives as a birth control.
It is evident that the countries that there a connection between the wide availability of the contraceptives and the abortion rates.
“It’s no accident that the world’s lowest abortion rates are found in Belgium and the Netherlands, where contraception is widely available, or that the highest rates are in Cuba and Vietnam, where access is limited “.(“Abortion Prevention,” 2007, p. 5).The second vital issue in birth control is the use of education and the family planning as a strategy for birth control.
The involvement of the government role in the social programs of reducing unwanted abortions is vital. These programs should focus on teaching the teens the family values along with providing them with the sexual education about contraception. The focus only on the delay of initiation of sex among teens by focusing on abstinence programs is a good way but it proved effective when in addition to proper sexual education. The birth control has been a subject of discussions in the US, but it focused on abstinence-only programs that encourage sexual abstinence and don’t refer to contraceptive methods except to indicate their relative failure rates, where reports of National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy that educational programs that focuses both on the contraceptives and the abstinence were positively more effective.
The value of sex education in a modern world countries rises along with the serious problems that teenage pregnancy represents. If the unwanted pregnancy for an adult grownup women that thinks of solving this problem is an issue of legality and morality she is capable of taking responsibility of. The children under eighteen of age are not adults, so in terms of legal and financial issues still the responsibility of their parents and the community in general. The teenagers despite of their sense of rejection in the years of puberty share values of life with their parents. According to that the responsibility of educating the kids about the risks that can face them fully lies on the shoulder of their parents and the government. “Within a year, a sexually active teenage girl who does not use contraception has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant.” (Rosoff, 1996). The majority of teenagers when faced with the unwanted pregnancy usually have an abortion or choose to raise the baby.Much of the outcome depends on education and financial status of the family she lives in. The dilemma of the abortions was discussed, but the pregnancy as fact that can end in the teen girl raising her child alone also a factor that need consideration. The role of the society in protecting the teenagers the full and practical knowledge they need to cope with, as the intensity of the sex in the media along with the attraction to opposite sex that becomes maximal in the years of puberty, can put a lot of pressure the youngsters need to know how to deal with. A better sex education and wide access to contraceptive are first steps in teaching the teenagers how to better cope with their future responsibilities.
The topic of abortions and birth control would not end no matter how many discussions take place or how many groups of supporters or haters occur. The issue of morality can only be limited by legality which might be different from country to country within its jurisdiction. The issue of morality will stay individual and will represent a different point of view, as for every person there are going to be a new opinion that justifies a situation that another opinion rejects. Talking about benefits or harms of legalizing abortions is not as useful as providing better sexual education for teenagers and better birth control conditions for grownups.
In any case this topic with its relevant sensitivity is the subject of debates that is not going to stop unless it is completely clear whether the termination of unwanted pregnancy is a necessity or not. If it is a necessity what are the conditions that distinguish between whether It is an issue of privacy or a woman health risk , whether it is irresponsibility or it is a solution. One thing for sure is that it will not be a pleasant matter to neither to discuss nor to go through.
Works cited
Mahowald, M. B. (1989). Is There Life after Roe V. Wade?. The Hastings Center Report, 19(4), 22+.
Morgentaler, H. (1996). The Moral Case for Abortion. Free Inquiry, 16, 17+.
Abortion Prevention. (2007). The Christian Century, 124, 5.
Rosoff, J. I. (1996). Helping Teenagers Avoid Negative Consequences of Sexual Activity. USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), 124, 33+.