The right of women to do abortions is a recurring theme for debates all around the globe. In many countries, people still want to prohibit abortions completely. Historically, abortions were not available for the majority of population out of religious and moral reasons. Abortions started to become increasingly available in the middle of the XX century. The women’s movement changed the relationships in a family. Abortion was considered less of a crime by the society. Doctors changed their views on the procedure and started to provide qualified help in the matter.
The appearance of new forms of contraception revolutionized the nature of sexual relations. People were allowed to decide for themselves whether they wanted to have children. Although abortions are generally viewed negatively in the modern society, people should consider every case individually because sometimes pregnancy and birth of a child might lead to a serious harm for a woman. This will be a proposal since it advocates a plan of action that will benefit women who cannot carry a child.
Logos: Medical institutions of the USA had to reconsider their approach to abortions in the 1970s. According to Imber (2017), “epidemiological studies of the morbidity and mortality associated with legalized induced abortion all but replaced the previous sixty years of medical discussion about how the practice might be discouraged” (p. 54). Multiple researches in many countries around the globe presented evidence that abortions were not necessarily harmful for women. Doctors listed several medical justifications for abortions. Imber (2017) claims that “life-threatening harm to the physical or mental health of the mother, grave physical or mental defect in the unborn, and pregnancy as a result of rape, incest, or other felonious intercourse” were considered as justifying reasons for an abortion (p. 60).
Pathos: Nowadays, abortions are allowed in the U.S., but in some states, they are still viewed as a failure in the family and a shame for mothers. According to Bennett (2014), many women in Ontario cannot access abortion services because of “barriers based on socio-economic status, barriers related to service wait times and a shortage of service providers, and the barrier to access created by anti-abortion campaign and stigma” (para. 2).
Ethos: Opinions of women to abortions are also negative in their majority. Nevertheless, female patients in hospitals understand the necessity of abortions in certain cases. According to Çakmak et al. (2014), “about the prohibition of abortion, 82.4% of women said that “it may be performed under necessary conditions”, 9.6% “it should be completely forbidden”, and 8% stated that “it should never be forbidden” (p. 170). Therefore, the prohibition of abortions can be potentially harmful to the health of women, and they understand it. Many of the female patients in hospitals tell that abortions are prohibited by their religions and are morally wrong. This information presents evidence to the fact that modern society is not ready to accept abortions as a common event in the life of families.
The case is that people should not prohibit abortion but assess the necessity of it in every case individually. The warrant the audience should agree with is that modern medical procedures allow for safe operations, and doctors provide evidence for the necessity of abortions in some cases. The above warrant is true for all women because they have rights to choose between the operation and birth. Nevertheless, the society is not ready to accept abortion as a common event in the life of a family. In some states, abortions are still considered a failure and a shame for women. In the meantime, the statistics show that female patients in hospitals agree that an abortion can be necessary in some cases. Anecdotal fallacies will be main ones to avoid. The examples and statistics present individual cases. Nevertheless, further investigations and additional facts can prove that people should not prohibit abortions.
References
Bennett, E. (2014). Barriers to Access to Abortion Services in Ontario. Web.
Çakmak, B., Metin, F. Z., Özsoy, A. Z., Çıtıl, R., Önder, Y., & Doğru, H. Y. (2014). Opinion of women about elective abortion. Journal of Turkish Society of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 11(3), 170-175.
Imber, J. B. (2017). Abortion and the private practice of medicine. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.