Background
Since the turn of the 19th century, humanity has turned upside down. Everything that we do on earth has become questionable: the source of life; how humanity came to be in existence; our destination; and what we ought to do while on earth have become vital everyday questions. One of the worst effects of this new school of thought is its influence on our values and which have undergone a gradual corrosion over the ages.
Among the arguments that have came to the fore focuses on a woman’s right to procure an abortion. An abortion is a process in which an embryo or fetus is prevented from developing fully through physical or artificial methods. By all dimensions, this amounts to murder. How can a society permit murder? Besides, abortion as a process is aberrant and poses a risk to the lives of the women involved. Either way, abortion should be made illegal and those partaking in this act should be punished heavily.
Religious Position
One of the oldest cases against abortion stems from the religious point of view. The sixth of the Ten Commandments clearly forbids us from harming others or ourselves. The biblical position on abortion is not the only argument that prohibits this habit: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and most of the other world religions have a similar position.
For example, Hinduism teaches that the soul enters the fetus during conception and abortion should be banned except in situations of rape or incest, Buddhism take a similar position and equates abortion to murder, and Islam illegalizes abortion except in a state in which the woman’s life is in danger. Therefore, it is quite evident that proponents of abortion act against their religious beliefs as they seek to alter one of the most essential values of our society.
Side Effects
Abortion is an intricate procedure and poses a risk to the woman’s life, if not immediate, then it may end a woman’s chances of having children in the future, and in fatal cases, can lead to death. Side effects include uterine hemorrhage, endometriosis, pelvic infections, and ectopic pregnancy. The chances of damaging the cervix are also high due to the types of instruments normally use for the process.
Breast Cancer
A woman’s first pregnancy permanently changes the development of her breasts as estrogen and other hormones are released by the body mechanism. Cells previously inactive grow out into a network of ducts and gland cells, once this transition is complete, no major changes come about for the rest of her life.
This phase of cell development makes them to be less stable and have a high chance of becoming cancerous, when this process completes with no interruption, the probability of developing breast cancer is diminished and the gland cells mature and become stable.
However, in the case of an abortion during the early phase, and almost all abortions are procured in this stage, she terminates the development of these cells during the unstable phase, enhancing the chances of developing breast cancer. This increases when the woman undergoes subsequent abortions.
In my opinion, abortion lowers the public health of the women involved, and is a hazardous process. Proponents, arguing on economical terms, say that abortion alleviates the women of economic hardships after delivery. However, this points to the everyday struggles and neglect of those women and which have led us to believe that having a child is a burden.
Is this what we have come to? Women now resort to abortion to find solutions to their problems, should this be the case? Life now comes with a price and is no longer sacred, it becomes a disposable when conditions become unbearable. It is my belief that abortion cannot be allowed on economic grounds, neither should any reason be.
It is a shame that the modern society has abetted abortion on flimsy grounds, such as birth control, and that human life is no longer important. What does one conclude of a society that murders its own in the name of modernity?
Abortion has numerous ominous effects and depicts how the core moral values of our society are crumbling. It is a moral offense to the unborn, to humanity in general and should therefore be criminalized.