PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ABORTION

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Philosophy

Document 1

The paper also focuses on the social and health effects that both pro-life and pro-choice can have on women. There is evidence which supports and opposes the two arguments. KEY WORDS: PTSD, cortex, spinal reflex. Psychological Implications of Abortion Abortion is the process that ends the pregnancy by removing the fetus or embryo from the uterus before birth. There has been controversial debates on whether women should obtain abortion or not. They claim that the unborn child is not able to feel pain and therefore it should not be treated as human beings because they do not have any rights that need to be protected 4. Their argument is backed up by a scientific research that states that it is necessary to have the cortex to feel pain.

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The research further indicates that the cortex starts to develop as from the 26th week after pregnancy and most abortions are carried out before this time. The Pro-life group on the other hand oppose these beliefs because they strongly believe that life begins at conception and therefore, the fetus has life that need to be respected. They argue that terminating a pregnancy is not any different from committing murder. They may also feel that what they did is immoral and against their religion and the societal ethics and therefore they may feel a sense of shame. Most of these women who procure an abortion are more likely to suffer from PTSD because of the nightmares and sleepless nights 6. This feeling has several health effects such as stress and later depression as the long-term effect.

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The short-term effects include blood cloth, infections, incomplete abortions, injury to the cervix and other reproductive organs. All these health effects can lead to long-term complications and eventually death 2. This will make her feel comfortable as her male counterpart and at the same time give her freedom which is her fundamental right. It is astonishing that 77% of people who are against abortion are men who in real sense cannot get pregnant at any point in life 1. This makes women feel like they are treated as inferiors compared to their male counterparts. This leads to remorseful feelings which might also result to suicidal thoughts. In such cases as rape, it is very unfair to force a woman to give birth to a child that she was not prepared for.

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They understand their financial, social and psychological situations more than anyone else does and therefore, they deserve the right to choose. Those who oppose abortion do so because they are not victims in any way. They do not understand the effects that are associated to unwanted pregnancies and the pain of raising a child when someone is not ready. Pregnancies that result from painful experiences such as rape should be terminated to allow the victim to heal. It is clear that human life does not begin at conception because even those eggs that are used for in vitro fertilization are fertilized and those that fail to implant are thrown away and if that is not considered murder, then even abortion should not be considered murder.

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