By Devi Ragesh
Abortion is an issue of conflict that recently generated wide attention. The topic of abortion is one that is considered to be very sensitive and volatile. An issue lately on abortion turned many heads towards the topic. The state of Alabama recently passed a law declaring abortion illegal. The law under the Human Life Protection Act defines, “all unborn children as persons” and “baby in the womb is a person”. However, these statements have been open to many arguments and debates.
Even in countries where abortion is legal, the question or dilemma of whether it is morally a right thing to do is prevalent. The statement “life begins at conception” is complicated and has many versions to it.
The law passed in Alabama not only ban abortion of pregnancies after twenty weeks of conception, but at any stages of the pregnancy right from the time of conception. The only exceptions to this law being, during cases of lethal anomaly that is, pregnancy that pose a high risk to the health of the pregnant woman, and when the pregnant woman is suffering from serious mental disorders, with approval from a psychiatrist, and when the person is too young to bear a child. Abortion is also legal in cases involving removal of a dead foetus from the uterus.
What was infuriating to the public was how rape and incest were not included in the exceptional cases. Why such an alteration was made to the law is beyond logic and understanding. In the state, an illegal abortion could lead the doctors or those who provide assistance to end up in prison from a period of ten years to ninety nine years or life imprisonment. The intensity of the crime is equated to that of committing murder or rape.
Before delving into the issue of the Act that was passed, it is important to discuss if abortion is right or wrong at all. There are so many moral conflicts related to this issue. Many religious beliefs condemn abortion as a sin, questioning whether one has the right to end another life. When exactly is the embryo alive? When does a zygote develop life?
Does life start the moment it is conceived, or with the beginning of heartbeat of the foetus? There are also arguments that life only begins with the development of the brain, which is substantiated by how the person is considered dead after brain death.
A paper on ‘Medical Ethics in Abortion’ explains, “Some people have interpreted that the developing foetus can be considered a person, when the foetus is viable and capable of independent existence if removed from the milieu of the uterus. The period is progressively being reduced due to advances in medicine. There is a difference between killing or destroying something and preventing something from coming into existence.
Preventing something coming into existence denies a future of value, as does destruction. People tend to turn to the law when trying to decide, the best possible solution to an unwanted pregnancy.”
Thus in certain cases, it is not just the difficulty to afford the financial strains of an abortion for many, but also the moral conflict that they face. The crisis of morality involved to the issue is understandable. So regulations made on abortion can be understood. However, a complete ban on abortion, seems like an unintelligent and impractical decision to make. First, there are many cases, where many women are not financially able to support a pregnancy.
The point of bringing up a child in an environment where it cannot be provided for, is unfair to the child and the mother who has to go through emotional trauma regardless of the ordeal that she is subjected to. Second, in cases of rape and incest, where sometimes even a minor is pregnant, it is outrageous to make the victim conceive the child under unfavourable circumstances.
Thirdly, the state provides no care and support to assist these women who have to undergo the trauma of such pregnancies and bear the brunt of the insensitive society. The Guardian, released a two minute video of ‘what female senators had to say about Alabama’s Abortion Bill’, the video had female senators silence the men present there with their arguments. Linda Coleman-Madison, Democratic State Senator, Alabama stated that, “The bill is not about pro-life or the right to life. The bill is about control.”
She further went on to make a very important point that was “People are still going to have abortions. The problem is, it’s going to always be unsafe and inaccessible for those people who have lesser means”. She further explains how people will find their own dangerous methods to deal with an abortion, “People will try going online now. How you can mix a concoction to have an abortion?” This is one serious after-effect of implementing such a law. If the state thought that passing such a law would end abortions, then they’re mistaken. People, especially those who cannot financially afford other means, will resort to dangerous methods.
Another senator went, “why you all want to control our bodies? You know, you all are always trying to put the laws on us.” She asked for a bill to consider a man who is subjected to or attempts a vasectomy to be guilty of a Class A felony, “You are talking about life (in the case of vasectomy too)” she said. Laughter resonated throughout the gathering. Considering that the law, the strictest in the United States was passed by 25 white male politicians, all of whom are Republicans, it is difficult to dismiss the arguments that were raised by the woman senators against the proponents of the bill.
There were comment chains under the videos, “Forced to keep a baby yet they won’t provide healthcare. Republicans won’t even talk about healthcare because they don’t have a plan”. Female celebrities too went open on social media with the statement, “men should not be making laws about women’s bodies” making their stance clear. On the other hand in India abortion is legal under many circumstances, such as posing risk to the life of the woman, risk to the child being handicapped, caused due to rape (posing huge mental distress to the woman) and due to failure of contraceptives used by man or woman. Abortion is legal under many circumstances before twenty weeks of conception.
However, the situation is on the extreme other end of the spectrum. 4605 women in the last three years underwent hysterectomy in ‘the sugar belt’ of Maharashtra. Women are involved in the most common occupation there of sugar-cane cutting which is a physically demanding job. Here if a woman misses a day’s work due to menstrual cramps, she is made to pay a penalty. Added to this atrocity, is the unhygienic conditions that women are put to that causes them to easily get infections. Now what does our ‘ethical’ doctors do? They force the patients to undergo surgeries for diseases that can be treated with medicines and their wombs removed. The women are unaware of this situation. “No womb, means more money”.
The US Department of Health and Human Services gave out that, “In 2017, there were 18.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 194,377 babies born to females in this age group. Births to teens ages 15-19 account for 5.0 percent of all births in 2017. Nearly nine in ten (89.2 percent) of these births occurred outside of marriage. The 2017 teen birth rate (births per 1,000 females ages 15-19 in a given year) is down seven percent from 2016, when the birth rate was 20.3, and down 70 percent from 1991 when it was at a record high of 61.8. The teen birth rate has declined to a new low each year since 2009. Still, the teen birth rate in the United States remains higher than that in many other developed countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.”
The above mentioned facts and figures show how high the rates are and one cannot confirm that a ban on abortion would be beneficial for teenage pregnancies which is unhealthy for the teen and can even cause death during child birth. Summing up all these issues, one comes to the conclusion that awareness should be the first step. Measures are to be adopted to avert the number of abortions, however not by forcing women to bear the child under every circumstance. Men, women and teenagers should be made aware about the risks of an abortion and how to prevent the same (usage of contraceptives and other safe methods). Provisions for providing financial and mental support to people who opt for an abortion and can’t afford to resort to, would make a change and lessen the number of unnecessary abortions. An ethical medical assistance would also bring about the right change.
Although, it is safe to practise one’s own religious beliefs, standardising the same to everyone is problematic. If the above mentioned measures are practised, the situation can reach a stage of better status. Abortion to some is a distortion of the sexual norms dictated to them by the society and to others, an apparently convenient means to wipe off a ‘preconceived notion’ with no qualms about it.
