This report is written to study the reasons why abortion should be partially legalized in Asian countries as this topic has been constantly debated for many years in many countries. There are many distinct stands held on the issue of abortion.
For those who are having conservative views on abortion may think that abortion should not be carried out except when essential to rescue the life of the pregnant woman. In contradiction, the people of liberal views may think that abortion is acceptable in an ethical manner for any reason and at any point of foetal development.
Abortion is the medical operation that causes a baby to die inside its mother before it is fully developed (Wehmeiner 1993). On the other hand, legalize means to make something allowed by law. According to Michael Hammil (2012), the first country to legalize abortion was USSR in 1920. By 1934, 700,000 abortions which were permitted by law were reported in USSR’s Russian Federation alone. Therefore, a more restrictive abortion rule was introduced in 1936. The rule stated that abortion is not allowed unless the continuance of the pregnancy will cause harm to the pregnant woman’s physical and mental health or risk the life of the pregnant woman. Today, many countries also made their abortion rules almost as similar to reduce the number abortion cases in their respective countries. Some of the main reasons why women choose abortion are as a method of birth control, the inability to bear or look after the baby and to end an unwanted pregnancy (WebMD 2013).
Analysis of finding
The key developments of abortion
The process of abortion dates back in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and probably earlier where abortion was induced by herbs or manipulation was used as a form of birth control. Back then, the Roman and Greeks were not much troubled with protecting the unborn. However, attitudes towards abortion became more liberal in the twentieth century (infoplease.com 2015). Through the development of technology, the process of abortion becomes more safe and simple than before. Some examples of the methods of abortion today are medical induction, vacuum inspiration, dilation and curettage, induced labour, hysterectomy, methotrexate and misoprostol (Anon 2006). In Asia, the estimated number of abortions increased to 27.3 million, compared to 25.9 million in 2003. South Central Asia has the highest number of cases (10.5 million) with India and Eastern Asia having 10.2 million cases, which comprises China in 2008 (Anon 2012).
The pro-choice believe that choices are good for the families. They might think that way because sometimes accident is able to and do happen even when precautions are taken. This may not be a problem for some families. But for other families, the ‘accident’ may be extremely unfortunate. One of the examples of the ‘accident’ is unplanned pregnancy. The pregnancy that is not planned will only increase stress, interrupt stability, and compel people below the line of economic survival (A legal right? 2015). Hence, the pro-choice think that all alternatives should be open. The two main positive reasons of legalizing abortion partially are increase the chances of saving the pregnant women’s life which are at risk and reduce the cases of abandoned babies that have been haunting our society.
In contrast, the pro-life supports abortion’s legal prohibition. Some people say that abortion only affects the baby but abortion affects not only the baby. Abortion allows health-care providers on deciding the suitable procedure for them to perform, allowing policy makers in shaping social practices with legislators crafting the law. Abortion also allows voters to consider a politician’s stand, while relief workers are inquired to help the poor, with educators seeking proper education for health and sex (Kaczor 2011). When a woman becomes pregnant, she experience hormonal, biological and emotional changes. She goes in opposition to her deepest instincts if she selects abortion. It is reasonable to expect that all women, to different levels, will suffer as a result of abortion (familyandlife.org 2015). The two negative impacts on legalizing abortion partially are abortion is a form of murder because it takes away an innocent life that is meant to live in this world as well as the woman may have side effects after performing abortion. Mankind must protect lives whenever possible. Therefore, both lives of the mother and the unborn must be concerned.
Thus, there is the need analyse more as to whether legalizing abortion partially in Asian countries causes more good or harm to the society.