Arguments for and Against Abortion You Need to Know

2Arguments in Favour of Terminating a Pregnancy

• Abortion is safe medical procedure. With the advancement in technology, abortion can be performed with minimal complications.

• Birth control failure is a major reason why women may choose to abort the child.

• Genetic defects such as Down’s Syndrome could warrant the pregnancy to be terminated. 

• In the case of unmarried young mothers to be, the future can appear bleak should they choose to birth the baby. It could range from monetary to ethical issues. Questions such as “Who would marry them with a child at hand? Who would care for them while they are away at work?’’ may haunt them. Being a single parent can be quite stressful, especially during the emergency. Opting for an abortion in such conditions may seem to be a logical option before them. Even if the partner is willing to marry them, there is no guarantee that the marriage would turn out fine and they might find themselves battling child custody issues in future. A child is a lifelong responsibility after all. 

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• If the mother’s health is likely to suffer or cause medical emergencies, abortion could be the only option to save her.

• Dearth of finances and physical support to care for the baby and herself may find her opting for a termination of the pregnancy.

• Rape victims might not be mentally and physically prepared to handle the pregnancy and post-birth care and may choose to abort.

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• Technology has made it possible for birth defects in babies to be known beforehand. In such cases, giving birth to an unhealthy baby and watch it suffer in front of your eyes can be painful.

• A woman must have the right to decide about the pregnancy as it’s her body.

• More number of educated women choose to end their pregnancies due to financial freedom and practical thinking.

• The age of the woman is also an important factor supporting termination of the pregnancy. If the age of the mother is more, there are chances of the baby being born with birth defects. Added to this is the lack of time and energy in its care. 

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Women are also more likely to abort if the pregnancy comes in the 7way of their career and ambitions. While an abortion cannot be a decision forced by others, it certainly has a lot to do with the state of mind, maturity and resources with the mother to be/couple.

3Psychological Factors that speak for and against

• Some women hold the fear of spoiling their figure due to childbirth and might choose to abort the child without any further thought. 

• The social stigma of going in for an abortion forces many women/girls to undergo the procedure secretly. • People that cannot have children may look at others going in for an abortion disapprovingly. This may trigger feelings of guilt and fear of destroying a living being.

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• In couples that are together, an abortion might end up separating them after a while if one of them raises a question about the decision being an incorrect one.

• There are cases after getting an abortion done, where parents might wonder as to how the child would have shaped up giving rise to feelings of sadness.

• Aborting a baby could mean depriving the society of a great human being, as you never know whom one is aborting. This could lead to feelings of guilt and sadness.

• If abortions were made legal, it could lead to people using them as a casual form of birth control 

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• There have been cases where people that had considered an abortion earlier changed their minds only to regret later due to inability of resources and time to look after the baby.

• In some culture’s aborting a defective fetus is considered a sin causing anguish later.

• Some women may fear childbirth and choose abortion as an escape.

• Hating the father of the unborn baby is another reason why some women choose to abort. .