The three branches of …show more content…
The one question that is constantly asked is, “Should women have the right to an abortion?” Abortion is a medical method that terminates pregnancy by not allowing the birth of a baby (National Health Service [NHS], 2014). Abortion became legal in 1973 when the Roe v. Wade decision allowed the Supreme Court to rule that the women have the constitutional protected right to an abortion (Uzquiano, 2004). The types of abortion are medical or surgical. Medical abortions are when drugs are taken to terminate a pregnancy. Medical abortions can only be achieved up to 49 days after the first day of the last menstrual period. A surgical abortion requires removal of the contents of the uterus. There are four options to obtain a surgical abortion. The first option is called suction curettage which can only be performed during the first trimester (up to 12 weeks of pregnancy). The contents of the uterus are suctioned and after suctioning, it is sometimes crucial to use a curette which is a sharp, spoon looking instrument that is used to lightly scrape of walls of the uterus to insure that any of the fragments of the placenta or fetus are completely removed. The second option is called dilation and evacuation (D&E); D&E is achieved during the second trimester (12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy). This procedure is similar to suction curettage but instead the cervix is dilated more so the forceps can be used to …show more content…
Religion plays a huge factor into abortions. Some religions believe that life begins at conception. The moment existence begins at conception; it becomes a human that has rights (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1993). People who were brought up on strict Catholic religion have a hard time justifying that abortion is ethical. Psychological stress can occur after a woman decides to go through with the abortion process. A study was done that on post-abortion patients after several weeks of going through with abortion. The study showed that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had sleep disturbances, 31% experienced regret, and 11% had to be prescribed psychotic medications to deal with their emotions (Ashton, 1980). This goes to show that there is strong correlation between having an abortion and having some psychological stress. Abortions reduce the amount of children that are available to become adopted by other families. Statistics showed that there are over 500,000 women that are willing to adopt (Freundlich, 1998). This goes to show that there is a high demand for adoption and by getting an abortion, the chances for women to become mothers through adoption become slimmer and