Abortion: Why Should Abortion Be Legal?

 “No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body, the emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control” everyone deserves freedom in life, whether to choose motherhood or not to choose it. Abortion, for years has been an illegal and deadly practice for women, many people think it should be legal, others think it should not, but what are the reasons to legalize it? These are the reasons why abortion should be legal.

The first reason why it should be legal is: More dangerous methods would be reduced and the process would be supervised by a qualified doctor. Blanco (2019) in the article Agujas de hacer punto, varillas de paraguas y perchas: el drama del aborto ilegal,affirms that although today it is possible to have a safe and effective abortion, every year 47,000 women die from unsuccessful abortions, performed under miserable circumstances. This is due to various reasons such as religion, sexist legislation in many countries or taboo. There are several instruments that have been used historically to abort (knitting needles, umbrella sticks), however, the best known is the hanger, such instruments are causing risk of bleeding, infection, sterility and even death. Other known methods are: Baths with boiling water, poisons, pesticides and herbs (such as hot mercury) which often cause if not death by poisoning, intoxication. Currently a great risk are the pills that abound on the black market, known under the name of mostrospol. Also, WHO (2020) in the article Prevention of unsafe abortion, defines that abortion is unsafe when it is performed in an environment without the required standards and by an unfit person. The necessary medical training and standards always vary depending on many factors (such as the week of gestation and scientific advances, etc.). Abortion is dangerous when methods such as instrumental curettage are used or when the client who performs the abortion has not been properly informed or does not have access to a qualified person.  The most dangerous abortions are those involving the ingestion of dangerous substances and those performed by untrained personnel using risky methods. In addition, according to the article safe abortion methods by IPAS (2018), there are 2 safe abortion procedures, endorsed for their high efficacy by the WHO. The first one is medical abortion, i.e., ingestion of tablets to induce abortion safely (before 12 weeks of gestation), this method when used in the recommended dosage during the first 12 weeks of gestation has an efficacy rate of 95% to 98%. The second is vacuum aspiration, this method has reason to be recommended by the WHO because it is safe and effective to remove the contents of the uterus in the first 12 weeks of gestation. If performed within the first 12 weeks, with trained personnel and proper equipment, it has an efficacy rate of 98%.

The second reason why it should be legal is: There would be less risk of infections or hemorrhages that can cause death, because the women would be treated in a hospital with all hygiene measures.  Heimburger, Strickler and Rodriguez (2001) in the research El Aborto Clandestino en América Latina: Perfil de una Clínica, found that many clinics have been providing clandestine abortions since 1990, and found that when threats force abortion providers to close, to protect their identity, the clinic is forced to constantly change locations. The research estimates that approximately 36% of women who undergo clandestine abortions have complications that require treatment. Contrary to legal abortion performed in a clinic, which works in most cases, abortions performed in a clinic are more preferred because they have doctors and trained staff to support them during the entire process. As confirmed by the article Las consecuencias del aborto no seguro, Médicos Sin Fronteras (2018) report what are the complications related to unsafe abortion: Such as heavy bleeding, injuries to parts such as the uterus or vagina, and consequences that last over time; They can even cause infertility in the future. According to the IPAS (2002) in the research El aborto en México, it is estimated that in our country 50 million abortions are performed every year, of which 20 million are performed in an unsafe manner and even result in the loss of women's lives. Therefore, these deaths occur mostly in places of low economic level and high poverty. Also, WHO in 2000 reported that approximately 19 million unsafe abortions were performed, while in other countries the risk of dying from unsafe abortions is lower, approximately 1 in 3,700 on the planet is much more than 1 in 250 of these deaths, according to population reports in 1997.

The last reason it should be legal is: Decrease in unwanted children. As author Schwartz (1971) said in his article The Social Effects of Legal Abortion, the existing laws threaten the health of thousands of women who have become accidentally and unintentionally pregnant, are forcing them either to bear unwanted children or to seek illegal abortions, because for the woman who is mentally or physically ill, poor, or already overburdened with more children than she can adequately care for, the birth of an unwanted child can be disastrous. By contrast, illegal abortion can be life-threatening and, in many parts of the country has become a leading cause of maternal mortality. The author concludes that the incidence of unwanted births cannot be significantly reduced by reliance solely on contraception, without having legalized abortion as a backstop. Legalization of abortion as a backstop method of birth control offers the best hope of bringing about a significant reduction in the incidence of unwanted births, and in fact is probably the only feasible way that this can be achieved in a reasonably short time because abortion has none of the shortcomings of other contraceptive methods. Abortion is not 97 or 99 per cent but 100 per cent effective. On the other hand, Bitler and Zavodny (2002) in the research Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number of Unwanted Children? Evidence from Adoptions, Founded that birthrates declined by about 5-8% as a consequence of abortion legalization, with the largest declines occurring among teenagers, women older than 35, unmarried women and nonwhite women, the abortion legalization it also is associated with an improvement in birth outcomes, such as neonatal mortality furthermore, abortion legalization may have led to an improvement in the average living conditions of children, probably by reducing the numbers of youngsters who would have lived in single-parent families, lived in poverty, received welfare and died as infants. Their results suggest that abortion legalization led to a decline in the adoption rate and a reduction in the number of "unwanted" children relinquished and available for adoption. This reduction may have improved average infant health and childhood living conditions. Likewise, Greene Foster (2018) in the article: When women are denied an abortion, their children fare worse than peers, points out that restricting access to abortion doesn’t just harm women — it harms their children as well. In the article, mention a research and founded among women who seek an abortion but are denied it, more than 90 percent choose to keep and raise the child rather than place it for adoption. What is life like for these children? in the research compared children born after their mothers were denied abortions to the next children born to women who received abortions, and showed that children born to women who were denied abortions fared worse. They were more likely to live in households where there wasn’t enough money to pay for basic living expenses. Women are also much more likely to report poor maternal bonding — feeling trapped as a mother, resenting their baby, or longing for the “old days” before they had the baby — with the child born after abortion denial than with the next child born following a wanted abortion. And the author concludes that women who received a wanted abortion were more likely to have an intended pregnancy in the next five years than women who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term. In other words, being able to access abortion gives women the opportunity to have a child later with the right partner, at the right time.

On the other hand, people against it argue that it is very risky and poorly practiced; this is due to the fact that it is illegal, but if this practice were legal, there would be less risk of infections or hemorrhages that can cause death, because the women would be treated in a hospital with all hygiene measures. As, the World Health Organization (2015) in the article Safe Abortion: Technical & policy guidance for health systems, over the past two decades, the health evidence, technologies and human rights rationale for providing safe, comprehensive abortion care have evolved greatly. Where there are few restrictions on access to safe abortion, deaths and illness are dramatically reduced. As Schiavon and Troncoso (2020) in the researchInequalities in access to and quality of abortion services in Mexico: Can task-sharing be an opportunity to increase legal and safe abortion care? analyzed morbidity and mortality health statistics in Mexico since the first‐trimester abortion became legal in Mexico City in April 2007. They found that since then, 216 755 abortions have been provided, initially in hospitals, by specialized physicians using surgical techniques; with time and experience, services were provided increasingly in health centers, by general physicians using medical therapies. Demand and need for abortion care have increased throughout the country, while overall abortion‐specific mortality rates have declined. Another point made by those against abortion is that the practice is illegal. For his part, López de Balance (2007) in the article Abortos clandestinos en México: las cifras y las alternativas, says that Hundreds of thousands of clandestine abortions are performed every year in Mexico, so sexual rights advocates seek to offer alternatives to avoid risks. Abortion has only been legal in the country's capital, Mexico City. "We have known cases like the one of a women who was asked for a gold chain to terminate her pregnancy through the reading of letters" she said. Likewise, Black (2013) said in the article The Politics of Women’s Reproductive Health in Mexico, each of Mexico's 32 federative entities has legislation on women's reproductive rights. States have autonomy over decisions that criminalize or legalize abortion, and many have explicitly exercised their power in the last decade. In 2007, Mexico City became the first subnational government to decriminalize abortion if performed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Following a Supreme Court case that unsuccessfully challenged this new legislation, 17 Mexican states responded to the verdict by cracking down on abortion. In 2013, these states had adopted constitutional amendments protecting life from the moment of conception.

In short, many people think abortion is an illegal and risky practice. There are many reasons to think it is a bad practice, but there are so many reasons to think that this is a bad practice but, these are some of the reasons why it should legalize it for all the women. Over the years, women have been forced to become mothers, without having the option to choose whether they want it or not, so despite the various studies on how dangerous it is, they have resorted to the illegal practice of abortion mainly in clandestine clinics, this has produced many deaths that could have been avoided, which are mainly due to infections or poorly performed procedures. While the practice of abortion is frowned upon by part of the population because of the risk that exists when practiced by untrained personnel using risky methods, however, they do not take into account that the criminalization of abortion affects, restricts and violates the fundamental human rights of girls, adolescents and women, in addition to the fact that all women should have the right to decide about their own body, that abortion is legal is not a matter of opinion, it is a right that all women should have. We can only hope that, in the not-too-distant future, abortion will be a legal practice in our country, to save the lives of many women who die every day in the risky practice of illegal abortion.

REFERENCES

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1.Bitler, M., and Zavodny, M., (2002) “Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number of Unwanted Children?” retrieved from: https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/article_files/3402502.pdf

2. Blanco, L., (2019) “Agujas de hacer punto, varillas de paraguas y perchas: el drama del aborto ilegal” retrieved from:

https://www.elmundo.es/cataluna/2019/03/28/5c9cb6d521efa059058b4694.html

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Greene Foster, D., (2018) “When women are denied an abortion, their children fare worse than peers” retrieved from: https://www.statnews.com/2018/12/05/how-abortion-denial-affects-children-well-being/

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1.Heimburger, A., Strickler, J., and Rodriguez, K., (2001) “El Aborto Clandestino en América Latina: Perfil de una Clínica” retrieved from: https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/article_files/2702401s.pdf

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1. IPAS (2002) “El aborto en México” retrieved from: https://ccp.ucr.ac.cr/ac/gonzalez.pdf

2. IPAS (2018) “safe abortion methods” retrieved from: https://ipasmexico.org/2018/12/22/metodos-de-aborto-seguro/

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1.López de Balance, O., (2007) “Abortos clandestinos en México: las cifras y las alternativas” retrieved from: https://www.eldiario.es/internacional/abortos-clandestinos-mexico-cifras-alternativas_1_2756593.html

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1. Black. M., (2013) “The Politics of Women’s Reproductive Health in Mexico”

retrieved from: https://www.borgenmagazine.com/womens-reproductive-health-in-mexico/

2. Medicos Sin Fronteras (2018) “Las consecuencias del aborto no seguro” retrieved from: https://www.msf.es/las-consecuencias-del-aborto-no-seguro

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1.Schwartz, R., (1971) “The Social Effects of Legal Abortion” retrieved from: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.62.10.1331

2.Schiavon, R., and Troncoso, E., (2020) “Inequalities in access to and quality of abortion services in

Mexico: Can task-sharing be an opportunity to increase legal and safe abortion care?”

retrieved from: https://omm.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Inequalities-in-access-to-abortion-services-in-Mexico.pdf

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1. WHO (2015) “Safe Abortion: Technical & policy guidance for health systems” retrieved from:

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/173586/WHO_RHR_15.04_eng.pdf?sequence=1

2. WHO (2020) “Preventing unsafe abortion” retrieved from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preventing-unsafe-abortion