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Abortion and its Changes over Time
Abortion is termed the process by which pregnancy is ended, resulting in no child’s birth. It can also be referred to as termination of pregnancy where due to some unavoidable reasons, the woman is forced not to deliver the baby. There are many reasons why this practice is done, why some people oppose it as they think it is evil. In some cases, pregnant women may not be willing to give birth and raise a child, and the doctors may decide to stop the pregnancy at early stages according to the woman’s will. Before a woman gets into the decision to terminate her pregnancy, the individual is believed to have undergone a severe problem or fear of being a mother. It is not always an easy decision for expectant mothers to choose to eliminate the unborn child, but some circumstances which cannot be easily avoided lead to such practices.
Health complications can also lead to terminations of the pregnancy, where medical doctors may advise the pregnant woman to choose between losing her life or that of the unborn child (Henshaw, 80). Such health complications are unavoidable and are the most logical abortion across the world. Death may also happen to the unborn child. Suppose a child dies while still in her mother’s womb. In that case, the condition may become critical to the mother, whereby doctors and other surgical specialists may take out the fetus to avoid contaminating the mother’s internal body parts. Such cases even lead to the mother’s death as it needs extra medical care and an emergent one in that matter. Failure to remove the dead unborn baby from the mother’s womb may also lead to permanent complications where the woman may not bear children anymore.
Two ways are known and legally accepted worldwide in the performance of abortion and related activities. The first type of terminating a pregnancy is by using medicine or medical methods. Under this process, medical doctors give specific tablets or injections to the pregnant lady, and then the drugs, the drugs react with the body and womb carrying the fetus; thus, the process begins (Summer, 73). Abortion pills are widely known in most parts of the world, primarily being used by youths and other young ladies. These drugs have strict instructions on use and are advisable to be administered not after 24 weeks of pregnancy to avoid side effects. Surgical abortion is the second type of abortion. Surgical abortion is the second type of abortion where the pregnancy is terminated by taking the victim to a surgical room, where surgeons do specific operations to stop the pregnancy.
Dilation and evacuation, all linked to this type of abortion, are done from the 15th to the 24th. The vacuum aspiration is expected to be done no longer than 15 weeks after the pregnancy is detected. All these practices are supposed to be done by medical doctors, where the involvement of another person may lead to reverse results or death of both the mother and unborn child. Although these practices were not guaranteed, the specialist ensured that every step they knew was done until the abortion was successfully done and completed. These practices needed experience; thus, most of the cases were done by the elderly in the community. In some cases, the activities even led to the mother’s death still being in the run to ensure that they have aborted the fetus ( Marquis, 200).
History of Abortion
Abortion is a practice that has been taking place for many years. Many documents, researchers, and laws on the method confirm that the termination of pregnancy has been taking place since 1075BCE were a piece of evidence containing punishment offered to Assyrian women who aborted children was discovered (Henshaw, 80). The document stated that death is the only punishment imposed on abortion, wherein my thought, I take it as the perfect punishment for such a crime. During that time, miscarriages were the only allowance that could be allowed by the administration as an excuse for to loss of pregnancy, where still the condition was termed as a sign of curse on the lineage.
The verdict law of India gave an explanation taken against women who practiced the act, where ex-communication was the expected punishment for sinning. These practices didn’t end during these times; people continued terminating procedures until 1550 BCE when evidence extracted from Egyptian papyrus showed signs of an induced abortion practice that was a completely new turn. Some abortions were legal, whereas some cultures did not react to the realization of the effect of the pregnancy on the mother. The medicine men and women were supposed to do the practice, where they did the specific techniques to the expectant women in aborting (Henshaw, 80).
Surgeries had not been invented; thus, every practice used was traditional and practical. In some cultures, techniques such as climbing, diving, and weightlifting were forced on pregnant women as a step in fastening the process and making it less painful; other communities used special herbs boiled leaves or made women sleep on shells to terminate the pregnancy. Most of the practices were relatively slow but effective. Abortion kept on advancing where new and more advanced methods of preparation were invented.
Due to the low advancement of technology, such practices were done by special elder people who seemed to have the exact knowledge of what they were doing and who did it successfully. These specialists were given respect in the community, where their practices were considered pure and essential in cases where the act had to be done. The procedures done during the ancient times had a certain probability of failure; hence the victims were supposed to be patient and offer the specialists enough time to do what they were supposed to do.
By the 8th century, traditional methods changed whereby women started sitting on steamed pots or using onions as a means of terminating the pregnancy. Japanese in the 12th century decided to switch the induced pregnancy to better ways where high taxation and another mistreatment by the government made women practice abortion regularly to avoid more expenses on child care (Adams, 719). Logically, some of the practices which the government forces its citizens to do may cause such injustices in the society, where the low-class level people in the community may choose such methods of abortion in order to guarantee their ability in sustaining themselves. Most of the expectant mothers in the low class or middle class in the society are always worried about how to take care of their children upon delivery. Such worries result in certain practices and feelings, such as being ready and willing to eliminate an innocent child before they are born.
New Zealand was not an exemption in history. The citizen introduced new ways of miscarrying pregnancies by use of drugs which ensured that the pregnancy was terminated and no harm was done to the woman. During this period, technology had improved; thus, people could easily access medical care through manufactured drugs and substances. The Greeks were different; also, the practice was illegal and even punishable by death, and the system of administration in the Greek-roman world had permitted specialists such as the mid-wives and educated laypeople to perform such practices under conditions such as the death of the mother. Greeks had developed a particular herb known as silphium, which they relied on upon in abortion.
The herb has a unique and expensive product that was exported to other parts near Rome, where they considered it excellent and helpful (Mattinson, 177). The biblical view of abortion was different as compared to the traditional way, where miscarriage was regarded as a curse, and the people who committed the act were termed as evil and cursed too. Christians during the early church believed that life is given by God, and thus, no one is allowed to do it. Using facts from their set of beliefs, these Christians emphasized keeping unborn babies as much as possible and that they are unique gifts from their supreme being.
Change of the practice over time
During ancient times, abortion was considered a crime, whereby many communities and cultures punished people who practiced it. Over the years, the act has slowly been allowed in our daily lives, where some acts are considered not as crimes as in the old days. It is evident that someone can terminate a pregnancy and walk away due to some rules which allow people to practice the ac (Luker, 46). Abortion methods have increased and improved as several new ways of abortion without drawing attention, pain, or side effects. Science and technology today are offering more ways of conducting the practice; unlike in the past, where there was a risk of death for both, today there is a safe way for mothers to practice abortion.
In the past, these practices were considered evil and whereby the people taking part in the activities did them in secluded places, away from all other people (Mattinson, 177). These days, the act is done in hospitals and other clinical areas, where people have no fear in asking for such services. Abortion has become a talk of the world for an extended period of time, where some people have taken advantage of its trending way to benefit themselves in many ways. The culture has completely changed; there are no longer any morals in the community; hence any person willing to do the act is currently free to do it as long as the law does not recognize the action.
Today, doctors are allowed to do the practice, unlike in the olden days where uneducated specialists were allowed to practice. In the past, it was done to save the lives of the mother, today termination of pregnancy can be by choice. Unlike today, in the past, no one wanted to be associated with abortion or anything, and anyone related to the act today advertisement is even put up in social media promoting advertising. it was illegal, and the law allowed it to be performed under the most severe of conditions today; it has been legalized in many countries
Human Perception on Abortion in the Ancient Times
The Romans had different beliefs on the practice of abortion; they had their own reasons why the act was practiced, where they all believed that there was an allowance for one to decide whether to be a father or not through termination of pregnancies (Henshaw, 80). The culture did not promote or care about the welfare of the unborn, where all the responsibility was left to the parents to keep the parents or not. The father being the most respected figure in the family, he had a choice whether to be a dad or not, then he went on and took action himself; he could force the mother to undertake the abortion if he was not interested.
The bible, on the other hand, discouraged the act whereby scriptures spoke of impending judgment and punishment on people who took lives. Abortion in the bible was considered murder; hence believers are discouraged from taking part in the act, and miscarriages in the bible were considered as curses. People who underwent miscarriages were supposed to pay for the loss as miscarriage was a mistake that could be avoided. England made abortion illegal, and no woman could partake in the act; if one was caught, death was the punishment declared, life was considered as sacred hence the law made sure that such practices were avoided. Terminating a pregnancy in America was different; laws concerning the course kept on changing as they later gave permission where abortion could be done, and mothers were supported to keep the pregnancy unless the loss of the mothers’ life was at risk.
Human Perception on Abortion in Recent Times
As time changes, so do practices and beliefs; abortion is not an exemption as it has led to several changes in the rules which govern the course (Henderson, 46). Due to the independence of nations, freedom, and power for each country to make its own rules, this act has been perceived differently over the years where people from different places in the world have different opinions on how and why they should be done. Currently, each country has its own understanding of the issue of abortion, where each administration has laid down specific ways of dealing with cases of abortion. It is heartbreaking that some of the countries in the world have allowed the act to be done, unlike the ancient times where individuals were always against the front of killing unborn children.
Technology and advancement of knowledge have led to other ideas concerning abortion where young people do not consider the life of the unborn as unique or essential in comparison to how ancient people used to think about it (Griebel, 1245). Evil practices increased in the world, whereas abortion was changed into a business idea hence attracting more people to do the act. Families have now lost bonds whereby mothers decide to terminate the pregnancy without consulting the husband; such cases increase among the young couples who feel like they have the freedom to terminate unwanted pregnancies at any given time.
Cheap and straightforward methods of abortion have been introduced, which make people ready and confident to abort anytime, anywhere. As the technology grows, some private doctors and other clinical officers dealing with maternity practices have opened their own hospitals where they do the activities behind the knowledge of the health ministry and governments. Some people and cultures accept abortion; this encourages and convinces the people to abort; women think of abortion as a way of relieving themselves of child burden as they can abort when financially they cannot take care of the baby (Adams, 736).
Reasons for Abortion in the Ancient Times
Ancient beliefs did not allow early practices, marriage was advised to the young people to have children, and parents could recommend them to terminate the pregnancy in fear of punishment by the community elders. No woman could be allowed to get married after conceiving out of wedlock, and some pregnancies were conceived as curses, creating by a relative was a curse, and abortion was convinced so as to steer clear of the curse. Elders could not allow an omen on their tribes and ordered such pregnancies to be terminated at all costs. Pregnancies from rape were also removed as they were also considered as bad an omen.
Specialists and elders convinced those under such conditions to abort so as to evade an impending curse on them or their generations; women involved in such could not ignore it as it was their beliefs (Summer, 52). Medicine men could advise women on what to do while pregnant and the dangers involved in delivering while in various conditions such as sickness. In the case of illness, termination occurred or whereby the pregnancy caused infection and affected the personal health of the mother whereby delivery could lead to the death of the mother or other adverse effects. During times of war or political unrest, women were forced to abort due to the inability to raise children during such conditions.
Modern Reasons for Abortion
Child care and expenses that come with raising a child need prior preparations by the parent. Raising a child requires a lot of financial readiness. Young girls abort due to the financial inability to take care of a young toddler as they see abortion as the only way to get rid of the problem (Summer, 46). Some families consider taking time before making decisions on childbearing. The process requires a lot of thinking; thus, some people prefer to take some time before having another child, by chance the woman gets pregnant before the specified time, she may end up terminating the pregnancy as spacing the time periods between children helps the family to plan for the children financially.
Although abortion is not a legal act, women may be forced to take the lives of their unborn children due to the harsh conditions in the world. Raising a child requires the consent of both parents. If the parents are at loggerheads before the child is unborn, the mother may decide to terminate the pregnancy. Young girls partake in activities that endanger their statuses and which lead to early pregnancy to continue with their studies; research has confirmed that many young girls undertake abortion so as to continue with their education. Young girls should be educated on how to protect themselves from such practices, which may lead to early pregnancy, which leads to abortion.
Abortion can lead to complications and new diseases during the early stages of the termination; thus, a mother should visit the clinic regularly to ensure she is healthy; if birth can lead to complications or death, health experts may advise her to terminate the pregnancy. Peer influence among young girls as they convince each other that abortion is safe causes them to engage in the practice, where young girls listen to each other and the media on the safe ways of conducting the activity. Peer groups tend to believe amongst themselves and what they hear, hence endangering their lives as they may indulge in the practice without knowing or considering what may happen to their bodies and future childbearing process (Luker, 23). Some mothers claim that they want a better life for their children. This idea may force them to abort the unborn children as they think they cannot take care of their children once they are born.
Effects of Abortion
Abortion leads to excessive loss of blood; the abortion process includes damaging the fetus until it comes out in the form of blood (Mattinson, 167). Averagely a woman who has aborted bleeds for over fourteen days. Cramping is another side effect associated with abortion where the woman may go through painful periods or menstruation, which seems to last forever as it can last for over a month suicidal feelings may be had by the patient, dizziness in the first few days of terminating the pregnancy is expected as the woman feels exhausted due to the massive loss of blood, this may be followed by vomiting or nausea and drowsiness, the woman may feel light-headed to low blood levels in her body.
In severe cases, death can also occur. Death occurs due to poor medical conditions and neglecting drugs and supplement offered by the doctor during the termination of the pregnancy. During an abortion, the womb and cervix, which had accommodated the fetus, are damaged; in some cases, the damage caused can be permanent, resulting in barren women. After the abortion, the woman may undergo septic shock, incomplete abortion is also expected as the woman may need to go through special procedures to finish the process, and the uterus is left in a state where it can support no more pregnancies, contamination of the uterus is also known as uterine perforation.
Abortion can lead to one being unable to produce urine at the right time and manner, the more one performs the act, the more adverse the effects of the abortion are, and this also causes the cervix to be weak, and this can lead to a woman delivering earlier than due according to a study done on women in Canada (Marquis, 190). Breast cancer can also affect women who have undergone abortion as the lady cannot breastfeed as she is supposed to, the gland in the breasts have already been triggered, and this causes the body to malfunction.
Sexually transmitted diseases can also infect the mother at the time of the abortion due to the kind of instruments used during the surgery; these diseases may be a threat, especially to someone who has lost a lot of blood, mentally the victim may have trauma, and this may cause poor mental health rejection by family, and this may cause trauma. The incidence or situation that the woman lives with after abortion makes it look unbearable as she may feel totally rejected and see no reason to live, thus leading to certain feelings of suicide. It is considered advisable to keep such cases out of the knowledge of other close people. Someone may feel ashamed when people start talking about such incidences, which may later make her lose self-esteem over other people.
On matters concerning sexually transmitted diseases, the victim is expected to suffer from any of those diseases due to excessive contamination during the whole process (Adams, 720). It is likely for the expectant mother to be infected with such complications immediately after the practices, which are always a result of bleeding and other discharges passing through the cervix. Generally, abortion is not a clean activity, just like any additional medical checkup, meaning that the victim is always left exposed to diseases that may even lead to her death.
Sexual drive is lowered after abortion, and this makes it difficult for her partner and his conjugal rights. A sense of guilt can also be evident in the person as in ancient times, abortion was closely linked with curses where people who did such were exempted from the community and even excommunicated, in other cases, abortion led to death, and the people believed that it was a curse by a supreme being, the cultures this punished the offender as a form of pleasing the ancestors. Christians thought that it was punishable by God.
Abortion also has positive effects as the child may die in the womb of the mother; in such cases, the abortion should be quick and safe to save the life of the mother, so the doctors are allowed to terminate the pregnancy in favor of the mother; thus abortion can also be used to save lives (Henderson, 46). The media has also played a massive part in popularizing abortion to young people. When abortion was legalized in many countries, media had a frontline in advertising the rule of law to all citizens, thus offering them the confidence they need in performing the abortion. The information by the media as it released the freedom of abortion was perceived differently by different people.
People who present information concerning abortion should behave in a way that would explain to young people the disadvantages and facts so that the people may not misinterpret the information given (Henshaw, 78). The media should be cautious with the people they target with such details to avoid leaking them to sensitive parties as curious young girls. Portraying adverts and information concerning abortion may lead to more abortions as the young earn from what they see, and the young ay fails to inform their parents due to fear. The parents should be responsible where media is related.
Society should start respecting the gift of life and learn not to take it away from a person, both born and unborn. People should start being held responsible for their actions, whether prepared or unprepared. Technology and its advancements have led to a higher increase in the rate of abortions. In the world today, people can easily access drugs or services through social media platforms (Luker, 23). Technology has also developed safe ways of abortion, which are quick, and this also encourages. It is up to us to team up and ensure that abortion as a form of killing is minimized to the point of unavoidable circumstances. Life is essential to every human, including the unborn ones. Abortion nowadays happens to be one of the most problematic practices to control in the evolving world, as it is hard to differentiate a person who has done the act from another who has not. As it is widely known, this practice is done currently done at the early stages of pregnancy, hence making it hard for people in authority to take action against people who commit such crimes. Again, these drugs are being manufactured and sold illegally, thus confirming that chances of getting these people who do the business are meager.
Works Cited
Adams, Greg D. “Abortion: Evidence of an issue evolution.” American Journal of Political Science (1997): 718-737.
Griebel, Craig P., et al. “Management of spontaneous abortion.” American family physician 72.7 (2005): 1243-1250.
Henderson, Jillian T., et al. “Effects of abortion legalization in Nepal, 2001–2010.” PloS one 8.5 (2013): e64775.
Henshaw, Stanley K. “Induced abortion: a world review, 1990.” Family planning perspectives (1990): 76-89.
Luker, Kristin. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. University of California Press, 1985: 23
Marquis, Don. “Why abortion is immoral.” The Journal of Philosophy 86.4 (1989): 183-202.
Mattinson, Janet. “The effects of abortion on a marriage.” Abortion: Medical progress and social implications 115 (1985): 165-177.
Sumner, Leonard Wayne. Abortion and moral theory. Princeton University Press, 2014: 45-78
