Abortion results in the loss of
life, which makes it a serious and controversial matter. The ramifications have
lasting and permeating effects on everyone involved. Denial, anger, anguish, guilt,
and depression are some of the emotions felt by those personally involved. It’s
an agonizing process. Oftentimes, our actions have more profound effects than we
intend or realize. We may not mean to hurt living beings. We, most certainly,
have our own interests and future at stake, but whenever our actions impede on
another living being’s right to live, we need to take a long hard look on what
we plan on doing. I argue that abortion should be legalized, should be made available
to the mass, but if the mother of the child is 16 weeks or more into pregnancy,
a formal committee must take a long, hard look at the intentions, logistics,
and circumstances behind each unique scenario presented to the board to determine
the final choice of action. Hence, I’m offering a polarizing viewpoint, in
which the pregnant woman will not be making the final call if she is 16 weeks
or more into pregnancy. That’s not to say that I believe the pregnant woman’s
thoughts and her preferred choice of action should not be explored and are
irrelevant, as frankly, the antithesis is how I strongly feel. I do believe
that the woman’s motive-driven decision needs to be deeply examined by
psychologists, but I also feel that under certain cases, abortion shouldn’t be
allowed, in which the ensuing birth of the child will have to be a
responsibility the woman has consequentially-incurred into her life. I realize
this sounds tantalizing, and this is likely something many people are
vehemently against, but I shall explain further in much detail of my viewpoint.
I feel that
it’s important to elaborate the intricacies needed for this committee board
that I am proposing. Pregnant woman, who are less than 16 weeks into pregnancy
and have their abortion scheduled prior to week 16, have complete volition in
deciding the course of action. The only exception to that would be pregnant
teenagers below the age of 18, who will require parental consent. The board
will only review cases in which the pregnancy is at the minimum, 16 weeks in. With
that requisite stated, the board will only review if the pregnancy incurs a
serious threat to the woman’s life, and / or has potentially serious conditions
in which the fetus will have genetic defects or other life-threatening damage. A
fetus as a result of rape, incest, or poor socio-economic status will not be
sufficient excuses post 16 weeks in. The board should consist of an impartial
amalgamation of unrelated individuals to the client, as they cannot have any
previous prior connections to the individual. The board should consist of male
and female psychologists, physicians, three judges, and designated women who
have gone through similar abortion situations to act as potential advocates
when influencing the final decision. The committee needs to gather all
information related to the client’s case, including assessments of the client’s
history following up to this proposal for abortion. The client will be given
sessions to discuss with psychologists their feelings, emotions, and desires
behind how they wish to proceed, and this will be discussed at the table
privately. Each psychologist will give his or her take on the unique situation
at hand and offer what they feel is a reasonable and justifiable course of
action. As will all the physicians and designated spokeswomen, each will give
their own professional input into the situation at hand. Lastly, the pregnant
woman, herself, takes the stage and discusses her own personal preferred course
of action and motives to the judges. Judges will then be allowed to ask her
questions and converse. Privately, the three judges, upon taking all that into
account, shall review all assessments and information at hand, while taking
into account the mother’s current pregnancy stage, and draw their own
conclusions in a written, clandestine voting. Each judge shall come up with a
response of either for abortion or against abortion and will have to list their
specific reasons and thoughts behind why they chose that action. Since there
are only a total of three judges, the vote that is either unanimous or tallies
two will be the vote that stands. Should the pregnant individual feel that the
board has been biased and discriminating, an appeal can be filed, in which an
independent committee will immediately review if unreasonable, biased arguments
were present. Unfortunately, time is of the essence, as a fetus is rapidly developing.
Hence, as time goes on, the mother’s current stage of pregnancy will start to
largely affect the outcome, and exceptional contentions will be needed to
permit an abortion.
I’d like to
elaborate on why I made the cut-off point, week 16. From a strictly fetal
developmental viewpoint, week 1 through week 6 is when fertilization occurs and
the embryonic period starts (Pregnancy Week by Week, 2012). Week 5 is when the
fetus’ primary organs, including the central nervous system- the brain and
spinal cord, heart, and the other vital organs begin to form (Pregnancy Week by
Week, 2012). Week 6 catalyzes the primitive development of basic facial
features, the jaw, the C-shaped curvature of the body, and such (Pregnancy Week
by Week, 2012). Week 7 -12 incurs the rapid proliferation of the fetus’ head,
eyes, neck, genitals, toes, and fingernails, as this ends the first trimester.
From week 13-14, the fetus may be able to put a thumb into its mouth and suck
on it, along with an exhibition of constant arm and leg movements, but
understand that these movements are reflexes stemming from the spinal cord and are
not voluntary movements (Becher, n.d.). By week 15, sensory receptors are
augmenting. At Week 16, the cutting off point, the baby can “grasp with his hands,
kick, or even somersault” (Baby Development, n.d.). While the child’s earlier
muscle movements may be slight and involuntary, the “first voluntary muscle
movements occur around week 16” (Baby Development, n.d.). “After this point,
awake or asleep, the baby moves 50 ties or more each hour, flexing and extending
her body, moving her head, face, and limbs, and exploring her warm, wet
compartment by touch. A baby may touch her face, touch one hand to the other
hand, clasp her feet, touch her foot to her leg, or her hand to the umbilical
cord” (Baby Development, n.d.). To better understand when voluntary movements
occur, we need to comprehend that voluntary movements arise from a part of the
brain, called the cerebellum. With regard to the development of the cerebellum,
the “primary fissure (of the cerebellum) is visible at week 14”, and by week
16, the “prepyramidal fissure, the secondary fissure and the dentate nucleus
could be identified” (Liu, 2011). Cerebellum development starts within the
second trimester (Liu, 2011), and week 16 is generally when voluntary movements
are seen. By week 18, the fetus may have the capability to hear; by week 21, the
fetus can swallow, and by week 25, the fetus is able to interact with the
mother’s voice and respond with movement (Pregnancy Week by Week, 2012). Hence,
I believe that week 16 should be the designated cutting-point, because that is
when the inception of interactions and movements within its environment begin
to take place on a voluntary level. A cell in a Petri dish is alive, as there
are metabolic processes. Cells that make up a fetus in a womb are also alive,
as metabolic processes are transpiring, but it is during week 16, in which anthropomorphic
qualities are being exhibited on a voluntary level, and that is what I feel
should be the distinguisher. The inception of fetus consciousness occurs when
there is the realization of one’s own existence and environment as evidenced by
visible coordinated movements with the initial and continual development of the
cerebellum. Thus, week 16 needs to be the unequivocal cut-off. No abortions
should be allowed unless the fetus causes serious harm to the mother or if the
fetus will have profound life-threatening impairments.
Our current
abortion system in the United States, and specifically in California, New York,
and Nebraska, is significantly different to my proposal. When Roe v. Wade passed, the Supreme Court
permitted abortion to go up to 28 weeks (Laws Regarding Abortion, n.d.).
However, the general consensus is at 24 weeks now, as they gauge the cut-off
date by when the fetus is able to live outside the womb. Current United States
abortion law has prohibited partial birth abortions completely, enacted by the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and upheld in 2007 in the U.S. Supreme
Court case, Gonzales v. Carhart
(Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, 2013). With the Supreme Court’s decision
handed down, each state has slightly different abortion laws regulating the
details and circumstances in which a woman may have an abortion. Unfortunately,
federal judges in California, New York, and Nebraska deemed the Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban law unconstitutional, and three appellate courts concurred
(Supreme Court, 2007). Hence, California still has Partial-Birth abortions
performed up to week 24. In case you are unaware of how gruesome partial-birth
abortion is, I shall describe how they perform this procedure. With the use of
ultrasound, the abortionist uses forceps to grab the baby’s leg and pulls the
baby into the birth canal. The abortionist removes all of the baby’s body, save
the head, in which he will take a scissor and stab it into the baby’s skull.
They then use the scissor to make a wide hole, in which the scissors will then
be removed, and a suction tube will be inserted into the skull to suck out the
brain. Afterwards, the entire dead baby is removed from the birth canal
(Whitehead, n.d.). It’s an incredibly gruesome process, and this is not a
humane process to be performing on beings that very well have basic voluntary
movements. That’s why I am vehemently against the use of partial-birth
abortion, and this is why after week 15, abortions should only be done as a
last resort if the mother’s life is threatened or if the baby will be born with
serious physical damage. And even then, there needs to be other, more humane
ways of performing late-term abortions. It’s no wonder why some people are so
strongly opposed to abortion. Now in some good news, it’s comforting to know
that week 12, the end of the first trimester, is the major cut-off point for
most healthcare providers in performing abortions.
Abortion needs to be addressed in terms of
consequentialist ethics, rather than deontological ethics. Granted, abortion is
a controversial topic, and there is no “correct” answer to go with, but I would
like to address the two principal forms of ethical thinking to gauge which
style is more appropriate. Consequentialist ethics stresses the importance in the
relationship between the “action” and the “consequences.” In other words, a
good action is based off the beneficial results for those affected, while a bad
action is based off antagonistic results for those affected. Oftentimes, there
is a combination of positive effects for some individuals, and negative effects
for others, but it is the virtue of doing the greater good for the vast
majority. On the other hand, deontological ethics emphasize that a right action
is correct in itself because of pragmatic, logical reasoning, without the
exploration into the genuine consequences. Deontological ethics is
principle-based ethics that focuses on the intent behind the choices and
actions. It’s the classic consequence versus intent debate. Well, I argue that
many times in life, we are much more strongly affected by the actual
consequences of one’s actions rather than by one’s intentions. Hence,
consequentialist ethics is more appropriate. Say in sports, an opposing player
may not have vindictive intentions, but if you tear your ACL tendon because of
him, you are likely furious for all that he will put you through now. He can
apologize and walk off, but who is the one left in pain, medical bills, and mobility
restraints? You are. So, with regards to abortion, we can come to understand that
a pregnant mother living in a dangerous, poverty-stricken neighborhood won’t
want to keep an unexpected baby, because there won’t be sufficient money or
resources to give her child a quality, safe life. However, the end result of
abortion is the loss of the baby’s future and experiences. One could easily
argue that the child wouldn’t have had a decent life anyways, so why bring the
child into this world? Well, that’s something the pregnant mother should have
contemplated over before having sex. Now if she was raped, that would be a
different story. But when you choose the action, you are responsible for the
consequences. You might be saying, “Well, what if she was on birth control, and
the man was wearing a condom?!” Well, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound aloof,
callous, and unsympathetic towards them, but both partners could be on every
prevention technique out there in the modern world, and the mother could still
become pregnant. There are no guarantees in life. Some couples may take no
preventions whatsoever when having sex, and the woman doesn’t become pregnant.
I’m not saying that is fair. Couples putting in all the extra effort to prevent
pregnancies shouldn’t have to get pregnant. Others are seemingly asking for an
unexpected pregnancy to occur. Such is life though, and no one ever said life
wasn’t meant to be fair. All we can simply do is attempt to ameliorate our
conditions and chances, but a utopia will never be. These were the cards that
were dealt; this was the way the dices rolled, and ultimately, each of us has
to be responsible for that.
As you can likely tell, I’m staunchly against abortion,
but I believe having it available is a necessary service that society needs. I
feel that way because for one, the world is already overpopulated, and
mentally-competent adults, ultimately, have the capacity and the right to make
their own decisions with abortion. But more importantly, I believe that women
and men who are not physically, mentally, and financially ready to become
parents, cannot possibly provide in a sufficient, healthy manner of that which will
help this infant (who is 100% dependent on their parents) to develop
prosperously if the surrounding environment and context is not opportune as to
those of a “planned child”. Having a child is a life-long “career”, one that
will never end until the day you die. Theoretically, it’s only until the age of
18, but for many children, it’s a life-long support that parents strive to
give. Again, as I stated earlier, I would argue to set up a committee to review
the two specific abortion cases. The birth of the child which threatens the life
of the mother is the first case. The significant compromise of a child’s life due
to genetic defects or malformations and damage is the second case. These two
are the only cases to be reviewed 16 weeks into pregnancy because these overlap
into the ethical debate of whose life is more important and if a life riddled
with pain and suffering is necessary. These two ethical dilemmas, along with becoming
impregnated by rape, are what I’ll call, the “Big 3 Exceptions”. In an
abortion-utopia, as awkward and ironic as that sounds, all other cases save the
“Big 3”, really have no place in abortion. If one is poor and is struggling to
feed herself, you don’t have kids. That is not a difficult idea to entrain. If
it means to abstain from sex, you must abstain to ad nauseam, because whatever
consequences arise as a result of your volition is your responsibility. A
potential life should not be taken away because of a momentary lapse in
responsibility for the urge of gratification. It is no better than if a child
steals candy so he can taste the sugary, delicious chocolate melt in his mouth.
In fact, I would argue that it is worse. Nonetheless, if a full-time career is
what you value most during the meantime and the birth of a child will be a huge
obstacle, you don’t have kids. This goes both ways for women and men. You do
whatever it takes so that doesn’t happen. If not, be prepared to accept any
possibility of the whole array of consequences. All the cards in a deck exist,
but only one will be dealt into your hands. It’s all a probability game. Taking
a life is no trivial matter, and it’s my conclusion that save the “Big 3
Exceptions”, abortion is the route soon-to-be mothers and fathers feel
compelled to take because this unexpected child has become a potential
inconvenience in life and doesn’t want to take subsequent responsibilities. With
that said, I want to make this exceedingly clear that I’m not singling out the
mother in this. The father of the child is just as responsible for what has
incurred, as it had to take two, one female & one male, to create the fetus.
To recapitulate, for both men and women, be the driver in the car of your life.
Don’t be the one in which you’re driving late at night, when suddenly a deer
swerves into your headlights. The moment to appropriately react is gone before
you can blink, and the resulting indelible damage has been done. Be responsible
for what you do, and be responsible for the entailed result.
Bibliography
Becher, Julie-Claire (n.d.). Insights
into Early Fetal Development. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://pregnancyarchive.com/articles/insights-into-early-fetal-development/.
[Last Accessed May 9, 2013].
Liu, F., Zhang, Z., Lin, X., Teng, G.,
Meng, H., Yu, T., Fang, F., Zang, F., Li, Z. and Liu, S. (2011), Development of the human fetal cerebellum
in the second trimester: a post mortem magnetic resonance imaging evaluation.
Journal of Anatomy, 219: 582–588.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2011.01418.x
Whitehead, Kenneth D. (n.d.). Everything
You Need to Know About Partial-Birth Abortion. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/cw_recent/pbabort2.htm. [Last
Accessed May 9, 2013].
(n.d.). Baby Development. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.deathroe.com/baby_development/index2.cfm. [Last Accessed May 9,
2013].
(n.d.). Laws
Regarding Abortion.
[ONLINE] Available at:
http://pregnancy.adoption.com/pregnant/laws-regarding-abortion.html. [Last
Accessed May 9, 2013].
(2013). Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial-Birth_Abortion_Ban_Act. [Last Accessed May
9, 2013].
(2012). Pregnancy Week by Week. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-care/PR00112. [Last Accessed May 9,
2013].
(2007). Supreme Court Upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266724,00.html. [Last Accessed May 9,
2013].
No comments:
Post a Comment