Abortion Essay Research Paper Abortion is an — страница 3

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cases of life endangerment, a minimum of 193 women died from illegal abortions and illegal abortions accounted for nearly 17 percent of all deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth in that year. Although deaths from legal abortions are extremely rare, legal abortion like any surgical procedure entails some risk. Six of the 1.6 million having a legal abortion in 1985 are known to have died. Despite the improvements in the safety of legal abortions, some abortions carry more risk than others do. The timing of the abortion is one of the most important factors influencing the risk to the woman. More than half of all abortions are performed at or before eight weeks of pregnancy when the procedure is the safest. Future outlooks on abortion are always changing with hopes of improvement.

When Clinton moved into the White House in January 1993, he lifted the Reagan-era gag rule on abortion clinics and also ordered the food and drug administration to begin testing RU 486, the abortion pill which when legalized, would make it easier for a woman to privately and quietly choose abortion.As the nation moved into the 1996 presidential election there were growing signs that abortion rights would emerge as a divisive and destructive issue. Candidates are always in fear of pissing someone off by choosing one side over another.Americans United for Life filed a citizens petition demanding that the FDA slow down the testing of RU 486; with hopes that the final decision to legalize or outlaw the drug would come after the 1996 election with a new anti-choice Republican congress

was voted in.With these changes, women in 32 states could see their rights eroded because of the declared intent of conservative governors and legislative majorities to pass newly restrictive abortion legislation. The experiences of women in states that have such legislation on the books, show evidence that the restrictions are having a negative impact on women s lives and health. These legislation s confuse the patient and put her under more stress.One factor in the shrinking number of clinics is that abortion as a business is ever less profitable. While the cost of equipment, staff, rent, and just about everything else in the country has increased, the cost of abortion has only doubled now, averaging about $300-$400. Not only are security costs skyrocketing, but also as violent

attacks increase, clinics are finding liability insurance ever more expensive and elusive.Since it was introduced in Europe almost a decade ago, RU 486 has been seen by many American pro-choices as the veritable silver bullet . The ultimate weapon to defeat and diffuse the pro-life movement by decentralizing the procedure out of abortion clinics and into individual doctors offices. But as legislation came closer, the RU 486 didn t provide any better solution. It may increase women s access to abortion, but it won t provoke the full-scale abortion revolution some once thought it would. Even the most optimistic projection was that only forty percent of current surgical abortions would be replaced by the drug.Abortions should be kept legal with some restrictions that should be

regulated through legislation. Abortions should not be performed by the third trimester, when the fetus can live outside the mother s body. Late abortions should be decided case by case, and that by having them early in the pregnancy, is by far safer as well as legal. There should be some regulation for teens to need parental consent. Another big issue is having taxpayer money go towards abortions. I think it is better to contribute a little now than a lot more in the long run. If the baby is born and the parent can not afford the baby, the taxpayers will pay for the mother and her baby through the welfare system.Abortion is the taking of a human life, but sometimes this decision must and should be made. It should continue to be a right to choose. A woman should not have to be

forced to do something either way through regulation that is enforced by the government. We need to view abortion as one of those anguished decisions in which human beings struggle to do the best they can and have the right to do in trying circumstances. Current regulation is still upheld in the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade (1973). At that time a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to privacy includes a pregnant woman s right to choose to have an abortion, which government may not restrict unless it narrowly tailors regulation to protect a compelling governmental interest. The government s interest in protecting the health of women having abortions after the first 3 months of pregnancy may be sufficiently compelling to justify some regulation