Abortion refers to the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life. When the extraction occurs after the fetus becomes viable, that is, the fetus is capable of independent life, it is usually considered abortion.Abortion is of two types: spontaneous or induced. Spontaneous abortion is the unintended, usually accidental, termination of pregnancy.  Its causes are still to be clearly documented although about half of the cases can be traced from abnormal development of the embryo or placental tissue. These abnormalities are believed to have been due to inherent faults in the germ cells or may be secondary to faulty implantation of the developing ovum or to other characteristics of the maternal environment.

In experimental animals, severe vitamin deficiencies have been shown to play a role in abortions but this case is still to be established among humans. Hormone deficiencies have also been found in women who are subject to recurrent abortions.

Spontaneous abortions may be caused also by such maternal abnormalities as acute infectious diseases, systemic diseases such as nephritis and diabetes, severe trauma, and excessive physical activity.

Uterine malformations, including tumors, are responsible in some instances, and extreme anxiety and other psychic disturbances may contribute to the premature expulsion of the fetus.

The most common symptom of threatened abortion is vaginal bleeding, with or without intermittent pain. About one-fourth of all pregnant women bleed at some time during early pregnancy, however, and up to 75 percent of these women carry the fetus for the full term.

Treatment for threatened abortion usually consists of bed rest. Almost continuous bed rest throughout pregnancy is required in some cases of repeated abortion; vitamin and hormone therapy also may be given. Surgical correction of uterine abnormalities may be indicated in certain of these cases.

Induced abortion is the intentional termination of pregnancy by forcibly removing the fetus from the womb. It is carried out by any of four standard procedures relative to the period of gestation.The first procedure is called suction, or vacuum aspiration. In this procedure, the cervix (neck of the uterus) is opened gradually with a series of dilators and the uterine contents are withdrawn by means of a small flexible tube called a cannula, which is connected to a vacuum pump. To ensure that no fragments of tissue remain, a spoon-tipped metal instrument called a curette is used to scrape the uterine lining. The traditional abortion procedure called dilation and curettage (D&C) had been replaced by suction especially when abortions are done in the first trimester of pregnancy.

The second procedure is called dilation and evacuation (D&E). Here pregnancy is terminated by a special suction curettage and sometimes combined with forceps, a hand-held surgical instrument used for grasping, holding or pulling objects especially in delicate operations. This procedure is usually employed when the pregnancy is in the early part of the second trimester.

The third procedure, which is especially used after 15 weeks of gestation, uses saline infusion. A small amount of amniotic fluid is withdrawn from the uterus by means of a fine tube or hypodermic needle through the abdominal wall and is slowly replaced with a strong (about 20 percent) salt solution. This induces uterine contractions in about 24 to 48 hours. The fetus is then usually quickly expelled and the patient leaves the hospital about a day later.

When abortion is to be done late in the pregnancy, it is usually accomplished by hesterotomy—a major surgical procedure, similar to a cesarean section but requiring a much smaller incision lower in the abdomen. This is the fourth procedure.

My Position: I am not in favor of induced abortion whether selective or not.Abortion done to save the mother’s life is almost non-existent in today’s highly sophisticated medical climate. If the mother’s actual life were threatened by a baby in her womb, a conscientious doctor would try to save both. The Congress of American College Surgeons had always emphasized that “anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion is either ignorant of modern methods of treating the complications of pregnancy, or is unwilling to take time to use them.” There is a mountain of medical evidence that shows mother and baby can survive a high risk pregnancy.Abortion done to save the mother’s life is almost non-existent in today’s highly sophisticated medical climate. If the mother’s actual life were threatened by a baby in her womb, a conscientious doctor would try to save both. The Congress of American College Surgeons had always emphasized that “anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion is either ignorant of modern methods of treating the complications of pregnancy, or is unwilling to take time to use them.” There is a mountain of medical evidence that shows mother and baby can survive a high risk pregnancy.The human mind is endowed with power and at the call of necessity, it can create things to preserve or make life better. The human will can interfere and push the mind to work harder, search for more ways, hope against hope that there is a way out of imminent trouble. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Rather than contemplate on aborting the unborn child . . . rather than put the mother, the mother’s family, and the medical community in a stressful and compromising situation, the mother should long for a therapeutic solution, not therapeutic abortion.Abortion done to save the mother’s life is almost non-existent in today’s highly sophisticated medical climate. If the mother’s actual life were threatened by a baby in her womb, a conscientious doctor would try to save both. The Congress of American College Surgeons had always emphasized that “anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion is either ignorant of modern methods of treating the complications of pregnancy, or is unwilling to take time to use them.” There is a mountain of medical evidence that shows mother and baby can survive a high risk pregnancy.The human mind is endowed with power and at the call of necessity, it can create things to preserve or make life better. The human will can interfere and push the mind to work harder, search for more ways, hope against hope that there is a way out of imminent trouble. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Rather than contemplate on aborting the unborn child . . . rather than put the mother, the mother’s family, and the medical community in a stressful and compromising situation, the mother should long for a therapeutic solution, not therapeutic abortion.What about when the fetus may be born with incapacitating disease, physical deformity or mental deficiency? Abortion in this case is an utter discrimination against born and unborn children with handicap. It’s an abortion against the handicapped.

Abortion done to save the mother’s life is almost non-existent in today’s highly sophisticated medical climate. If the mother’s actual life were threatened by a baby in her womb, a conscientious doctor would try to save both. The Congress of American College Surgeons had always emphasized that “anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion is either ignorant of modern methods of treating the complications of pregnancy, or is unwilling to take time to use them.” There is a mountain of medical evidence that shows mother and baby can survive a high risk pregnancy.The human mind is endowed with power and at the call of necessity, it can create things to preserve or make life better. The human will can interfere and push the mind to work harder, search for more ways, hope against hope that there is a way out of imminent trouble. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Rather than contemplate on aborting the unborn child . . . rather than put the mother, the mother’s family, and the medical community in a stressful and compromising situation, the mother should long for a therapeutic solution, not therapeutic abortion.What about when the fetus may be born with incapacitating disease, physical deformity or mental deficiency? Abortion in this case is an utter discrimination against born and unborn children with handicap. It’s an abortion against the handicapped.But isn’t it cruel to allow a handicapped child to be born to a miserable life? The assumption that the handicapped enjoy life less than normal persons has been shown to be false. A well-documented investigation revealed that there is no difference between handicapped and normal persons in their degree of life satisfaction, outlook of what lies immediately ahead, and vulnerability to frustration (Issues in Law and Medicine, p.758), and according to the American Psychologic Association, “though it may be both common and fashionable to believe that the malformed enjoy life less than the normal ones, this appears to lack both empirical and theoretical support” (Proceedings of American Psychologic Association, p. 359).

But wouldn’t care for the handicapped by very costly? If this is your argument for abortion, I question your ethics. Do you treat, care for, and help a sick or disabled person, or do you kill him? Do you measure the value of a person’s life in terms of money or usefulness? The cost to society to care for all the physically and mentally handicapped among us would be but a tiny fraction of the cost to society for the morally deformed among us.

Abortion of handicapped pre-born babies is killing the patient to arrest the disease. This is pre-natal euthanasia. Remember, before birth and after birth, it’s the same patient and the same handicap.

How about pregnancy due to rape or incest? Pregnancy from rape is very rare due to a number of reasons. The woman may be on the pill; the assault may have done during the non-fertile days of her cycle; she or he maybe sterile naturally or through disease or surgery; she may be too young or too old to conceive; there can be disruption of the ovulation cycle due to the extreme emotional trauma; there is often no sperm deposited in the vagina; there was no penetration; or there was retarded or premature ejaculation (Family Practice News, p122).

What about incest? Incest is intercourse between a father and his daughter, uncle and his niece, etc. It usually involves a sick man, often a sick woman (the mother frequently knows it’s happening, even if not conscientiously admitting it) and an exploited child. Fortunately, pregnancy is not very common. When incest does occur, however, it is seldom reported, and when reported, it is hard to prove (Consequences of Incest, p. 74).

Incest does not justify abortion. As socially inappropriate as incest and incestuous pregnancies are, their harmful effects depend largely upon reaction of others. Even strongly pro-abortion people, if they approach an incest case professionally, must be absolutely convinced of incest as a justifiable reason to abort the pregnancy before recommending abortion, for it not only is an assault on the young mother, who may well be pregnant with a “love subject” but it may fail to completely solve the original problem.

Furthermore, a law that would allow abortion for rape or incest would affect only a few women. If they go immediately to hospitals and are treated, the rape victims almost certainly will not get pregnant. If they don’t go and do become pregnant, they cannot prove it was due to rape. And even if pregnancy is indeed a product of rape or incest, the pregnancy is not a disease. It is a natural consequence of physical union and aborting the pregnancy cannot correct the crookedness of rape or incest. Abortion is the wrong solution to the problem.

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