Is Abortion Is A Debatable Health And Social Concern (Essay Sample)

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Abortion
Abortion is a debatable health and social concern. In essence, it entails ending or termination of pregnancy by removing the fetus for medical or personal reasons. Given the controversy surrounding the vice, many individuals’ present varied opinions to recommend or disregard the act. The proponents argue that it represents the right of a person to make informed decisions about reproductive health. Conversely, the opponents outline that abortion is a violation of human rights which makes it a highly controversial issue that draws the moral, emotional and cultural understanding of people.
The “pro-abortion” faction holds their argument on account that it is a basic human right. However,fetus lacks the human sense making it inappropriate to accord them human rights. Anti-abortion crusaders believe that life begins at conception while those who have contrary opinion believes that life commences at birth. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling of Rose vs. Wade ruling gave legality to abortion leading to varied opinions. The American Constitution enshrines the right to privacy (Ehrenreichand English 30). Therefore, the pro-abortion fraction argues that right to privacy gives women power and control over all things that happen in their lives.
The 1973 US Abortion Policy
The 1973 US Supreme Court ruling gave American women control over the reproductive system contrary to a widespread misconception about themorality of the practice. The policy has legal implications for medical professionals. It has particular provisions about women’s healthcare needs and circumstances that may lead to abortion conductance(Ehrenreich and English 27). Therefore, the policy was made with aview topromoting a healthy populace and adherence to medical or legal abortion processes.
It is viewed that prohibition to a safe practice is demeaning to women. The proponentof this act argues that it subjects women to desperation and shame. Women just like male counterpart have right to make choices in every aspect of their lives. Prohibition further forces women to secure illegal and unsafe practice (Ehrenreich and English 28). The documented unsafe practices include chemical ingestion, drug overdose, and knitting needles to their uterus.
Legalization would give women the chance to make informed decisions and seek proper medical assistance. Moreover, it eliminates exorbitant fees that service providers demand from the client.However, federal policies are not uniform to all the states in the United States. Currently, 19 States permit and stipulate that women must seek such services from specified hospital’s point of pregnancy. Meanwhile, 43 States permit abortion if the life of the woman is in danger (Ehrenreichand English 56).
Claims Making
Illegal practice has been a leading cause of many deaths. Between 1950 and 1960, it is documented that between 200,000 and 1.2 million people procured unlawful abortions (Ehrenreichand English, 87). In this, North Carolina recorded the highest number of illegal practice estimates indicating 829,000 in 1967 (Ehrenreich and English, 87). In addition, there were many deaths between the 1930s and 1970s prior to the legalization of the act. As such, legalization was done with theview of making the practice safe.
America is a democratic nation that safeguards citizens’choices provided that they do not contravene the laws. It is on this basis that the proponents claimed that women lacked freedom contrary to what democracy dictates. They further asserted that people were procuring an unsafe practice that exposed themselves to immense risks. Therefore, legalization was on this account perceived as a step towards enhancing the quality of life of women.
Before theopen discussions, it was treacherous to talk about abortion. However, the growth of civil activist movements enabled women and pro-choice crusaders to contribute to the agenda. Through rallies, advocacy and lobby groups, many people began to understand the sense or as well as highlight some of the underlying reasons for awareness creation (Galalae 45). Socialist views, however,stick to the claims that the act would put to an end the sanctity of human life. However, it disregarded situations that may involve the health of the mothers.
Medical experts viewhealth risks that pregnancy poses to both the mother and the child. In this essence, there was the need for the safe performance under the guidance of a professional. The viewpoint was that safe practice protect lives especially if the life of a mother is in danger. Therefore, legalization gives guidelines as to when it is safe to procure to terminate a pregnancy. The approach also connotes medical code of ethics that aim to safeguard the lives of people. In addition, enabling the patients especially women to make decisions about their reproductive health gives them the freedom to pursue other important activities such as a career.
It was equally at the prerogative of political outfits to have laws that protect the rights and privileges of the citizen. One of the ways that political views prevailed over the legalizationwas on the protection of the right to privacy and dignity of human life. Therefore, they viewed abortion as a personal decision about life. In addition, the political views based on increased incidences of unsafe acts and related deaths (Best and Best 154).
Media coverage
The media shaped public opinion on all contemporary issues that affect the society. The pro-choice crusaders viewed journalists as their allies. Most major news housesopenly showed support to the laws going by the numbers of editorial coverage they gave on the issue. Furthermore, the media used emotional appeal to gain public support (Graber and Dunaway 45). Opposing views perceived the media as a skewed platform that denied public an opportunity to make a choice void of coercion. In addition, the debates coincided with thewidespread tendencies for media to give coverage to rights advocates.
Measuring public opinion on Abortion
Public opinion regarding the legalizationhas been an issue of contention for more than three decades. The debates have continued to shape some of the restrictions and changes made to the initial policy. Some of the arguments have been onmorality and legality ofpractices as well as circumstances to warrant such an act. As such, Gallup’s long-term measure on the public option on the debate bore some consistency. At some point, more people leaned towards pro-choice to the extent that by the 1990s, liberal views were seen to outnumber the conservative views on the subject (Graber and Dunaway 56).
Even though public view on abortion was limited to the concept of circumstance, pro-choice crusadersstill supported the act. The opinion of the public transformed from consideration as woman issue to social concern. This led to divergence from the religious views about sanctity and respect of life. Pressure for change and respect for others’ views also influenced opinions.
Kingdon’s Model of Policymaking
Under Kingdon’s three-stream policy window model, three streams namely political, problem and policy are elements in po...