One Of The Most Important Federal Issues Of Our Days: Abortion (Research Paper Sample)

Federal Issue: Abortion Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Federal Issue: Abortion Definition of the Issue Abortion is defined as the termination of a pregnancy through elimination of the fetus prior to reaching its full term. While the Federal government allows elective abortion after gestation of 20 weeks, it has not been keen on analyzing the lives of mothers who procure abortion (Leask, 2014). The mothers are always traumatized as they have witnessed the killing of lives (Leask, 2014). The mothers as well have not been able to mourn their children. Some abortions do take place as a result of rape pregnancies, which makes mothers to go through extreme trauma, doubt, guilt, denial, grief, sadness, regrets, and depression (Sullins, 2016). In some cases, mothers who have undergone abortion go through post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Sullins, 2016), limiting their national productivity hence slowing the economic growth of the United States. While women who seek legal abortion in hospitals do receive pre-abortion counseling to help them make the best decisions, there is need for the Congress to use its constitutional authority to create a law that allows allocation federal grants to health care helps women who have undergone abortion to seek counseling services without costs. According to Bruff (2014), the Congress has a constitutional authority to create and amend laws. The Congress also has a constitutional authority to allocate resources to courses, such as health, it deems fit for the United States citizens (Glassman, 2016). Helping mothers cope well emotionally after abortion would help them become productive. Annotated Bibliography Bellieni, C. V. & Buonocore, G. (2013). Abortion and subsequent mental health: Review of the literature. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 67(5), 301-10. The article studied the association between mental disorders and abortion. The study found that mothers who have unplanned pregnancies and procure abortions are at high risk of developing mental disorders. The study also found that women who procure abortions are highly likely to develop anxiety and depression in the long-term. In addition, while comparing child birth and fetal loss, the research found that the loss of fetus makes women be at high risk of developing mental disorders than child birth. The study is reliable as it utilized a literature review approach, which analyzed results and findings of high quality and scholarly studies spanning 16 years. Coleman, K. P., Boswell, K., Etzkorn, K., & Turnwald, R. (2017). Women who suffered emotionally from abortion: A qualitative synthesis of their experiences. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, 22(4), 113-118. This article tried to find out the experiences of women, both good and bad, after they perform abortions. The study found that the positive experiences of women who had undergone abortion included getting involved in pro-life initiatives and growing spiritually. On the other hand, the negative experiences included anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, regret, and feeling of having ended a life. The study also found that the positive experiences were as a result of the negative outcomes since the women grow spiritually to prevent future abortions or help persons who have undergone abortion to effectively get out of the negative emotional problems they experience. The study is reliable as it utilized a qualitative research method which is exclusively appropriate at studying the extent and deepness of people’s experiences. Leask, M. (2014). Constructing women as mentally troubled: The political and performative effects of psychological studies on abortion and mental health. Women’s Studies Journal, 28(1), 74-82. The article explores the political and performance effects of abortion on mental health of women. The study indicates that people who oppose abortion in New Zealand utilize studies that indicate that abortion causes mental health problems to support their claims in court of laws and when developing legislations. The article argues that while the relationship between abortion and mental health may not be turgid, research indicates that abortion is pathological thus can cause mental illness or problems. The study by Leask (2014) is sound as it relies on studies that prove that abortion is generally pathological. The research as well relies on studies that have been used in court cases to prove that there is a positive correlation between abortion and mental health. Obertinca, B., Dangellia, A., Pacarada, M., Beha, A. B., Gallopeni, F., Kongjeli, N., Gashi, A., & Blakaj, V. (2016). Emotional and psychological effects on women after induced abortion. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(3), 1785-88. This study investigates what women undergo psychologically and emotionally after they have gone through induced abortion. The study found that women who undergo abortion because they did not want the pregnancies, had varied diseases, or their fetus had anomalies went through depression, anger, repentance, shame, and guilt in addition to experiencing difficulties in sleeping and eating, feeling lonely, and losing self-confidence. The study as well revealed that the psychological and emotional effects of the women after they have procured abortion can negatively affect their ability to plan and hold future pregnancies. The study is reliable and can be generalized as it spanned a period of 1 year, providing time for participant follow-up. Sullins, D. P. (2016). Abortion, substance abuse and mental health in early adulthood: Thirteen year longitudinal evidence from the United States. SAGE Open Medicine, 4, 1-11. DOI: 10.1177/2050312116665997. The article sought to find out whether or not abortion, birth, or involuntary loss of pregnancy increased the likelihood of mental illness as women moved from adolescents to early adulthood. In contrast to involuntary loss of pregnancy and birth, the study found that abortion enhances the risk of women developing mental problems as they transition from adolescents to early adulthood. The study utilized a large sample size, 8005 women, thus has produced reliable results that can be generalized to the entire Unites States population of women from age 15 to 28 years. The study also included other related variables such as normal birth and involuntary child loss that enabled singling out abortion to have negative mental outcomes on women. Analysis Legalizing or not legalizing abortion is a subject of debate. Even so, abortion is lawful in the United States after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Many women procure legal and illegal abortion in the United States every year. After the abortion, women undergo physical as well as negative problems, which many people either ignore or are not interested with (Obertinca et al., 2016; Leask, 2014). The emotional problems women go through irrespective of whether they have procured abortion legally or illegally include shame, regret, depression, anger, loneliness, and guilt among others (Bellieni & Buonocore, 2013; Coleman, Boswell, Etzkorn, & Turnwald, 2017). The Congress has the power to make laws that affect the lives of United States citizens (Bruff, 2014). The Congress as well serves as the voice of the people in the Federal government (Glassman, 2016). As a result, the Congress’ role in the issue of abortion and mental illness is to introduce and debating a bill regarding provision of mental health services to women who have gone through abortion. I would like my Representative or Senator and the Congress as a whole create a law that enables women to access mental help in various community centers free of charge after they procure abortions. They should also allocate enough money towards the management of the community centers that offer the mental health services. Nonethele...