Abortion on Teens should be Abolished

Am sure we have all heard of the girl meets boy story, where the girl falls in love with the boy despite receiving plenty of warnings and criticism from any person who has ever mattered in the girl’s life. Everything is merry and life is good for the girl until one day she realizes she has missed her period and rushes to her man’s home telling herself that everything will be okay. Reality checks in, hard, when the boy declines to acknowledge the pregnancy citing a number of reasons that the girl is too shocked to even understand.

At this point her mind is confused and she does not know how to react to the situation. She starts thinking of her life as a single teenage mother with no job and an incomplete schooling and decides she has to get rid of the baby through abortion. Are these reasons really enough to warrant such a drastic move? Many people have tried to come up with valid reasons to justify abortion, and in this essay, I will attempt to argue against it and why it should be stopped.

Introduction

Teenage abortion has always been quite a charged topic for many societies, especially in the United States where numerous debates have taken place, arguing on its validity. During the abortion, an unborn child is terminated while still in the mother’s womb, an act that to me should be similar to murder. Some will want to argue that it is the teenager’s right to decide what to do with her body and the decision lies with them (Lara et al. 2015). Others will say that by aborting she is sparing herself and her child’s life from the hardships that come along with early parenthood especially for the single mothers, most of whom usually are. There are also the cases where a child is conceived out of violent acts such as rape and the teenager feels that she will not want the baby if it is born. Such scenarios have been known to be stressing for the affected teenagers some of whom would rather die than live to see such a child be born. Many societies have been known to side with the decision to abort in such a situation as they feel that they are helping save the teenager from stress. As convincing as some of these reasons may sound, the fact is that you are still destroying the life of an innocent child that would have probably had a great impact on this cruel world that we live in today. That fetus that you choose to destroy today may have probably been the answer to the cure for cancer, a major problem that has been troubling us to date.

The people who understand the Bible know that taking a life is a sin against God and warrants punishment from him. From the Holy Bible, the book of Exodus 20:13 states that “Thou shall not kill”. This is a law that has found use even in the present day justice system that seeks to punish anyone who commits murder. Science has found out that a human life actually starts during conception when the sperm and the egg meet. With such findings, that have been scientifically proven, then the idea that the fetus is not yet human and does not have feelings should be erased from our minds. These are human beings whose lives we are taking. One important fact that they also fail to mention to the teenagers seeking an abortion, is the emotional toll that it takes o them. The psychological and emotional torment that these teenagers have been known to go through following an abortion can range from the simple feelings of regret to the severe cases of depression. Some of these women who have undergone abortion have been known to suffer from anxiety disorders for longs periods amounting to years. A research carried out in New – Zealand found out that mothers who went through abortion exhibited higher cases of substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, anxiety disorders and severe depression (Burgess, 2018). About 39% of these women went through severe depression that would last four up to four years. A study has also taken on the women in America also showed that unlike the ones who gave birth, women who chose abortion were at a higher rate of suffering from clinical depression. Mothers have been known to be creatures who nature other beings, therefore, when they suffer from such cases of depression, they would not be able to perform their duty. A mother, who is suicidal, is a hazard to both herself and her family.

Another negative impact that abortion has on these women that many probably do not know is the physical damage it does to their bodies. The pills that are given to induce the process have been known to have negative side effects on the women who go through a lot of discomforts (Hanschmidt, 2016). The notable cases recorded by some of the women have shown symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, cramping and continuous bleeding. There have also been cases of women whose wombs end up being destroyed due to the process and thus prevent them from ever conceiving again, or be able to carry a pregnancy without any complications. The severe cases have been the ones where some of these women end up losing their lives due to excessive bleeding. In such a scenario both the life of the mother and the child are lost over something that could have easily been avoided. With that in mind is it, therefore, really worth it?

There are the cases where some people have felt that abortion should be an option for situations where conception is done through violence, such as rape (Kaczor, 2014). As much as they would want to give reasons why this should be allowed, another option should be put on the table. To me, the best option for such a situation would be for the mother to carry the pregnancy to full term, and then if she still does not want the child after birth, she can give it up for adoption. There is no place where it has ever been proven that the raped woman would feel better once she has terminated the child that she had not planned for. The reality of the matter, in fact, is that she will end up even more traumatized after the process. Mothers have always been known to share in their children’s pain and it would thus be devastating for the mother where reality checks in and she realizes that she did not get to hold her child in her arms. So rather than kill the child, why not give birth to it and give it up for adoption? Who knows, maybe one day she may end up accepting the child and take it back. Every day we get to hear and probably see hundreds of people heading to the adoption agency centers seeking to adopt a child for themselves. These are couples who have probably tried and realized that they cannot have children of their own. Their love for each other and the willingness to share it with another being drives them to these centers hoping that they can find a child that they can call their own. Therefore, when a mother decides to terminate a baby, she is denying the child a chance to be a part of this loving family. When the mother decides to give the baby up for adoptions, her heart will most likely have peace knowing that she has given the child a chance to live. She will also have saved herself from the emotional trauma that she would have otherwise gone through.

Abortion should not be made an option for any case, and aside from the severe situations such a rape, every single teenager should be held accountable for their pregnancy. Today the media has done a great job in portraying the joys of engaging in premarital sex and everyone seems to be in a rush to do it as soon as their hormones start to “notice” the opposite sex. Access to pornographic materials from magazines to the internet has never been easier than it is today thanks to technology. These teenagers are usually at a stage where they want to experience everything for themselves and suffer the consequences later, not knowing the kind of effect it will have on them. They have sex and fail to make use of contraceptives such as condoms and birth control pills, thus ending up pregnant. In this case, it was their choice to engage in sex and as such should be held responsible for the aftermath. If a child is conceived during the process, then it should also be their duty to accept it. Why should an unborn child be made to suffer for the sins of the parents?

Science has already proven that a person is described as living as early as during the time of conception. The rule of law on the other hand, clearly states that no person has the right to take the life of another person except maybe in cases of self-defense. With these two facts in mind, shouldn’t abortion then be described as murder and be punished? There was the case scenario of the man from Memphis who shot dead a woman by the name Tamara Davis (http://wreg.com/2016/02/05/man-arrested-for-triple-homicide-involving-a-pregnant-woman/).  The woman also turned out to be pregnant at the time. During the hearing of the case, the court found the man guilty for two counts of first-degree murder (George, 2016). The law also clearly states that if a person kills a woman who was pregnant at the time, then the culprit will be charged with manslaughter (Kaczor, 2014). This law also states that a man does not have the right to take the life of an unborn child even if it is his own and that the punishment for such a crime would be death. The law, however, gives the mother the right to terminate her pregnancy if she chooses. I feel that this is a big contradiction in the government’s part given that in both cases the life of a person is being terminated. All decisions to protect a life should matter and there should not be loops holes, not even for the mothers.

We have seen the negative impacts that abortion can have on people, and as such people who seek to encourage it should try to find better solutions. Rather than encourage it, why not teach these teenagers on its dangers and how to avoid it. Sex education can play a big role in making the kids understand the decisions that they make involving their lives. Research has revealed that a good number of teenagers today do not know how their bodies work and usually end up being victims of their own ignorance. These are the kind of people who should be educated on such matters and more. Factors such as lack of education, lack of jobs, age, or mockery should not be reasons as a why a teenage mother would choose to abort a child. Rather than focus on the advantages that abortion would have on the mother, these teenagers should also be shown its negative side. The horrible pictures of babies that have been killed through the process would be enough to make any sane person change their mind on the matter. The emotional and physical toll that this procedure has on the mothers should not be taken lightly, and such teenagers should be advised accordingly, before making such drastic decisions. The many couples who are unable to have children of their own should be given the chance to raise these unwanted babies rather let them be killed. For the Christians, this can be seen as God’s way of planting their seed in another person to prove their worth. Maybe it was fate that decided such couples be the parents to these unwanted babies. The justice system also ought to revise its rulings on the matter so that it can ensure that each life if protected no matter the circumstance.

Conclusion

So for the people who have advised on such or plan to engage in such an act, think of the many great minds that you are preventing from coming to life. Think of the many great people who have lost an opportunity to shine. Think of the innocent children being punished for something that they know nothing of. You were lucky enough to be given a chance to live and enjoy life with your parents, so why not return the favor by doing the same for another child? People die every day in our society, most of whom wish that they would have been given another chance to live. Such people have died because the decision to live is not theirs to make, so why would you want to be one to deny someone the right to live when you have the choice to give life? Abortion should, therefore, be considered an inhuman act and abolished.

References

1. Burgess, M. A. (2018). Abortion in a New Zealand cohort-Incidence, reasons and emotional impact (Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago).
2. George B. (2016, February, 5). Man arrested for double murder involving a pregnant woman. Retrieved from https://wreg.com/2016/02/05/man-arrested-for-triple-homicide-involving-a-pregnant-woman/
3. Hanschmidt, F., Linde, K., Hilbert, A., Riedel??Heller, S. G., & Kersting, A. (2016). Abortion stigma: a systematic review. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 48(4), 169-177.
4. Kaczor, C. (2014). The ethics of abortion: Women’s rights, human life, and the question of justice. Routledge.
5. Lara, D., Holt, K., Pe?±a, M., & Grossman, D. (2015). Knowledge of abortion laws and services among low-income women in three United States cities. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 17(6), 1811-1818.

Did you like this example?

999

42