Abortion Essays (930 words) - Abortion In The United States, Law

Abortion Abortion, Is It Wrong or Right? Amy was scared. No, she was absolutely terrified. She had gone to one little party and done something dumb. It all started when she and her friends started drinking. She met this really cool guy and knew his name but not much else. Because Amy was drunk he had convinced her to have sex with him. Within a couple of days She then found out that she was pregnant pregnant at age sixteen. So many thoughts and questions overwhelmed her. Should I tell the boy that got me pregnant? Should I tell my parents? What would my friends and everyone else think of me? Was there some way to just make it all disappear? An abortion, that would take care of it, she thought. But then again that was like taking the easy way out. Maybe she should have the baby, and put it up for adoption. She couldnt take care of a baby right now. She has plans for college and job. Amy wrestled with her problem but she could not yet come to grips with the fact that she was really pregnant. She knew that the Pro-life groups and the Pro-choice groups would have totally different opinions and struggled to decide which was right for her. Many girls these days have had to make this decision, and most that go through with an abortion do not even realize what it is. There are many different opinions to this procedure that I will discuss but first, what is an abortion? The dictionary defines abortion as the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. The abortion process starts by making an appointment and taking a pregnancy test. If you are definitely pregnant then you will come back in two weeks for the abortion. When you return the next two weeks a nurse will take you to an examining room where you will lie down on the exam table covered by a white paper cloth and your feet in metal stirrups. As the procedure begins a long metal tool is inserted into the vagina and opens it to hold the vaginal walls apart. A painkiller is used to numb the cervix. The opening of the cervix widens about half an inch or about the width of a pen. A small tube attached to a vacuum aspirator machine, which is like what the dentist uses to remove saliva from your mouth, is inserted. The machine sucks up the contents of the uterus with a curette- a spoon-shaped instrument- to make sure everythi ng has been removed. The whole process takes only ten minutes. Afterwards you have some cramps, those similar to severe menstrual cramps, for about an hour. The doctor will give you a prescription for an antibiotic and a twenty-four hour emergency number. Then in two weeks you would come back for a check up to make sure the process was complete. This procedure that I described is the most common type or method of abortion. About ninety percent of abortions are preformed this way. There are about 1.6 million women who have legal abortions each year in the United States. Of those 1.6 million, about one in four are teenagers. This is the main reason it is such a controversial procedure. Whether you side with those teens that think girls should have the right to abortion or those who think girls should not, you can always find support for your point of view. One group is called Pro-life or Right-to-Life. They believe that a fetus right to live comes first, before the right of the pregnant woman. In a religious perspective they believe it is immoral. The New Testament strictly says it is wrong. The pro-life movement has pursued this debate of immorality for twenty years. They say that interests and personhood exist in the fetus from its origin, and rights flow from societys recognition of these interests. Just as society recognizes the interests of future generations, it should recognize the interests and rights of the unborn fetus. American culture places high value on human life and should sanctify it in all its forms. On the