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Abortion Position Paper

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ABORTION

I. Introduction
Our world today is full of unsolved, decisive and controversial issues. Most of them
relate to our morals, ethics, and religion, thus creating a very strong yes or no, or good and
bad side. One of these issues include – abortion. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by
removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus before it can survive outside the uterus,
sometimes it is called “termination of pregnancy.” To impart information, abortion
techniques were developed as early as 1550 BC, when the Egyptian medical text Ebers
Papyrus suggested that the vaginal insertion of plant fiber covered with honey and
crushed dates could induce an abortion. Abortion was an accepted practice in ancient
Greece and Rome as the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that “when couples have
children in excess, let abortion be obtained before sense and life have begun.” Throughout
much of Western history, abortion was not considered a criminal act as long as it was
performed before the first detectable movement of the fetus, which can occur between 13-
25 weeks of pregnancy. Until at least the early-1800s, abortion procedures and methods
were legal and openly advertised throughout the United States and other neighboring
places, however, for over a century, abortion has been criminalized in the Philippines. The
criminal provisions on abortion do not contain any exceptions allowing abortion,
including to save the life of the pregnant woman or to protect her health. Abortion was
criminalized through the Penal Code of 1870 under Spanish colonial rule, and the criminal
provisions were incorporated into the Revised Penal Code passed in 1930 under U.S.
occupation of the Philippines. Like the Chinese yin and yang sign, abortion has a very
prominent black and white side but also contains traces of each in the alternating color.
This shows that if you were to come to any kind of conclusion on abortion, there would be
a downside to it, and that is primarily why the world cannot agree on this sensitive and
emotional issue. But looking at the pessimistic side, we consider that abortion violates the
human rights of the child, defies the Word of God, and affects the health of the mother.

II. Counter Argument

Abortion should be part of a country's contraception policy. People should plan
their families & society must allow women to end unwanted pregnancies, in order to deal
with failures of birth control. In accordance with this, abortion should be legal but
discouraged. Legal simply because it is a choice, and what grows inside your body is yours.
Also, keeping it illegal doesn’t stop it from happening. It only means women are forced to
undergo unsafe and fatal procedures. As a result of the criminal abortion law and the

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discriminatory environment in the Philippines, women are left without a means to control
their fertility, exposed to unsafe abortions, and made vulnerable to abuse in the health
system. In other words, prohibiting abortions doesn't stop abortions, women would simply
seek abortions via illegal means which are unsafe & illegal, so it is better to provide
woman with safe and legal ways to do an abortion. As stated during a forum by Ana Maria
“Princess” Nemenzo, who spoke on behalf of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Women’s
Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), and Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy
Network (Pinsan), and is currently the national coordinator of WomanHealth Philippines,
the Philippines should end the continued criminalization of abortion as they are concerned
that a law enacted increased the number of pharmacists who dispense abortifacients
without prescription resulting to the increasing number of abortions, complications,
injuries, and maternal deaths caused by unsafe measures of abortion. Another one is,
abortion would give a piece of mind to the woman, especially when the pregnancy was a
result of rape. According to the Philippine Commission on Women, 4% of women age 15-49
experienced forced first sexual intercourse and 10% of women age 15-49 experienced
sexual violence. In this case, abortion should be made legal, especially to those women who
are rape victims because having a child after a traumatic experience can be detrimental
for them for life.

III. Argument
Abortion violates the human rights of the child. Life begins at conception, so fetuses
have already human rights. As we all know, human life is sacred and inviolable and the use
of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes must be strongly discouraged because it is the
expression of an inhuman mentality, which removes the possibility for families to accept,
embrace and love their weakest children. As stated in the Article II of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution says, in part, "Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and
shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall
equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception."
Therefore, the right to life is a universally recognized right for all human beings. It is a
fundamental right which governs all other existing rights. In its absence, all other
fundamental rights have no reason to exist. For children, the right to life is the chance to
be able to live and have the possibility to grow, to develop and become adults. This right
comprises two essential aspects: the right to have one’s life protected from birth and the
right to be able to survive and develop appropriately. In observance with the law, abortion
is prohibited and should be treated as cruel and unnatural, absolutely immoral human
behavior for the reason that every child has the right to survive.

Abortion also defies the Word of God. According to the scriptures, God said that “I
gave them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my
hand” (John 10:28). Abortion is a sin in the eyes of the Lord. No one can take one’s life

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except God Himself. And even though unexpected, the life of a child inside the mother’s
womb is still important and a gift from God. Based on the bible verse Psalm 127:3, ”Behold
children are the gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Killing is a sin which
disobeys one of the ten commandments of God which is “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus
20:13). A survey in Florida last 2015 showed that almost 92% of the abortions were
performed to healthy women, with healthy children. There was nothing problematic with
the circumstances of conception and nothing problematic with the help of the mother or
baby. Therefore, we can say that people or mainly abortion was mostly for beneficiality of
women, in their life or social and economic reasons. They focus on their needs and status
rather than the child in their womb that came from God. It defies the word of God
considering their own purposes for abortion. They lack knowledge and skill in decision-
making in choosing between the Law of God or the reasons that can affect their social
status, image and figure. Furthermore, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) President stressed that abortion “remains a serious wrong” because terminating
the life of the unborn “trespasses the sacred ground that human life is.” Not only does it
bring death on another, it brings about the spiritual death of one who commits it with full
knowledge of its malice and the consequences of this absolutely abhorrent act. As a result,
women who do this violates teachings of God such as not to kill, cherish one’s life and they
didn’t valued the sacrifice Jesus made just to obtain life or eternal life.

Lastly, abortion affects the health of the mother. Physical, emotional, and mental
health are affected by abortion. First, in physical health, the mother experiences not just
physical side effects but also serious complications. According to a research of National
Library of Medicine in US, physical side effects of it are abdominal pain, spotting and
bleeding. While the serious complications a mother can experience are heavy or persistent
bleeding, infection or sepsis, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining and
perforation of the uterus (Bethesda (MD), 2017). Abortion affects the mother physically,
because it can cause damages even on its other organs specifically on her reproductive
organs. It can cause cancer and other serious problems that can cause the malfunctioning
of them. It can also affect the emotional and mental health of a woman. After an abortion,
a woman may have both positive and negative feelings regarding her choice, even at the
same time. It’s typical to feel instant relief due to the fact that the procedure is over and
that she is no longer in an unplanned pregnancy. However, after a few months, this relief
can be replaced with many other emotional reactions. One woman may feel sad that she
was in a position where all of her choices were difficult ones. She may feel emotionally sad
about ending her pregnancy. She may also experience a sense of emptiness or guilt,
wondering whether or not her decision was correct. Some women who describe these
feelings find they go away with time. Others find them more difficult to overcome as time
advances. Based on the “Abortion among Adolescents”, abortion has side effects such as
guilt, suicidal thoughts and feelings, depression and anxiety (Adler, Nancy, et al., 2013).
Women have different reasons of abortions and each of them has an emotional or mental
negative effect later on. Depression and nightmares are common among women after
abortion because a study in prestigious journal shows abortion harms women's mental
health (Coleman (PhD), 2009). Abortion has a lot of negative effects to women undergoing

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through it. though they have their own reasons why they do such thing, they are also
facing consequences later on that can put their life and health on risk.

IV. Conclusion

Therefore, we conclude that abortion has negative impacts which makes it unethical
to undertake. Thus, abortion violates the human rights of the child, defies the Word of God,
and affects the health of the mother. We cannot deny the fact that sometimes the
circumstances surrounding a pregnancy are tragic. Perhaps the woman was raped. Maybe
the baby has been diagnosed with a defect. Or the woman’s health might be at risk.
However, one tragedy is not answered with another. We do not erase a rape by killing a
child. We do not cure a baby by taking his life. And we do not avoid all health issues by
avoiding the reality of another human being. No matter how hard we try, we can never
erase what abortion does. Abortion takes – it kills – an innocent human being. Time does
not erase murder or ease the reality of what it is. Abortion is a cruel tragedy, but it is also
a choice that should never be made. Such a choice stays with us forever. It’s important to
take the time you need to make the best decision for us. It’s also a good idea to talk to a
nurse or doctor as soon as you can so you can get the best medical care possible. In
addition, abortion is too often treated as though it was the centerpiece of women's
reproductive lives, rather than a last resort, when another options fail. Instead, women
should universally rely on contraception as the primary and dominant means of
controlling their fertility as a prevention agenda is likely to have wide popular appeal,
because it addresses real difficulties that people currently face trying to responsibly
manage their fertility.

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