According to the Oxford Dictionary 2019, abortion is defined as “The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.”
In South Africa any woman at any age can request an abortion, as long as the abortion is carried out by a licensed and registered doctor or nurse. Minors (people under the age of 18) do not need their parents’ or their guardians’ permission (Guardian Centre for Health Journalism, 2019).
Only in two cases does abortion require the consent of a woman’s guardian, spouse or a court-appointed curator (Guardian Centre for Health Journalism, 2019):
- When a person is unconscious and health workers do not expect her to regain consciousness in time to have an abortion; or
- When a person with a uterus is so severely mentally disabled that they do not understand the potential consequences of an abortion (Guardian Centre for Health Journalism, 2019).
Abortion has been, and will continue to be, and extremely sensitive and often emotionally explosive topic to discuss. Throughout my clinical practice this year as well as the previous year I have treated patients who have had an abortion, or many abortions. One patient disclosed horrific details of being raped by her uncle and his friend and how she had gotten pregnant from this horrendous scenario. This particular patient went on to say how she had been forced to carry the baby to full term, by family members as it was not in their religious beliefs to carry out an abortion. This patient spoke of how when the baby was born she did not want to see the child but rather that it must be taken away as the boy would only give her a daily reminder of pain and suffering. How would this negatively affect this child growing up without a father, or a mother? And how would this effect the mother emotionally? My felt a crushing sadness for my patient, as the joy of childbirth was completely stolen from her.
The hypothetical “camp’ is inevitably split into two distinct groups. On one hand we have the group of people who are of the opinion that abortion should be legal and that the final decision should ultimately fall on the mothers shoulders, however the opposing group argue that abortion should be illegal, and that the foetus should be protected under law. I will look to delve into these two groups to try and understand each different point of view.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 it is said “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”. Many religious pro-abortionists use the previous verse in order to put a religious motive behind their arguments. Pro-abortionists believe that in this verse God is saying that you should choose the life of the child. However if you truly pick apart this verse, you can find that God is actually referring to the fact that in order for children to receive a good life you must be willing to overcome challenges in order to give your children their best life possible.
On the other side of the religious spectrum in Islam according to Sharia law abortion is illegal. In Islam the fetus possesses a spiritual right and the parents are obligated to observe these rights for the safety of the fetus before, during and after pregnancy (Fatemeh and Marzieh, 2015). The Holy Quran says: “No one is punished for the sin the other one has committed”. Which many Islam religious figures have used against women who have been raped or abused, stating that you should not kill the fetus who is a spiritual being for the wrong doings of another human (Fatemeh and Marzieh, 2015). This is often argued against as many dispute whether the child is a spiritual being before or after birth, however many Muslims agree with the statements made in the Holy Quran.
However on the other side of the spectrum we have Pro-Choice activists. According to this camp of thought the right to have an abortion should be legal and should remain legal throughout the world. It is often stated that it is the mothers choice, as she will be carrying the child and it is her body. People who are “Pro-choice” believe that individuals have unlimited autonomy with respect to their own reproductive systems, as long as they don’t break the autonomy of other people. Another argument put forward by Pro-choice is that of Rape – If a woman falls pregnant as the result of a rape, then it should be completely her choice to abort or not to abort. I will sketch a picture that applies to the Pro-choice argument:
“A ten-year-old girl and her mother arrived at a hospital in Asunción, Paraguaywith stomach pains. The doctors quickly discovered the cause of the discomfort – the girl was 21-weeks pregnant, the result of having been raped by her stepfather.” (Amnesty International USA, 2019)
This is a horrific true story, that should get anyone thinking that this girl should have the right to an abortion, due to these extreme circumstances. At such a young age, the pregnancy is considered high risk by the World Health Organisation, as the childs body is not yet fully developed and able to cope with the demands of the growing fetus. However because this girl lives in Paraguay (who have some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world) the child has been forced to keep the baby to term, despite the obvious, horrible and potentially fatal risks.
This is an extremely sad example of many horrific cases of rape and abuse of women and children throughout the world. Women are forced to carry their rapists baby due to laws that prohibit the right to a safe abortion. The right to an abortion is something that every single person needs to think about, especially when it comes to extreme cases such as rape, as the detrimental effects may much outweigh the potential positives.
3 thoughts on “Abortion. Wrong or Right?”
Hi Max,
Thanks for sharing your writing. I am going to give feedback following the rubric so its easy to follow and has some structure.
Substance/Content: I think your post is not yet complete, you have made an in-depth contribution to the topic but I think you can still provide more substantial and essential information, both new information/ideas on the topic as well as build on your mentioned views. I think you have drawn effectively on evidence to support your views but this can be improved. I suggest reading articles on the topic and looking at reference lists of these articles to find more information (legal information, experiences and views), at the moment you have provided a fair bit of religious justification, not to say this is inadequate but it is not enough to persuade a view in my opinion. I think your topic is relevant to our class topics but I don’t think it is necessarily original as you have not described a personal experience of this in your clinical practice. If this is not the case, just bear this is mind when you write. Otherwise, I would include your personal experience of a patient or clinical conversation in your writing-maybe at the start of the piece to give some personal insight to the reader as to why you chose this topic.
Synthesis of content/discussion/reflection/critical thought: I think you demonstrate an understanding of the topic and the awareness of the main issues, although I think you can blend your writing with the coursework more and provide more experience/reflection on the topic (made a similar comment above). Perhaps you can draw on some points that other students in the class have made about this topic as well? I think you make claims in the piece but not all of them are explained sufficiently and/or justified completely. Perhaps find additional evidence to further substantiate a religious claim. I think your writing is predictable, you stay on topic and provide claims but there is nothing as of yet that demonstrates critical or unique thinking- I think this will improve will more reading and research.
Engagement: I think this section is more about how you engage with other students and feedback but in terms of this piece, you can definitely raise more questions and ideas in your post as your write and address concerns/issues. Overall I think you have engaged with the topic.
Writing Style: There are a few spelling and grammar errors, but the post is easy to read and follow. I think after reading more into this topic you can develop a stronger writing style and develop a more satisfactory conclusion.
References: you have included references and these are correctly referenced. As I said before, I think you can build on this reference list to make more concrete and new views.
Time/length: i think the length of the piece is appropriate, perhaps it could be a little longer if you added a more substantial conclusion.
Information literacy: perhaps you can add a picture or video or something to stimulate the reader regarding your idea/topic. Add this as a featured image.
Well done!
I look forward to reading the updated version.
Jemma
Hi Max,
Thank you for sharing your piece.
Your title clearly indicated what the following piece would place emphasis on and I liked the fact that you immediately started off by defining the term abortion. You mentioned that you have treated many patients who have had an abortion. Perhaps try and look into one of these clinical experiences as this will show that you have linked your clinical experience to the ethics module and particularly the topic at hand.Perhaps explore the way you felt about treating your patient after having the fact that she had an abortion made known to you. Furthermore, I like how you indicated that there are various view points with regards to this particular topic and that you have looked at the various religious perspectives with regards to this topic. Have you perhaps thought of exploring this topic by having a look at the laws of South Africa particularly with regards to abortion as well as the indications of abortion within South Africa ? I liked how you provided an example of the pro- choice argument when it comes to abortion and how you tied that to the laws existing within Paraguay. Therefore, I do think it would be great if you had a look at the laws existing within South Africa with regards to abortion. It would perhaps be helpful if you also have a look at literature and explore the most common factors that often influence the decision making process of young women when confronted with abortion. Overall , I think you done a good job. There’s definitely a flow and it is evident that you have consulted literature to support all statements made in your writing piece. Referencing is correct. I’m looking forward to your final piece !
Thank you !
Hi Max
I like your simplistic yet detailed approach to this inescapable beast of a topic that has dominated this century.
Substance; Satisfactory to Good, your piece is complete with appropriate details. you made an effort into bringing us into a context, even though you could’ve went a step further with your examples but you still illustrated the main idea perfectly through effective use of resources.
Synthesis of content; GOOD, your piece demonstrate clear awareness of the main issues raised through readings and class discussion and your discussion is based around what is already there, But as I was reading your piece I was having a lot of “here we go again moments”due to to the fact that this topics has been around for years. I was expecting you maybe to take us to where we have never been before like explore more on the example you used with a 10 year old, like how that baby will have a higher risk of underdevelopment, deformities and death due to the conditions, and how will that affect the young parent etc. The other thing is take a side, where do you stand? were you just giving us a summary of arguments in this topic or you wanted to convince us on something? like give us a clear reason like why someone should read your piece.
Engagement; GOOD, your comments are always education and beneficial to other fellow students and you do put some substantial effort in them.
Writing style; GOOD, there is a good command of English, no difficulty reading the post, minimal spelling and grammatical errors. you also displayed an above average ability to write. There is a clear beginning, middle and end to the post.
References; Good,proper reference but you could’ve explored more literature on this subject it would’ve made your piece even more compelling.
Time/length; EXCELLENT, on time and appropriate length of the writing.
Information literacy; Poor, it’s a hot button topic so give us something thought provoking
Overall;it’s a good attempt considering it’s a draft, I hope my feedback helps and I cant wait to read the final piece as I have no doubt that it will be amazing.
cheers.