There are many reasons as to why abortion poses an ethical dilemma for most women. Reasons such as religious beliefs, medical concerns are easily resolved by reason and need. While other cases, such as pregnancies resulting from criminal acts, are more often debated and considered an ethical dilemma.
It is not difficult to see why abortion is a hotly debated topic. Any discussion that involves the ending of a life, a life that never asked to be conceived in the first place, leaves the woman with the problem of deciding when it is right to continue or end that life cycle.
The religious believe that such an important decision should be left only in the hands of God. But because of abortion, women, and men have taken on the role of God as well, dictating when and who shall live even before that person becomes a part of the real world.
Medical science has become so far advanced that doctors now have the ability to discover when a wanted pregnancy shall endanger the life of the mother. In such cases, they leave the decision to continue the pregnancy in the hands of the parents.
Again, asking them to play God and decide if they love themselves more than the life that they brought into being. In such cases, an abortive procedure may be acceptable. But then again, if it is something that occurs too late in the pregnancy, it leaves the soon to be parents at a crossroads. Unable to decide upon which decision would be best for them and their unborn child.
In the case of pregnancy resulting from rape, the fetus is definitely unwanted and unloved. Most women who find themselves in such a situation would most likely opt for an abortion. If we think about it, such a decision will fall within reason. The woman neither knows the father of the child, nor what to expect of the child once it is born.
She will be unable to love the child mainly because of the circumstances surrounding its conception and birth. However, it is in such situations that abortion should not be an option. Allowing the child to come to full term and undergoing a legal adoption procedure would be the most logical step of action because the unwanted child of another can always be loved by someone else as if she were the one who breathed life into the child.
In my opinion, abortion is a procedure that should be legally accepted as part of a woman’s basic right. I am not advocating that women undergo abortion like they do plastic surgery, but rather, I am advocating that abortion be discussed with women as something that they can choose to do if they find themselves in such a situation that calls for it.
Most women who undergo abortions do not really understand much about it because it is a taboo topic in society. An open discussion will help women come to informed decisions and help in government regulation of abortion clinics. This, in turn, will lead to more open discussions and acceptance of abortions for what it is, a way of fixing a life-altering problem for most women.
There is no wrong or right answer when it comes to abortion, mainly because each abortion case is unique in its circumstances. No woman should be held with a stigma for undergoing the procedure. It is only an ethical dilemma because society refuses to see the benefits of abortion in the lives of women. Once the benefits are more clearly spelled out, the dilemma will be over for most women.