Introduction
Induced abortion has always been among the most intractable ethical and legal issues. Under present conditions, this issue becomes even more acute. On the one hand, the right to an abortion is a medical problem that affects the personal interests of a woman. On the other hand, this is a problem related to society’s moral and ethical attitudes. Therefore, the legal ban on abortion generates active discussions in scientific, political, and religious circles.
At the same time, the legislative consolidation of the right to abortion is one of the indicators of the democracy of a state with liberal legislation. That begs the question: How do public opinion and the parties’ perspectives influence decisions about abortion rights? The abortion rights debate is heavily influenced by public opinion, highlighting the complex and multifaceted nature of the issue.
The Abortion Problem
In medicine, abortion is understood as the artificial termination of a clinical pregnancy by deliberate medical intervention at a particular time and a specific weight of the fetus. To date, legal norms that affect the issues of abortion are available in the legislation of the vast majority of states (Mucciaroni et al., 2018). Indicators such as gestational age and fetal weight in different countries differ significantly from each other and depend on the attitude of a given state and society to the problem of artificial termination of pregnancy.
In most civilized countries, the legal regulation of abortion, to a greater or lesser extent, corresponds to moral standards. For example, the danger of abortion methods is minimized. Modern bioethics raises a definite question about the permissibility of abortion in general since this affects several moral and ethical problems (Watson, 2022). Among them are the natural right of a person to life, the determination of the priority of the interests of the unborn baby and the interests of a woman, and the correlation of the doctor’s professional duties with their moral and ethical principles.
Thus, humanity cannot come to a single universal opinion on this issue since each approach has its arguments. If one talks about the status of the embryo, then there are two approaches. Some argue that life begins from conception; even an unformed fetus is a person and has all the rights, like every person (Watson, 2022). Others, including most scientists and doctors, say the embryo is not fully formed due to its physiological and psychological characteristics of intrauterine development (Watson, 2022).
In addition, from the standpoint of religion and morality, an obstetrician-gynecologist interrupts the life of an embryo with an abortion. However, in the modern world, the range of services of a gynecologist includes the production of an abortion. They must provide this service to the woman who applied to them in a quality and timely manner (Mucciaroni et al., 2018). The doctor has no right to persuade the patient to have an abortion or, conversely, to condemn her for her decision.
Statistics on the Danger of Banning Abortion
In recent years, human rights activists have called on the states of the world to abandon the criminalization of abortion and restrict access to services to terminate unwanted pregnancies, as this represents one of the forms of discrimination based on sex. Experts argue that such norms violate human rights and harm the lives and health of women. Despite this, 40% of the world’s population falls under these laws (Allotey et al., 2021).
UN experts conclude that abortion bans do not reduce the need for abortions, and their number does not decrease in any way. They only force women to resort to unsafe and illegal services (Iran: Repeal, 2021). Every year, 25 million abortions in the world are carried out in unsafe conditions, 30 women die for every 100,000, and about 7 million are injured during clandestine abortions, including leading to infertility (Abortion, 2021). Thus, from a statistical point of view, the abortion ban is a threat to the health and even life of women.
Loll & Hall (2018) decided to examine the attitudes toward abortion prohibition measures among women, as those who are directly affected by this topic. The most vehement opponents of the adoption of stricter standards against abortion were women, especially those of fertile or post-fertile age, 25-54 years (Loll & Hall, 2018). Notably, no age group of women fell below the average value of disagreement (40.7%), and the opinion of women aged 65 years and older coincided with it (Loll & Hall, 2018). On the whole, there is a negative attitude of women towards the tightening of abortion laws. Looking at the data, which is coming to a ratio of 50-50, it can be concluded that this topic is still far from reaching a general agreement.
Conclusion
The issue of the right to abortion is a very complex and widely discussed topic, which includes medical, moral, ethical, and legal considerations. Achieving a shared understanding and decision on abortion rights requires respectful dialogue, evidence-based policymaking, and respect for the complex dynamics that drive this issue. Pursuing comprehensive reproductive health, informed decision-making, and protecting women’s rights must be central to addressing this sensitive issue.
References
Abortion. (2021). World Health Organization. Web.
Allotey, P., Ravindran, T. K. S., & Sathivelu, V. (2021). Trends in abortion policies in low- and middle-income countries. Annual Review of Public Health, 42(1), 505–518. Web.
Iran: Repeal “crippling” new anti-abortion law. OHCHR. (2021). Web.
Loll, D., & Hall, K. S. (2018). Differences in abortion attitudes by policy context and between men and women in the World Values Survey. Women & Health, 59(5), 465–480. Web.
Mucciaroni, G., Ferraiolo, K., & Rubado, M. E. (2018). Framing morality policy issues: State legislative debates on abortion restrictions. Policy Sciences, 52(2), 171–189. Web.
Watson, K. (2022). The ethics of access: Reframing the need for abortion care as a health disparity. The American Journal of Bioethics, 22(8), 22–30. Web.