FREE ESSAY ON ABORTION PILL: MEDICAL ADVANCE OR SETBACK?

ABORTION PILL: MEDICAL ADVANCE OR SETBACK?

The subject of abortion has created some of the most controversial, social, and moral
debates in United States history. On Jan. 22, 1973, in the case Roe Vs. Wade, the Supreme
Court ruled that it was a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion during the
first trimester of the pregnancy (The Ruling). Still other interest groups argue that
human life begins at conception and having an abortion is murder to an unborn child.
These opposing viewpoints create a delicate political and social debate in which the
lives of unborn children are placed in the center. The United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) recently approved the RU 486 "abortion pill", citing that the
"overall safety of the pill is excellent"(Food and Drug). This scientific development has
the potential to make abortions much more accessible and private to American women. I
believe that the abortion pill harbors great qualities for women who choose abortion, yet
is an enormous medical setback because it will cost the lives of so many more unborn
children.
For patients who undergo an abortion the psychological issues are some of the hardest to
deal with. Suicide rates for women who have an abortion are more than 5 times that of
women who have the baby (Abortion-Statistics). While traditionally abortions are very
difficult on women, RU 486 makes it much easier for women to choose abortion. Instead of
having to travel long distances to an urban clinic, the abortion process can be much more
private, an agreement between a woman and her physician (Robinson). With the abortion
pill women have the luxury of spending up to twice as much time in the counsel of their
doctors than with surgical abortions (Robinson). Furthermore, The abortion pill can only
be taken in the first seven weeks of pregnancy and is generally completed a few days
later, compared to a surgical abortion which is usually done further into the pregnancy
(Robinson). The abortion pill makes psychological recovery much easier because the less
time the child is in the womb the less a mother becomes attached to the child. 
In the United States today, 25% of all pregnancies end in abortion (Abortion: All Sides).
With so many lives in the balance, one of the primary arguments has become the physical
health of women who have abortions. Of the women that previously had a surgical abortion
90% said they would prefer the pill if they had another abortion and would recommend it
to others (Robinson). However one of the side effects of RU 486 is bleeding up to 9 days,
compared to a surgical abortion's five day duration (Robinson). The recovery process is
quicker with a surgical abortion but more traumatic. One death in 200,000 occur with a
surgical abortion, compared to one in 500,000 with the abortion pill. Both of these
alternatives are far safer for the mother than childbirth that claims one death in every
14,300 births (Robinson). These statistics prove that the safest alternative for the
mother in the event of a pregnancy is an abortion using the abortion pill and the most
dangerous is going through with childbirth. However the safest thing for the child is
natural childbirth by far. The voice of the life in question is never heard and it has a
one hundred percent chance of death in the first 2 cases. 
Based on the evidence and statistics an abortion pill is far superior to that of a
surgical abortion. Yet is that good for society or does it just make the murder of
innocent children more accessible? With the introduction of the abortion pill, abortion
becomes very reachable, changing the way it has been seen in the past and dulling the
senses of the common person. Is it better for society to let down its guard against
abortion and slowly accept it as common? I am sure the children in question could give an
answer if they had a chance. Making abortion easier and more appealing only further
disguises that it is murder. I strongly believe that five months cannot change murder
from a horrible crime into a choice.
Bibliography
"Abortion: All Sides of the Issue." 12 Oct. 2000.
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"Abortion-Statistics." The Life Research and Communications Institute. 12 Oct. 2000.
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"Food and Drug Administration Approves Abortion Pill." CNN. 12 Oct. 2000. .
Robinson, B. A. "RU-486 ABORTION PILL." 12 Oct. 2000. 
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"The Ruling." The Detroit News. 12 Oct. 2000.
.