When Abortion Becomes Necessary: Therapeutic Abortion
Many years ago, people did not see the need to conduct an abortion. It was termed the murdering of another being, and it was punishable by death. However, there are times when abortion becomes necessary.
Most people even believed that abortion was a taboo and an offence to their gods. As of then, no one knew about sex education; no one had an idea of what therapeutic abortion meant; everyone was focused on the symbolism of abortion, that’s it brings about wrath from the gods.
Many thoughts would have started running through your mind now because the word abortion is controversial; it is perceived as against our religious belief, and it is not morally and culturally accepted.
Questions like, could this be a right door to do what is believed to be wrong or another glorified moral decadence would be asked. It is far from it but rather an eye-opener to the concept of therapeutic abortion.
Youths of nowadays have indulged in this act even without the help of their parents. Research has shown that three out of five girls, will have an abortion every day.
This article aims at pinpointing what pregnancy stands for, what to do when you find out you are pregnant. It also is a form of enlightening into what abortion stands for, how the world sees it, how it is done, the various types of abortion that have been identified medically ranging from the most dangerous to the least dangerous, it’s economic effect, and it’s health implications.
Also therapeutic abortion as the topic of the day; will be diluted into pure form, to help readers understand better what this concept means.
Readers will come to know why and how this kind of abortion is relevant in the society, and why it is advised in most cases.
Note that no one would mention any abortion as the best, or better in any case, as no one can say that the literal term for killing a human being is proper in any way, but talking based on therapeutic abortion which is ‘advised’ in some cases.
Pregnancy Defined
Many people have successfully defined what pregnancy is, ranging from medical definitions to scientific definitions.
Some see pregnancy as a state of being pregnant. Pregnancy is the state of being pregnant is also known as gestation.
It is the period when a foetus begins to form in the mother’s womb, which will later turn out to be a child, after successful nine months duration.
When sperm has well-fertilised egg, it starts to germinate, with time it stops being an egg and forms a child.
Some women do not know how to identify when they are pregnant, and so not know the first thing to do.
The first thing that will determine if you are pregnant or not is through the missed period. But this is not rampant amongst women, as they do not calculate their menstrual cycle.
Another way of knowing you are pregnant is if you develop cramps and bleeding between the 6th to 12th days of the fertilisation of the egg.
Most women would mistake this for menstruation, but it is usually short and comes with pains.
A right way of knowing you are pregnant is when you feel tired even very early in the morning; you feel irritated by little things which causes you to throw up, and feel light-headed, especially in the mornings.
This is another cause to check appropriately with a doctor to confirm if you are carrying a child. Many women would not feel this symptom, but fortunately, another programmed way of knowing that an egg has been hatched is having tender and increased in size breasts.
No one knows the size of the breasts better than a woman, so if it changes in size or texture, she would know automatically. This is a sign of pregnancy and should immediately be taken seriously.
Also, during pregnancy, the smell senses is very active and sharp. One can perceive bad or good odour very fast which might bring about craving especially if it is a good food, or bring about irritation if it is something terrible, or something that does not appeal to the woman. Some develop pains around their back and wait at the early stage of pregnancy, which causes them to be tired and experience fatigue.
Finally, many women have a mood swing disorder; they occasionally get angrier or happier.
The ways of knowing that one is pregnant cannot be entirely described, but anyone who is observant of their body would know when something has changed about it.
What is abortion?
‘Abortion’ as the name implies means termination, elimination, removing, and for some people killing. It is termed a deliberate medical process of ending a pregnancy.
Abortion has been seen in different perspectives, earlier on; we said that some communities see it as a taboo, and a bad omen to kill a child in the womb.
In the traditional African life, abortion is a no policy. It is frowned against and looked down on. Anyone who engages in this act is termed a bad omen and a disgrace to cultural values and norms.
Also, the religious aspect of the world sees abortion as an offence against God. It is seen as a sin, and anyone who kills is to be killed by the law. But many have taken abortion as a normal thing.
Most youths are not bothered about unwanted pregnancies because they know or have an idea of abortion, and are ready to go through it should need arise.
It is a tough one because not everyone knows the full effect of abortions and what it entails. 20% of girls today have died due to wrong information of abortion, or wrong abortion processes.
There are different ways of aborting a child, and it ranges from the most dangerous to the least dangerous.
You will notice that no doctor will come out straight to tell you that abortion is very safe, and its process is safer, preferably, some methods are less dangerous to a minimum point.
Various types of abortion include; early non-surgical abortion, this does not include the use of any equipment or machine; instead, drugs are administered to the patient to stop the growth of the baby, and then it is flushed out in the form of blood.
Pains may occur within some hours, and it is usually done at the earliest time of pregnancy. It is safe for women who can quickly detect that they are pregnant and do not want the pregnancy.
Also, a kind of abortion called vacuum aspiration is also a less dangerous way of abortion. This involves the widening of the cervix with an injection, to suction out the child.
Another type of abortion is called our induction, which involves administering drugs or injection to induce a pregnant woman into premature labour, thereby allowing her to give birth to either an informed child or a dead child. This is usually done late in the pregnancy stage if it is found out that some complications may arise while giving birth to the child.
Also, we have a hysterectomy as a type of abortion which is usually done if labour induction fails. It is generally executed in a hospital setting in case of complications. This involves cutting the uterus and abdomen of the child, to kill it quickly, and then bring it out of the womb.
There are various types of abortion for multiple kinds of women, depending on the time of the pregnancy. Nevertheless, each abortion has its risks, especially in the hands of a quack; something could go wrong, leading to fatal consequences.
We all know the various types of abortion, how this procedure is being performed is right now the bone of contention.
There are two common ways of abortion process which include medication or vacuum aspiration.
When administering drugs to a patient, the individual is advised to stay in the hospital; this is to enable a complete process of the abortion. The pills that are given, help to stop breathing, nutrient supply and blood to the foetus thereby causing a contraction in the walls of the womb and finally expanding the cervix to let out blood in the form of clots which may cause crams in the abdominal region of the patient.
The process is usually done within 2-3 hours, and in other to ensure a complete abortion process, evacuation is advised.
Also, abortion can take place through vacuum aspiration, as said earlier on; it is self-explanatory, as it involves using a vacuum like an instrument to suction out the child from the womb through the wide opened cervix. It does not take a long time at all, but other pain relief drugs would be administered to the patient should there be any.
Also, your body might not have wholly adjusted itself to the fact that there is no child in the womb again so it might still react as though it is, but this happens for some time, and with time, it stops, bringing the body back to normal.
Abortion carries its risks, but there are less harmful or difficult was to handle abortions. Usually, it is advised to see an expert, there are experts in quack business, but it is mostly recommended to go to the hospital to see a certified doctor who will give all the do’s and don’ts of the abortion procedure, and inform in details, the risk attached to it.
Such doctor is to be sought after. Also, it is hazardous to perform home abortions or self-abortions. Some might go to the Internet and check out how to implement self-abortion, but in the real sense, it is what worked for one or two people that are uploaded on the Internet, not what worked for everyone.
Abortion is a process, and cannot be done hastily; else complications may occur which could be a very fatal to the life of an individual or render the female organ of the body that houses the child useless and unable to hold a child again.
Economic Effects Of Abortion
There are various economic effects of abortion, for the fact that many people, countries, and communities frown at it, it has a kind of economic impact and threat that it poses to the economy.
An effect abortion has on the economy is reduced labour and contribution towards the growth of the economy.
Every nation wishes to increase in wealth, but a reduced amount of people would never help to achieve that, as one tree cannot make the mighty forest.
It worths to be considered, because an estimation of abortion rate is getting higher over the years. Abortions even occur more frequently than childbirth, and this would only reduce the labour of the economy, as children would one day grow to impact the economy.
Another effect abortion has on the economy is that when the birth rate is declined, or reduced in that sense, it puts more burdens on young ones to cater for old people.
It might become unbearable leading to frustration, anger and uncontrollable emotions. Abortion is widely a controversial topic and is not definite. 5 out of 9 individuals will frown and argue against it. No one can be settled when it comes to this issue, but in some cases, abortion is advised in some cases.
Another effect of abortion on the economy is that it brings about misuse or abuse, especially in the world today. This is very common amongst youths of nowadays.
When abortion is known about, it is abused poorly and leads to loss of lives in most cases. Many people take abortion as an ordinary thing do, they see it as an opportunity each time they make the mistake of getting pregnant, but this is very bad for the economy and is highly disadvantageous to the economic growth of a country.
When a country is shortlisted for the highest amount of abortion, it is a bad name; most religious countries might not associate themselves with such nations thereby allowing them to lose out on their partnership.
Abortion has affected and will continue to affect the economy as a whole as it is not the best option for an individual.
Various countries have seen abortion as fit to become a norm; these countries include Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, United States of America, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom. Nevertheless, abortions are frowned upon in most countries like Malawi, Iran and Haiti can only allow for abortion should the life of the patient be in danger. Also, Paraguay, do not ascertain abortions in any way.
Nations who do not tolerate abortion include, the Holy See, Malta, Dominican, Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile. These countries have an extreme law against abortion and attach punishments to its practitioners.
Health Implication of Abortion
Abortion has various health implications, which is very severe in most cases. It could lead to emotional breakdown, it could also lead to dysfunction of organs in the body, and it could bring about lifelong sicknesses and in most cases, lead to death.
Most times abortion is responsible for miscarriage even when such an individual is ready for childbearing.
Therapeutic Abortion Defined
Therapeutic abortion as the name implies is a deliberate abortion that is advised to patients in most cases to save their lives.
Necessary abortion popularly known as therapeutic abortion implies an operation carried out on a pregnant woman to stop a baby from developing inside the mother, by the removal of the baby so that such baby dies.
Therapeutic abortion is the termination of pregnancy by removing a foetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus. This act is always necessitated base on medical grounds in relative to the baby’s health or the mother’s health.
Prevention is said to be better and cheaper than cure, so therapeutic abortion is a deliberate action that becomes necessary in other to avert some future problems that might occur in the life of a woman with pregnancy and most especially the unborn child.
Why Is Therapeutic Abortion Necessary?
Many therapeutic abortions are done today with some level of debate concerning the quality of life if the baby has an inherited condition which is thought to likely lead to a shorter life than that of a healthy child.
Among such conditions would be:
To preserve pregnant women’s life.
To prevent harm to the woman’s physical and mental health.
It becomes necessary when there are indications that the child will have a significantly increased chance of premature mortality or be disabled.
It is necessary to reduce the number of foetuses selectively, to lessen the health risks associated with multiple pregnancies.
Extreme cases of specific hereditary situation
Circumstances that lead to the inability of some essential organs like the liver to function without sustained support which is not amenable to surgical repair or transplantation.
The absence of some portions of the brainstem or the higher brains, such as the cerebral hemisphere, or anencephaly.
No one has the power to choose between herself and her child, but in a severe case, the child is given up, so that the mother can live. In some countries like Iran, therapeutic abortion is legal as it is choosing life and death between the mother and the child.
In some cases, the child and mother might not die, but be deformed. The child could be born without an organ which would bring about treatment and pay hospital bills for the rest of the child’s life.
Cases like this could be frustrating for most parents especially a mother who has to watch her child go through all that pain even for the rest of his or her life. It is part of why therapeutic abortion is legal in every country, including the nations that frown against abortion.
A child born in this case could be given an ultimatum of months to live, if therapeutic abortion was an option, for the sake of the child and its mother, it is advised to abort such child immediately.
Religiously, it might be frowned upon, because in the Bible it states ‘thou shall not kill.’ But in an extreme case like this, would it be better for the mother to die?
In most cases, the threat is posed at not only the child but its mother too. This is why; therapeutic abortion is not merely the best option in most cases but also a necessity to save the lives of women in the society.
It is not easy losing a child, but it is also not comfortable missing a woman who could still give birth to a child.
The United Nations see this as a rare case. They urge nations irrespective of their stand on abortion to critically submit to the assertion that therapeutic abortion though could be termed not good, but it a necessary procedure to keep a woman living no matter what even if it will cost the life of the child.
In summary, this write-up never supports termination of unwanted pregnancy or other pregnancies that may come as a result of some ungodly sexual relationship, but rather an abortion that becomes the necessary base on the treat such pregnancy brings on the life of the mother and the child.