Fetal Pain Argumentative Analysis

Pro- choice counters this with stating abortion that it should be a fundamental right and fetuses are incapable of feeling pain when abortion is performed. It is argued any moment or reactions seen in fetuses when they detect pain are more of a reflex not actual proof that the fetus feels anything. (McDonough, 2013) Even though the spinal cortex is needed to feel pain, neuroscientists believe that it does become functional until at least 26 weeks if development. At this stage in the child’s development it is rare abortion happens. The choice should still be left in the mother’s hand, for it her body and her control over her productive

The practice of abortions throughout the United States are safe. Abortions have become safer since the procedure was reluctantly legalized in the United States-by the Supreme Court-in 1973. According to The American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs the number of deaths associated with abortion drastically dropped from roughly four out of every one hundred thousand women in 1973 to .6 per every one hundred thousand women in 1997 (Abortion is Safe). These statistics show that procedure in how an abortion is performed has become safer since legalization. Legalization of abortion permitted the procedure to be performed in a sterile setting- such as a hospital operating room. The medical risk associated with an abortion procedure is highly overestimated. An abortion performed exactly as medically advised carries half the risk of a tonsillectomy (Abortion is Safe). (A tonsillectomy is a simple procedure that is performed on many children in their childhood.) On the other hand, anti-abortion advocates point to emotional problems that could harm the pregnant woman after an abortion. These advocates attempt to show there is a link to mental disorders in post abortion women. A New Zealand study looked to verify this claim. The analysis showed that there was a credible link between depression, suicide attempts and substance abuse in post abortion women (Cords). Researchers also aimed to connect having an abortion with post-traumatic stress disorder

At conception, the human life begins and when abortion happens; it is the killing of an innocent child which to me and millions like me is considered murder. Studies show that, “As early as eight to ten weeks after conception, and definitely by thirteen-and-a-half weeks, the unborn experiences organic pain….” (Abortionfacts.com)

Abortion can cause periods of depression in which the pain can encysted. Some women become aggressive or nervous, or even hyperactive. Anxiety can find an answer food such as bulimia or, conversely, anorexia. For others, psychosomatic reactions will take over with stomach aches, absence of periods, headaches, the loss of self-esteem ("I'm bad, I'm unworthy, painful for others"), the fear of not being pregnant again or anxiety of existential insecurity are consequences commonly observed. Some episodes of a woman’s life can relive the acutely suffering felt at the time of abortion: the date in which the child had been born, or the anniversary date of the abortion, the desire to make present the dead child, are conducive to outbreaks of suffering intensely lived as, for example, anxiety or depressive

In the overarching state of humanity, few topics are as important to the long term societal standpoint as abortion. Even more important and contested is the controversial subject of whether or not a woman will endure long term psychological effects or disorders after said abortion. This subject has been highly debated, with valid points made by both sides. It is important that we all look into these repercussions, especially since approximately 33% of women will undergo an abortion by the time they reach forty-five years old. This often challenged subject has many aspects. The main ideas that I researched where whether or not having an abortion leads to a higher risk for mental health issues, whether or not “post-abortion syndrome” is a

Nearly 81% of women who receive abortions experience subsequent mental health problems according to a recently published study by The Royal College of Psychiatrists. The study demonstrates that the aftermath of an abortion can result in higher rates of anxiety, depression, various forms of substance abuse, and suicidal behavior. As a result of the study, it shows that women who have an abortion face almost double the risk of mental health problems as women who have their baby. This outcome is due to the fact that most women who are terminating pregnancies “may feel a greater sense of loss, anxiety and distress due to lack of support”, as summarized in the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit reproductive health organization. In fact, a five-year study shows that 25% of

Fetal pain is very difficult to prove or disprove because of its subjective nature. Some argue that the fetus cannot feel pain until the 24th week of gestation because connections from the periphery to the cortex are not available until then (Derbyshire, 2015). By contrast, others say fetal pain is possible before 24 weeks on the basis that the fetus has a mechanism to detect noxious events and will respond to noxious events by withdrawing and grimacing (Derbyshire, 2015). The American Medical Association go even further that those two assumptions and state that pain perception in preterm neonates probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks (Arora & Salazar, 2014). Although no definitive conclusion is reached, fetal pain is a big factor that influences the abortion debate. As of 2016, there are 12 states that actively ban abortion after 20 weeks citing fetal pain (Fantz, 2016). They include Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota,

Sharon Salzberg once said, “As we look around, it's very clear that in this world people do outrageous things to one another all of the time. It's not that these qualities or actions make us bad people, but they bring tremendous suffering if we don't know how to work with them”. The wake of devastation abortion leaves behind could not be described better. It is argued that it is the woman’s body; therefore it is the woman’s choice. What many do not know, however, is that abortion not only affects the mother, but the father, and of course the child. Guilt, anger, anxiety, depression, broken relationships, “numbing”, and even suicide; all of these are symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). PAS is the emotional/psychological damage women may experience after having an abortion. According to Dangers of Legal Abortion by Ann Saltenberger, women who have had abortions are nine times more likely to attempt suicide than women in the general population. Men, or the father, portray a range of emotions after their partner’s abortion. These include grief, guilt,

A fetus is not physically attached to the woman carrying it but more importantly its well being and health depends on her health as well. They are separated and acquire separate identities only at the time of birth. Pain can be perceived in infants only after 20 weeks according the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. The reflex actions present before this period do not indicate any ability to feel pain. Abortions are almost always performed before 24 weeks.

Another major issue regarding abortion is if a fetus feels pain. A study by Stuart G. W. Derbyshire examines the development of the fetus to decode when pain is acknowledged. Pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (Derbyshire, 2006, The Content of Pain). Working with this definition, one can derive that an understanding of the senses and emotions should be present at some cognitive level to feel pain. Therefore, pain becomes a learned response instead of a natural one because the association between the senses and the reaction is not yet learned. “This is likely to strike anyone as strange because it is simply not how we intuitively believe pain to be… Not only has the biological development not yet occurred to support pain experience, but the environment after birth, so necessary to the development of pain

Derbyshire within Fetal Pain: Do We Know Enough to Do the Right thing? discusses the anatomy, anatomical pathways and the psychology relating to the fetus (Derbyshire, 2008). It has been suggested that because of the fetal capabilities there is a possibility that the fetus can respond emotionally and cognitively, with the possibility of the experience of pain in utero at seven, eight, and twenty-six weeks’ gestation (Derbyshire, 2008). An average woman does not know about her pregnancy until five to six week’s gestation, and by that point, the baby already has a heartbeat and its nervous system has begun to grow. By this point is when the mother decides if she wants to keep the child or abort it. The pain sensory, or known as the “Alarm system

Various studies have been conducted to show the psychological effects following an abortion. According to the results some women experience depression and anxiety. These psychological effects reflect on several factors. Abortion may relieve stress by ending an unwanted pregnancy, but the event itself may simultaneously be experienced as a stressor causing anxiety grief, guilt, despair and anger. These factors could lead to depression, as feelings of powerless, anger and self-condemnation are emotions that underlie depression. Controversies exist whether abortion is linked with mental health or not. Future research requires a better understanding of the conditions that lead to unwanted pregnancy and abortion with the ultimate goal of improving women’s lives and well being.

There are many physiological effects towards abortions many people may state. Others disagree stating there is no physiological impact. This research is very opinion based because everything is so biased. What really happens when babies are aborted. Eclipse of Reason is a 1987 pro-life documentary video directed, filmed, and narrated by Bernard Nathanson, with an introduction by Charlton Hesston. Eclipse of Reason is a follow up to Nathanson’s first film The Silent Scream. They were not always pro-life though. They believed that abortion was fine and that there was no physiological impact towards abortions. They conducted a study which focuses on the limbs of the fetus while in the womb then proceeds to show the abortion in graphic detail. This is what changed their minds. For someone whom was always was pro-abortion, this changed their minds and made them become pro-life because of how drastic and horrifying abortions really were. Abortions are a really touchy subject and it’s hard to conduct research because everyone has an opinion and it’s hard to stick to just research. Many people state abortions lead to depression, sleep deprivation, and sometimes death. While others state that abortion doesn’t cause any damage at all. Every research is different and changes all the time with new ideas and new biased research. Some state there’s no impact, some state there’s huge impacts, and others like Nathanson switch sides and their research changes sides also.

Statement of Problem: Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. Today, especially here in the United States of America, there is a growing issue and debate around the idea of abortion. There is a stigma against abortion because of the possibility of negative religious, political, medical, emotional, and mental consequences it may cause. Each year, worldwide there is an estimated 42 billion abortions that take place. This number does not include abortions that are not performed by professionals. The big issue alongside with abortion itself, is the affects it has on the mental health of females who undergo the procedure.

Since the legalization of abortion, more than 126,000 abortions have been performed every day and more than 46,000,000 each year (AbortionTV). One may say they can’t understand how a mother can just kill her child because of her irresponsibility. She may rebuttal back with the answer that the fetus is not yet human and it wouldn’t feel any pain anyway. Studies show that the