Abortion is deliberate termination of human pregnancy so that it doesn’t result in the birth of a baby and most frequently performed during the first 28 weeks.
National abortion and miscarriage rates point out abortion is the more common occurrence. According to the Guttmacher Institute, one in three women in America will have an abortion in their lifetime. But for the last few decades, the conversation about abortion in the United States has left little room for anything further than pro-life and pro-choice. The topic of abortion is political and polarizing topic in almost every parts of the world not only in the US. The arguments on abortion gets intense because some members of public feel that abortion should be abolished while others disagree that is should be lawful.
Those who against abortion reason that life begins at conception hence the unborn baby has equal human rights with any other living human being. This makes them say that abortion is a form of killing and that those implicated should be charged with murder in a court of law. New York University sociology study shows that the pro-life Americans are less likely to hear about the abortion on the other hand, those who support abortion say that preventing abortion means infringing the personal lives of individuals and denying them the right to exercise whatever they wish with their bodies. Some argue that if abortion is not legalized, cases of teen mothers will increase and there will be a rise in poverty due the increased out-of-wedlock children and single mothers. The findings point to a previously unexplored divide on the abortion issue, differences in perceptions of those we associate with (NPN, 2010).
US have adopted policies such as restriction on insurance coverage on matters to do with abortion. There is also the ban on specific abortion methods used after the first trimester just to mention but a few. In Britain, the research findings according to British Social Attitudes (BSA) shows Britain has a liberal position on abortions; a clear majority of the public say abortions should be allowed by law and this view is on the increase. While Northern Ireland Life and Times survey (NILTS) shows Northern Irish views are more conservative than in Britain, NILTS shows a majority would like to see a liberalization of the current laws (Fegan,; Rebouche,2003). One of the most surprising findings is the increase in support among one of the most traditionally conservative groups.
In the past BSA analysis has found Catholics to be least accepting of abortions compared with other religious groups; which might be expected given that the Catholic Church condemns all forms of abortion. However, between 1985 and 2016 Catholic support for allowing abortion if a women doesn’t want the child almost doubled, from 33% to 61%. This could be down to a general liberalizing of attitudes in society as a whole (Jowell et al, 2000). Policies and regulation about abortion in UK state that abortion is part of a women’s reproductive health and not be seen as to be a criminal act.
Secondly Regulation of abortion should be in the best interests of women. It should be up to women to decide what is best for them and abide by standards of best clinical care. Thirdly Women should be able to access an abortion through self-referral and it is not necessary for two doctors to approve an abortion. Lastly all women have the right to confidential, non-directive, accurate and up-to-date information about abortion. In Australia the most resent poll conducted by news poll was on February 1996 which found that 50% of respondents wound allow abortion to any woman on demand in any circumstances and that further 40% would allow abortion if it is proven that pregnancy will cause psychological or medical harm to the mother.
Only 7% would not allow it under any circumstances. These finding suggest that by mid 1990s, a majority of Australians were pro-choice with only a tiny minority favoring a ban. In 2003 Australian survey of social attitudes(AuSSA) found no reversal of the pro choice trend. Like Morgan news poll of the mid 1990s, most respondents were pro choice (Liamputtong, 2003).
In Australia policies and regulation about abortion strongly say that abortion is legal and needs to be available and it needs to be affordable
