The Side Effect of an Abortion

15 March 2013 The Side Effects of an Abortion In 1973 the death risk from abortion was 3.4 deaths per 100,000 women. Before 1973 there were even more deaths as it was an illegal procedure, many unqualified people who didn’t know what they are doing, undertook the procedure and often used hangers and other sharp objects. By 1985 the death risk had dropped to .4 deaths per 100,000 women, and today it is a very rare occasion for a woman to die from an abortion. As time has gone on and our country has grown farther away from the principles it was founded on, we have allowed more and more non-Christian things to become accepted that were not accepted centuries ago. One of the things not allowed centuries ago was abortion (Tom). As of 2001 an abortion in the first trimester cost around $372, however I am sure the price has probably gone up due to inflation (Head, Tom). For what reason do 1.2 million women have an abortion (Healthwise)? Some women use abortion as: birth control (contraceptive) failure, inability to support or care for a child, an unwanted pregnancy, or to prevent the birth of a child with birth defects or severe medical problems. Other reasons are some teenagers just do not want their parents to find out they were ever pregnant or a family is not in a good position to have a baby yet (Healthwise). As we know, abortion has specific effects on women physically and emotionally. Having an abortion does not only affect the woman but it affects the man as well. Since abortion has been legalized questions have been raised whether there is no support available for women to help them through the difficult issues facing them. Every year approximately 1.3 million women go through the pain and emotion on deciding not to have child (Dudley, Susan, PhD). Many women will experience regret, guilty feelings, shame, sense of loneliness or isolation, loss of self-confidence, insomnia or nightmares, suicidal thoughts, or even eating disorders all from having an abortion. In a survey there were at least seven categories of why women get an abortion. The seven categories are: women with previous emotional or psychological issues, women who have been forced or talked into it, women with religious beliefs that conflict with abortion, moral or ethical views that conflict with abortion, women who obtain and abortion in the later stages of pregnancy, women without support from significant others or their partners, and women who get an abortion for genetic or fetal abnormalities (American Pregnancy Association). A good number of women who submit to and abortion suffer from Post Abortion Syndrome, and in worst-case scenarios it leads to suicide. Post Abortion Syndrome is understood to be a post abortion traumatic stress disorder. The post-traumatic stress disorder usually involves postnatal depression even though they have aborted, suicidal behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, family breakdown and child neglect or abuse in early childhood. Abortion as we know has physical effects on women. The most common form of abortion is the surgical method vacuum aspiration. This method the doctor attaches a syringe to a tube and pulls apart the fetus, and suctions it up. The complication with this procedure is it can cause excessive bleeding, abdominal swelling, pelvic infection, uterine perforation, cervical tears, incomplete abortion, and in the worst-case scenario death. The next form of abortion is medical treatment. Medical treatment is taking mifepristone, followed by misoprostol or as we know it “the morning after pill.” The side effect of this is frequent uterine pain, excessive uterine bleeding, pelvic infection, ruptured ectopic pregnancy, incomplete abortion, vomiting, diarrhea, and in the worst case death. Some of the long-term side effects are substances abuse, cancer, infertility, and again post-abortion syndrome. In a study in 1974 it showed that women who stayed with the father of the aborted child were less likely to have substance abuse problems while women who did not stay with the father of the aborted child were more likely to turn to substance abuse. Women abuse substances because it helps them forget, to feel better and they believe it even helps them function. The study showed that women abuse substances because they have emptiness in their life that they need to fill. Cancer is another possible long-term effect on women after abortion. Women who have an abortion have a 50% higher risk of getting breast cancer. This is because their body is not able to go through the physiological changes, which causes a huge drop of estrogen level that is normally secreted during a pregnancy, which in return causes the cells in the breasts to rapidly grow (Barnes, Sarah). We have looked at the negative side of abortion and what can happen. What does the other side say about abortion? Those who are in favor of abortion believe it is not easy especially if you are under the age of 18. In most states there are laws set in place that say you must tell and receive consent from the parent. However, this can be bypassed if the child travels to a state that allows minors to have abortion without consent of the parents (Coalition for Positivity Sexuality). They believe abortion should stay legal for the fact that when a woman’s life is at stake they should have the option. (Conor, Aaron). Another argument in favor of abortion is convenience for the woman. She should have the chance to decide if now is a good time for her to have a baby. Population control may be another reason those in favor of abortion would choose to keep it legalized. When a young girl is pregnant to whom does she turn? She would most likely turn to her mother and family for support. But what if her family is not available to support her in a decision? There are many sites on the Internet and there are companies out there offering support. There is information and support for young mothers who have no one or do not want to go to family for support. For example the website nhs.uk offers advice and websites to go to if you are on your own, along with how to continue your education and it gives you information on where you can live so you can have the support you need (Teenage Pregnancy Support). The website kidshealth.org tells parents how they can help support the young mom and encourage her through whatever decision she makes (When Your Teen is Having a Baby). The website livestrong.com gives information on how to get federal help and state help when going through pregnancy (Wessling, Susan). Housinghope.org is a website that has a program that can help teen moms and offers many programs for these young mothers. The fact is that there is help and hope out there for the young moms, however it comes down to the young mother and her partner or just the young mother looking for the help to make the decision to get help. Women in an abortion are not the only ones who are affect by the abortion. Would you believe that the men are affected by an abortion also? Men may not experience the bleeding or infertility of the abortion, but they do experience some harsh punishment from an abortion. Young adult men might support their partner in the decision of having an abortion, however they may feel that it is not suitable for the woman to get the abortion if the man has objected. The male partner may experience depression due to the loss of the child. This loss can be a physical loss like abortion of a child or the loss of an ideal such as being a father. An abortion can also affect a male sexually. When a man goes through the experience of an abortion with his partner he can then develop sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction such as there is a change in sexual desire or dysfunction in an erection. When the male gets the urge to have sex he will have a tendency to regard these sexual feelings and desires as dangerous since these desires can lead to conception and then followed by abortion of the unwanted child (The Life Resources Charitable Trust). As I we review the affects of abortion we see it affects more than just on individual. There are so many issues surrounding this subject one could go on an on. We could address and dwell on moral issues or the spiritual issues. But, I have chosen just to look how it affects the one who has experienced it. As I look through the material just medically speaking the side affects are not always minor. It seems to me the woman who finds their self with an unwanted pregnancy that there are major complications they may deal with later down the road. Maybe the nine months of discomfort and giving their baby up for adoption could be less detrimental to them in the long run.

Works Cited American Pregnancy Association. Abortion Emotional Side Effects. 10/2007. 14 Mar. 2103 http://americanpregnancy.org/unplannedpregnancy/abortionemotionaleffects.html>.
Barnes, Sarah RN. The Long Term Effects of Abortion on Women . December 03, 2012. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://www.the-gospel.org/stdy_fmly/abortion_effects.php>.
Coalition for Positivity Sexuality. Just Say Yes Abortion. . 14 Mar. 2103 <http://www.positive.org/justsayyes/abortion.html>.
Conor, Aaron. Reasons Why Abortion Should Remain Legal. December 23, 2007. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://socyberty.com/issues/reasons-why-abortion-should-remain-legal/>.
Dudley, Susan, PhD. Women Who Have Abortions. 2003. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/women_who.html>.
Head, Tom. How much money does an abortion cost?. 2001. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/f/average-cost-of-an-abortion.htm>.
Healthwise. Abortion - Reasons Women Choose Abortion. February 22, 2011. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion>.
Michael. 19 Facts About Abortion In America That Should Make You Very Sick. February 10th, 2012. 14 March 2013 <http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/19-facts-about-abortion-in-america-that-should-make-you-very-sick>.
Teenage pregnancy support. 04/03/2012. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/teenager-pregnant.aspx>.
The Life Resources Charitable Trust. How Abortion Affects American Men. . March 14,2013 <http://www.life.org.nz/abortion/aboutabortion/aboutabortion43/default.htm>.
Tom. Abortion Essay. AUGUST 20, 2009. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://samplepapersonline.blogspot.com/2009/08/abortion-essay.html>.
Wessling, Susan. BENEFITS FOR TEEN MOTHERS. Mar 9, 2011. 14 Mar. 2103 <http://www.livestrong.com/article/187518-benefits-for-teen-mothers/>.
When your teen is having a baby. 2013. 14 March 2013 <http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/teen_pregnancy.html>.

Cited: American Pregnancy Association. Abortion Emotional Side Effects. 10/2007. 14 Mar. 2103 http://americanpregnancy.org/unplannedpregnancy/abortionemotionaleffects.html&gt;. Barnes, Sarah RN. The Long Term Effects of Abortion on Women . December 03, 2012. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://www.the-gospel.org/stdy_fmly/abortion_effects.php&gt;. Coalition for Positivity Sexuality. Just Say Yes Abortion. . 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://www.positive.org/justsayyes/abortion.html&gt;. Conor, Aaron. Reasons Why Abortion Should Remain Legal. December 23, 2007. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://socyberty.com/issues/reasons-why-abortion-should-remain-legal/&gt;. Dudley, Susan, PhD. Women Who Have Abortions. 2003. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/women_who.html&gt;. Head, Tom. How much money does an abortion cost?. 2001. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/f/average-cost-of-an-abortion.htm&gt;. Healthwise. Abortion - Reasons Women Choose Abortion. February 22, 2011. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion&gt;. Michael. 19 Facts About Abortion In America That Should Make You Very Sick. February 10th, 2012. 14 March 2013 &lt;http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/19-facts-about-abortion-in-america-that-should-make-you-very-sick&gt;. Teenage pregnancy support. 04/03/2012. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/teenager-pregnant.aspx&gt;. Tom. Abortion Essay. AUGUST 20, 2009. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://samplepapersonline.blogspot.com/2009/08/abortion-essay.html&gt;. Wessling, Susan. BENEFITS FOR TEEN MOTHERS. Mar 9, 2011. 14 Mar. 2103 &lt;http://www.livestrong.com/article/187518-benefits-for-teen-mothers/&gt;. When your teen is having a baby. 2013. 14 March 2013 &lt;http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/teen_pregnancy.html&gt;.