Abortion should be illegal Essay

 “It is a severely traumatic experience for over 80 percent of women who have an abortion; more than 20 percent suffer from permanent psychological damage,” says Angelika Pokropp-Hippen, a doctor from Münster who specializes in caring for and accompanying people after an abortion. If you consider that well over  20.8 abortions per 1,000 women commit suicide in the USA alone, this means a shockingly high number of people affected: “All of this by far not only affects women who were previously in unstable personalities.” This paper focuses on an ethically and socio-politically explosive topic: abortion and arguments against it. The consequences of an abortion can be felt painfully for a lifetime for many affected people. Thus, abortion should be illegal.

Serious psychological consequences

On the outside, women often seem to continue to “function” – but on the inside, they experience themselves as empty, frozen, as if locked in the thoughts of the abortion. Many withdraw from their environment like in a snail shell. Some feel so guilty that they start hurting themselves. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders can occur, and thoughts of suicide creep in.

Men also suffer and break relationships

But not only women are affected. Men whose wives have had an abortion can also bear the burden of the fact that they were actually fathers but their child was never born. However, the common pain does not connect the partners but rather stands like a wall between man and woman. Many relationships break up after an abortion. The wounds that abortion usually entails do not heal on their own. Those affected need help. Some women suffer for a long time until they finally find a therapist who can work through the trauma with them.

Long therapy required

This way of coming to terms with things must be a way of reconciliation: reconciliation with the aborted child, with oneself, with the partner, the family, reconciliation with life – and reconciliation with God: It is not enough just to treat the symptoms. Such therapy can take a long time. But it can also achieve success: women who can revive, who can take their lives back into their hands. In order to prevent women’s suffering from the outset and to protect human life from the outset, effective prevention against abortion is necessary. The social climate behind the decision for or against abortion is of great importance.

Abortion should be illegal: Legal point of view

From a legal point of view, the abortion debate largely depends on the assessment of the status of an embryo. Materialistic currents, which see the embryo merely as a “cluster of cells”, naturally favored an abortion mentality, while where the embryo is recognized as human and person, the question of abortion is also dealt with differently. The subject is often neglected in the school curricula. Therefore, especially among young people, one finds a lot of half-knowledge and confusion. Therefore, providing them with the necessary knowledge is an important task for society.

Abortion should be illegal: Christian point of view

Christian ethics emphasizes the importance of the formation of conscience for the protection of life. It is about conveying norms (prohibition of killing) as well as conveying values ​​(virtues). This includes the yes to the immeasurable and inviolable value of every human life in all stages of its development. Such affirmation of life is dependent on the experience of solidarity, especially in situations that require a broad need for support, as is the case in pregnancy in general and in a pregnancy conflict in particular. Building conscience goes hand in hand with building relationships, the center of which is an unfolding ability to love, in order to learn partnership skills, which is the basis of parenthood in love and responsibility. Empirical studies show that attitudes towards the protection of life depend on family experiences in childhood and adolescence.

Abortion should be illegal: Philosophical point of view

The prevailing image of women in our society carries the risk of a fundamental relationship disorder with one’s own body, as expressed in some feminist directions. Where the body is viewed as a pure object of the human will, which can be dealt with at will, the view of the dignity of the human body and the deeper meaning of femininity is lost. Abortion then appears to be a plausible means of submitting one’s own body and apparently maintaining autonomy. However, this concept of autonomy aims at the actual self-determination of women.

Conclusion: Awareness of society is necessary

Therefore, despite supporting the idea that abortion should be illegal, society needs to be sensitized and educated about the serious consequences of abortion so that a woman in need does not choose the supposedly easier way of abortion out of ignorance. Only then can one speak of actual self-determination and autonomy. The concern for the self-determination of women is also a matter that is suitable for reaching a broad political consensus. A discussion conducted on this basis could help to anchor the protection of life more effectively than before in the legislation.