Increased Chance Of Cancer With Abortion example essay topic

1,406 words
Abortion is fundamentally wrong. It is wrong because it goes against the basic rights guaranteed to every human being under the 5th 9th and 14th amendments in the United States Constitution. Along with it going against the Constitution, there are some medical and moral reasons as to why it is wrong, such as an increased risk of breast cancer, and that the fetus does in fact feel the pain from the abortion. Simply defined, abortion means any premature expulsion of a fetus, whether it is by natural causes or an artificially induced abortion.

Abortion is certainly not a new concept. It has been present in society dating all the way back to Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and into the Middle Ages. It was not until the 19th century that abortion began to get all the attention that it gets today. It was in the 19th century that the strict abortion laws were starting to be passed.

The 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion in the United States for pregnancy within the first six months. Abortion is not only considered immoral by many, it also violates the Constitution. The 14th amendment forbids states to abridge privileges and immunities of United States citizens, to deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or to deny any person the equal protection of laws. Under the United States Constitution, we are forbidden from depriving the life of another individual; abortion is just that.

It is depriving a human being the right to life. Nowhere under the 14th amendment does it clarify between the living and unborn. So a fetus should still be protected. Abortion also violates the 9th amendment which declares that just because certain rights are not in the Constitution does not mean that they do not exist. Courts cannot assume that just because a right is not listed that a person cannot be protected by the government. This is important because the Constitution does not mention abortion, but based on this amendment the unborn child is still under protection and is guaranteed the rights which are provided by the Constitution.

The "silence" of the Constitution on the issue of abortion does not mean that it doesn't provide a right. When the Constitution was written, abortion was not nearly as much of an issue. Yes it was already going on, but the large numbers of abortions were not taking place as they are today. An important issue is whether a fetus is a human being. If it is not then it may not be murder, but a fetus is a human being. Two humans conceived it so therefore it has to be a human.

To really be able to understand that a fetus is a human you need to know the specifics about human composition. Every living organism has a very specific number and quality of chromosomes that are specific for their species. For human beings that number is forty six pairs of chromosomes. The reproductive cells from each parent which are needed to reproduce have twenty three pairs. They only have twenty three pairs because when they combine at conception they total forty six. When you are dealing with a specimen that has forty six pairs of chromosomes, then you are in fact dealing with a human being.

Studies have proven that a fetus feels the pain of an abortion. The earliest abortions, which are done before four weeks, are most commonly the result of a pill that the mother will take to create a miscarriage and abort the baby. The heart has already begun to beat eighteen to twenty-one days after fertilization. Four to five weeks after the baby is conceived, pain receptors begin to form around the mouth. After the pain receptors are formed, the nerve fibers begin to form which will carry the messages to the brain to tell it that something is wrong.

Abortions most commonly occur between the eighth and twelfth week, after the pain receptors have begun to form. If the abortion occurs during this period, the heart has already been beating for six weeks. During the fourteenth through the eighteenth week, the nerve tracts begin to connect the spinal cord and the thalamus. By the eighteenth week pain receptors have formed throughout the entire body.

At twenty weeks the thalamus, which is a large oval shaped structure of gray matter of the forebrain, has connected to the cortex and everything is in place to feel the pain of an abortion. Between weeks 20 and 30, an unborn child has more pain receptors per square inch than at any other time, before or after birth, with only a very thin layer of skin for protection. Mechanisms that inhibit or moderate the experience of pain do not begin to develop until weeks 30-32. Any pain the unborn child experiences before these mechanisms form is likely worse than the pain an older child or adult experiences. Another medical concern is that recent studies have proven that breast cancer is much more likely with premature delivery.

It is more likely in women who deliver their babies extremely early. This does not just mean abortion, but premature un induced deliveries as well. Abortions trigger high levels of the hormone estrogen. When the tremendously high level of the estrogen hormone is released, the breast cell proliferation is increased. There is a 29% increased of risk of getting breast cancer if you go through an abortion. Since there is an increased chance of cancer with abortion, it is even more dangerous.

Not only are you taking the life of another with abortion, but you could also be putting the mother's life in risk due to the increased chance of breast cancer. The following statistics show a growing trend that is taking place: 60% of abortions are performed on women who already have one or more children; 47% of abortions are performed on women who have already had one or more abortions; 3% of women will have had at least one abortion by the time they reach the age of forty five. Approximately 1,370,000 abortions occur annually in the United States. In 1973,774,600 abortions were performed and increased to 1,310,000 in 2001. Even with Partial Birth Abortions being banned in 2003, the abortion rate continues to go up. This goes to show that banning one kind of procedure will not deter people from continuing to get the abortions.

Abortions have increased which means that it is becoming more common, more socially acceptable. Between the years of 1973 to 2001, there have been thirty nine million abortions, which is fundamentally wrong. Thirty nine million people were denied the right to life; they died before they were given a chance at life. One of the fundamental rights a person has is the right to life, and thirty nine million people had that right taken from them.

Abortion needs to be stopped. Abortion is wrong under the Constitutional Amendments. From a medical standpoint it is wrong as well. The risk of breast cancer increases in the mother and the fact that the baby will feel the pain of the abortion makes it inhumane. It is especially wrong in advanced societies such as ours.

There are other alternatives to abortion, and it should not be used as birth control. Statistics have shown that about 80% of abortions are performed for social reasons instead of health reasons. Abortion is murder. If murder is against the law then abortions should be as well. Anand, Kanwaljeet. "Pain of the Unborn".

15, January 2004.23 October 2004 ELSE "Chromosomes" 2004.23 October 2004 Facts in Brief, "Induced Abortion". 2000-2001.23 October 2004 Guttmacher, Alan Institute. "Abortion Statistics-World U.S. -Demographics- Reasons". 2004.23 October 2004 Johnson, Douglas.

"The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act- Misconceptions and Realities" 5 November 2003.23 October 2004 Mount, Steve "Due Process" 1995-2003.24 October 2004 Reuters Health International Journal of Cancer. "First Pregnancy factors Tied to Breast Cancer Risk". 1 November 2004.23 October 2004.