Psychology

The abortion debate has received a lot of views from different groups of people. Some individuals have tried to justify their arguments for this practice while others are against it. A lot of points have been generated from both groups regarding this practice.

Reasons against abortion
It is a well known fact that life is sacred and should never be taken. Life starts immediately a child is born. Therefore, abortion is murder since it involves the taking of someones life. It simply defies the concept of preserving life. Secondly, no society allows any person to take human life without punishment. Therefore, those who do this should not go unpunished (Lowen, 2010).

It has been argued that the best alternative instead of abortion is adoption. According to Lowen (2010),  with 1.5 million American families wanting to adopt a child, there is no such thing as an unwanted child. She further writes that it may lead to serious medical complications later in life like ectopic pregnancy and miscarriages (Lowen, 2010).

Lowen (2010) argues that instead of punishing the unborn child, the culprits are the ones who should be punished. This argument refers to an instance of rape. There are several medications which can prevent pregnancy from occurring. It is therefore not right to use abortion as a method of contraception (Lowen, 2010).

A woman should be in a position to take necessary measures to avoid unwanted pregnancies through contraceptives or abstinence. This will prevent the possibility of having to get rid of the baby when she gets pregnant (Lowen, 2010). It is ethically wrong to use tax money in funding this practice. Furthermore, many young women are the ones involved in abortion due to lack of knowledge of the consequences. Most of them usually regret afterwards (Lowen, 2010). Most of the women who resolve to abortion usually go through extreme psychological trauma and a lot of stress (Lowen, 2010).

Reasons for abortion
Though life is considered sacred, the fetus cannot survive on its own during the first three months. It depends on the mother through its placental attachment. Therefore, abortion at this time is considered right since the fetus cannot survive outside the womb (Lowen, 2010).

As Lowen (2010) writes, The concept of personhood is different from the concept of human life. The life of every human being starts at conception.  During in vitro fertilization, fertilized eggs may or may not be implanted. The fertilized eggs are obviously human lives. The eggs which do not implant are usually thrown away (Lowen, 2010). If life begins at conception, this should therefore be considered as murder. If not, abortion should not be considered as murder.

Secondly, it is a procedure done safely and professionally hence no risk of complications. It is also carried out within the first trimester. Complications only arise if it is done by a non qualified person (Lowen, 2010).

Thirdly, it has been shown that no woman can give his child for adoption  very few women who give birth choose to give up their babies - less than 3 of white unmarried women and less than 2 of black unmarried women, (Lowen, 2010).

A woman accidentally made pregnant after rape is usually stressed and would not be willing to disclose this to anyone. Therefore, the emergency pills are ineffective in these cases since she might even not be aware of the pregnancy. It is also argued that a woman can still get pregnant after using the contraceptive (Lowen, 2010).

Conclusion
Abortion should be allowed under several circumstances. For example, when the life of the mother is at risk due to ectopic pregnancy. It is more important to save the life of the mother than that of the child. This should, however, be done professionally and with a qualified doctor. In cases of pregnancy as a result of rape, the woman has a choice to either get rid of the baby or not. No restrictions should be made concerning what actions she wishes to take.