ABORTION

WHAT IS ABORTION

Abortion is the premature termination or expulsion of the foetus from the uterus OR the
termination of pregnancy before the natural time of birth when the foetus is either
removed or expelled from the uterus.

TYPES OF ABORTION

There are two types of abortion: spontaneous abortion or induced abortion

a)Spontaneous abortion

Spontaneous abortion is the unintentional termination of pregnancy. It can happen due to

pregnancy complications or due to serious injuries a pregnant woman has sustained. This
form of abortion happens without anybody’s intervention. It is commonly known as
miscarriage. (Go senyegelwa).

b) Induced abortion

Induced abortion is the deliberate or intentional termination of pregnancy.

Legally induced abortion is those allowed by the laws of a country. They are normally
done in a proper medical facility such as a hospital or clinic approved for abortion, and
by trained medical practitioners who ensure that it is done safely.

Illegally induced abortions are those that are not allowed by the laws of a country and are
therefore mostly done under unsafe conditions by people who not medical practitioners.
Usually they use dangerous instruments, herbs or chemicals to terminate the pregnancy.
Illegally induced abortion is commonly known as backstreet abortion.

DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS ON ABORTION

ABORTION IS MORALLY WRONG

Some people view abortion as morally wrong. Below are some the reasons they give for
their view.

Life is sacred because it is created by God therefore no human being has the right to
destroy it. Abortion can never be morally acceptable, whatever the reason is , because it
involves the destruction of life created by God. This view is often referred to as pro-life

Human life begins at conception, therefore, abortion is murder.

Everyone has the right to life including unborn babies. A woman does not have the right
to terminate the life of her unborn baby.

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Abortion can cause permanent damage to a woman’s reproductive system that can lead to
infertility.

Abortion can put the life of a woman in danger, especially if she has an illegally induced
abortion.

ABORTION SHOULD ONLY BE ALLOWED UNDER CERTAIN

CIRCUMSTANCES

Some people feel that abortion should only be allowed under certain circumstances.
Abortion should only be allowed if;
The life of the pregnant woman is threatened. It is better to lose the unborn baby whom
the family have not yet seen and bonded with, than the mother whom they know and may
have other children to care for.
The unborn baby has severe abnormalities that will cause it a great deal of pain and
suffering if it is born.
A girl falls pregnant because she was defiled or raped
A woman falls pregnant because she was raped

ABORTION SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR ANY GIVEN REASON

Some people feel that abortion should be allowed regardless of the reason for wanting to
have it. This view is often referred to as pro- choice. Below are some of the reasons they
give f other view.

Women should have control of their bodies. They should have the right to decide whether
to have the baby or to terminate the pregnancy. People should not impose their views on
women.
Abortion is better than having a baby that does not want or parents do not want. They
may not be able to care for the baby and may end up neglecting or abandoning the baby.

No form of contraception is completely safe therefore women should have the right to
decide whether to have the baby or terminate the pregnancy.

Abortions happen even if they are illegal. Many women die or their fertility is damaged
because of illegal abortions. They therefore abortion should be allowed in order to enable
women to have safe abortion. This would safe the lives of women.

A baby only begins to have rights after birth, therefore there is no such thing as violating
the right of an unborn baby and women should be allowed to have an abortion.

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THE LAW ON ABORTION IN BOTSWANA

According to the law in Botswana, induced abortions is only allowed under the following
circumstances.

a) If the pregnancy is the result of rape, defilement or incest and the termination of the
pregnancy is requested by the victim. If the victim is unable to make the request, her next
or guardian can make such a request. The medical doctor carrying out the abortion must
be satisfied that the pregnancy is indeed the result of rape, defilement or incest. At least
two registered medical doctors should have recommended the need for an abortion.

b) If the pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant woman or the pregnancy can cause
injury to her mental and physical health. The pregnancy woman has to give consent .if
the victim is unable to give consent, her next of kin or guardian, can give consent on her
behalf. At least two medical doctors should have recommended the need for an abortion
in writing.

c) When there is evidence that there is substantial risk that, if the baby was born , it
would suffer or later develop serious physical or mental abnormality , or disease resulting
in serous handicap. At least two medical doctors should have recommended the need for
the abortion in writing.

In addition to the circumstances allowed for induced abortion given above, the abortion
can only be done:
- Within the first 16 weeks pregnancy
- By registered medical doctors in a Government hospital, a registered private
hospital or clinic approved for abortion. People who break the law on abortion can
be imprisoned for not more than 7 years.

COMPARISION OF THE LAW ON ABORTION: IN BOTSWANA AND SOUTH

AFRICA

Unlike in Botswana, abortion is legal in South Africa. Abortion in South Africa is

available on demand to any woman of any age. This means that abortion in South Africa
can be legally used as a contraceptive. However, abortion is only available on demand or
request if the pregnancy is less than 12 weeks. If the pregnancy is between 13 and 20
weeks old, a woman cannot terminate the pregnancy unless it is under the following
conditions. That the pregnancy is a threat to her health, the baby will have serious.

Mental or physical abnormalities, the woman is pregnant because of incest, rape or that
the woman’s economic or social situation is enough reason to terminate the pregnancy. If
the pregnancy is more than 20 weeks old, it can only be terminated if the woman’s life or
that of the foetus is in danger.

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Only medical doctors and nurses with specialized training may perform s in South Africa.
Health workers can refuse to terminate a pregnancy. But they are expected to terminate a
pregnancy but they are expected to help save a patient life, even if the emergency is
related to abortion. Health workers are also expected to inform patients of their rights and
where they can get an abortion, if they refuse to terminate the pregnancy.

In Botswana and South Africa, a woman can terminate a pregnancy if she has been raped
or the pregnancy is of a result of incest. It can also be terminated if it is threat to the life
of the woman and that the baby will be born with mental or physical abnormalities. In
both countries, only medical practitioners can perform an abortion and the abortion can
only be performed in a health facility.

On the other hand there are many differences in the laws of these countries relating to
abortion. The first is that in Botswana abortion is illegal, while it is legal in South Africa.
While it is only allowed under certain circumstances in Botswana, in South Africa it is
available on demand or request. This means that one can terminate a pregnancy within
the first 12 weeks of pregnancy without been asked any questions. Ones social or
economic status is not a reason considered when deciding on abortion in Botswana, but it
is an important factor in South Africa.

THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF ABORTION

Abortion allows women to have absolute rights over their body.

If it is legalized, women can exercise their rights over their bodies just like men do. They
can have control over what happens to their bodies such that they will use their bodies in
ways that they want to and not to use their bodies in ways that they do not want to.
Legalizing abortion allows a woman to choose whether to carry the pregnancy right to the
end, if she wants and to support the foetus with her body or to terminate the pregnancy
and not use her body to support the foetus.

Abortion can be good for the child

This is especially true in case of unwanted pregnancy. Abortion allows the woman to
terminate pregnancy so that she does not give birth to an unwanted child. It is therefore
better for the foetus to be aborted than to be an unwanted child because this will have
negative psychological effects on him or her. The potential effects of such a
psychologically destroyed child may necessitate an abortion. Such a child may be
psychologically unstable and this instability might be displayed in antisocial behavior the
society.

Such an unwanted child might also experience some physical problems. If this child is
born into a poor family, may be with many children already born into it, he or she will
have his or her physical welfare seriously challenged. He or she may be denied an
adequate provision of food, shelter, attention, schooling etc., and will have to compete
with other members of the family for the meager resources in the family, if there are any

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at all. His or her birth adds to the strain that the family already lives under. His or her
birth may actually deprive other family members these benefits.

Sometimes such a child is born into no family at all. He or she is abandoned at birth and
birth and has to up in an institution without a family, or has to be brought up and moved
between foster homes. A woman who becomes pregnant must bear the responsibility of
her pregnancy and must not pass that responsibility to society. If she is willing to bear the
child and take care of it, she should be allowed to do so. On the other hand, if she does
not want to bear the child and take care of it abortion gives her the opportunity to do so
rather than passing the responsibility to society by giving up for adoption or dumping it
on the streets.

Abortion helps control population growth

Most of the children born into this world may be those who are really wanted. It allows
people to limit the sizes of their families, if used with other birth control methods. This is
of benefit because people will be able to control the quality of their lives and those of
their children. Considering the problems the world is facing today, for example over
population economic hardships etc, abortion is good in that it helps in reducing these
problems. Given that the world population is growing at a rate that is threatening the
resources that can feed it, abortion allows for the termination of unwanted pregnancies
especially where other methods of family planning have failed.

Prohibitions on abortion lead to illegal and unsafe abortions

Laws prohibiting abortions do not stop women from committing abortion; rather they
drive them underground since women who want to abort are usually desperate. They
either self induce abortions or go to unqualified people, often in unsanitary conditions to
get abortion. Most of these self inducing concoctions are very toxic. As result many
women have lost their lives to these backstreet abortions. Apart from death, illegal
abortions result in great health risks. The woman has a great chance of becoming
infertile.

Abortion is murder

Since there is no agreernent on when human life begins, the prolife view says abortion is
murder. Therefore, it is safe to assume that it begins at conception since persons genetic
makeup is established at conception. Once established, it does not change and it goes on
to influence a person’s unique character. Since abortion terminates the life of the foetus ,
it means that the innocent and defenseless foetus is killed. It is denied the natural right to
life since it too has to be treated as a human being with all rights of a person from the
moment of conception. Even in cases of rape or incest, killing the foetus not the answer
since the foetus is innocent of the crime. It is not fair that the foetus should pay with its
life for the crimes of another person. Abortion sacrifices the foetus the right to life for a

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woman’s second order rights that may come with its own such as her right to chose
whether to continue with the pregnancy or not.

Abortion threatens a mother’s life

Abortion procedures are dangerous to the mothers well being, life and future
procreativity. This danger is shown in two ways, medically and psychologically.
Medically, when inducing an abortion, the doctors inset instruments into the woman’s
private parts and womb to remove the foetus .This is dangerous especially to those two
parts. On the other hand, self induced or backstreet abortions are the greatest danger to
women because they are performed by untrained personnel in unhygienic conditions.
Such abortions are likely to result in infections, hemorrhaging and complications that can
result in the death of both the mother and the foetus.

Abortion also increases a woman’s chances of having miscarriages in later pregnancies.

Repeated abortions’ increases the dangers of abortion. Psychological effects of abortion
include the trauma experienced by the woman who authorizes the killing of the baby.

It denies infertile couples the chance to have children

Abortion on demand of the legalization of abortion means that the biological mother of
children who are put up for adoption would have taken advantage of the facilities and the
children would not have been born. With many couples around the world using family
planning devices, it means fewer children are being put up for adoption.

Abortion encourages irresponsible sex

Abortion encourages irresponsible sexual activity since people end using abortion as a
form of contraception. Legalizing abortion allows the woman to sacrifice the innocent
life of a foetus, because she has been careless or irresponsible by not using or in the form
of contraception.

Abortion creates a moral dilemma in society

Abortion creates dilemma for the woman, her family, medical practitioners and the
society. A woman may feel it is morally wrong to commit abortion, but may be in a
situation where she feels she has no choice. The doctor or nurse performing an abortion
may face a moral dilemma when abortion is against their personal moral values or
religious beliefs. The society may be in a moral dilemma of whether or not to legalise
abortion in order to save the lives of women.

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