Abortion refers to the intentional ending or termination of human pregnancy which, in most cases is usually in the first twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy. In other words, abortion is simply the termination of a pregnancy before the fetus or the unborn baby is able to survive on its own outside its mother’s womb. However, sometime an abortion can occur spontaneously without being induced medically which is called a miscarriage. Miscarriages result in the loss or ending of a pregnancy. Abortion can be of two kinds; in-clinic abortion that entails doing a medical procedure in a clinic, hospital or medical facility and the use of an abortion pill. The kind of abortion done usually depends on the age of the pregnancy and the pregnant woman’s choice. Over the past years, there has been a lot of debate and controversy whether or not abortion should be legal or not. Proponents identify themselves as pro-life and argue that a pregnant woman has a right to abortion that outweighs the right claimed for a fetus or embryo and that this right should not be limited by religious or governmental authority. Opponents argue that life begins at conception and thus abortion is killing a human being. In my opinion, abortion significantly and adversely affects the lives and morals of people in society and thus abortion should not be legalized.

First, abortion should not be legal since life starts at conception and thus unborn babies have a right to life thus abortion would be murder. According to Charles, & Stephens, (2006), when a sperm and an ovum meet and fertilization takes place, the result is creation of a human being with a unique set of genes that form his or her identity and remain constant in his or her entire life. Though most the features of this being are not fully developed, the growth of the fetus in the womb represents human life. An unborn child is a human being and just like any other human being, the fetus or unborn baby has a right to life which should be protected by all means, Charles, & Stephens, (2006). In addition, terminating the innocent human life that is yet to be born is murder and is wrong. In the US, the government through the Federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, unborn babies are considered as human beings and are protected against assault or murder. The act states that an unborn child is a member of the Homo sapiens species and that anyone who intentionally kills or attempts to kill an unborn child should be punished for killing or attempting to kill a human being respectively. For this reason that human life starts at conception or just after fertilization and that every human being has a right to life, abortion should not be legalized.

Secondly, abortion should not be legalized since the fetuses or unborn children feel pain during the abortion procedure. Surgeons cutting into the womb to perform corrective procedures on tiny unborn babies have seen those babies jerk, flinch and recoil from sharp objects and incisions, (Kane, & Staiger, 1996).  With the use of sonograms and live action ultra-sound images, there is evidence of fetal pain as neonatologists and nurses are able to see fetuses or unborn children reacting physically to changes in outside stimuli such as light and sound. At this time, the unborn babies are so sensitive and their sense of touch is very acute that even a single drawn against an unborn child’s palm causes the unborn child to make a fist. Anatomical studies show that one medical fact about fetal pain is that by twenty weeks gestation, the spino-thalamic pathway is fully established, the fetal brain has brain cells that are always ready and waiting to receive pain signals from the body just like in adults and that the unborn baby is fully capable of experiencing pain. Moreover, since unborn babies have heightened sensitiveness, they feel pain more intensely than adults. It is for this reason that in specific occasions, surgeons and medical practitioners administer anesthesia during fetal surgeries to protect the unborn children from the intense pain during medical procedures. Given the medical evidence that unborn babies experience pain even more intensely than adults, it is clear that abortion is inhumane and intolerable brutality against defenseless human beings and should not be legalized.

Thirdly, abortion should not be legalized since it causes depression, emotional problems and psychological damage to the mothers who choose to terminate the pregnancy. In most cases, women feel relief just immediately after performing an abortion but eventually with time emotional and psychological problems ranging from mild regret to other serious complications such as depression begin to develop, (Gruber, Levine, & Staiger, 1997). The common psychological damage takes the form of guilt, anger, anxiety, the sense of loss, hostility, suicide and psychosis. According to&