Should abortion be

legal?

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Tahsin Wara Khaondakar

Lecturer
Department of Business administration
East West University
Subject: Letter of Transmittal

Dear Madam,
It is our great pleasure to submit our report to you. We are assigned to prepare a report topic
entitled should abortion be legal? This work has given us the opportunity to apply all our
theoretical knowledge with practical experience. In this report, we are trying to show either
abortion should be legal or not.
We tried our level best to show our skill, which is achieved by one week group work. In
completing the report, our concern was to impart every available details of the study area
avoiding unnecessary amplification of the report. We hope that this report will meet the standards
of your judgments. Finally, we would like to assure that we remain standby for any clarification,
explanation as and when required.
Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation in this regard.

Sincerely Yours,
Md. Jamilur Rahim

: 2012-1-10-273

Md Sahinur Islam

: 2009-3-10-313

Md Apel Mahmood

: 2011-1-10-349

Acknowledgement

It gives us immense pleasure to thank a number of individuals for their cordial cooperation and
encouragement who have contributed directly or indirectly in preparing this term paper.
We express our heartfelt thanks to Tahsin Wara Khondakar from whom we have received
instructions and advice for making this report. Secondly, we thank Mr. Jamilur Rahim, who has
wide knowledge in this sector. They could relate their educational background with the topic of
research and gave us ideas of different related issues.
We pay regards to the respected people for their kindest co-operation to prepare the report.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Persistent gender discrimination and inequality are at the root of womens and girls inability to
exercise their human rights. Every year, thousands of women and girls are denied their rights and
choices total ban on abortion and its criminalization. Women and girls who are carrying an
unwanted pregnancy are confronted with two options: commit a crime by terminating the
pregnancy, or continue with the unwanted pregnancy. Both options have life-long and potentially
devastating implications. The number of girls and young women facing this choice is
exacerbated by the failure to provide comprehensive sexuality education and quality, modern
contraception. These restrictions are serious violations of the human rights of women and girls
and must be dealt with as a matter of urgency. Government is ultimately responsible for the
deaths of women and girls denied an abortion and for thousands of others whose human rights
have been violated as a result of the countrys total abortion ban. This executive summary
outlines the barriers faced by women and girls in exercising their rights, particularly those
barriers that obstruct the realization of their sexual and reproductive rights. It includes testimony
from health experts, womens rights defenders and the women themselves. This executive
summary accompanies the report of the same name, which provides further detail, testimony and
analysis of these issues.

Debate: Abortion
Background and context:
The issue of abortion is one of the most contentious, and emotive dilemmas faced by modern
societies. The question is whether one should allow the termination of a pregnancy. For some,
the question is even more fundamental: at what stage is the embryo or fetus in the uterus to be
regarded as a child? At fertilization? At birth? Or, maybe somewhere between. The battle-lines
are drawn between strict, religious (pro-life) arguments (that it is never permissible), and those
(pro-choice) that emphasize the womans right to choose as the primary concern. While
abortion has been legal in America since the land-mark Roe vs. Wade case in the early 1970s,
this is by no means a reflection of universal agreement either international or within America
itself as many Western countries still have considerable restrictions on abortion. For example,
the Irish position has softened only recently, and the Catholic Church steadfastly refuses to
change its resolutely pro-life stance in the face of criticism from Womens and other lobbygroups.

The abortion debate revolves around a number of questions. Does a woman have a right to her
body that the fetus cannot take away? Does this right mean that a woman has a right to "unplug"
from the fetus? Or, does the fetus have a right to life that is binding on the woman and her body
and that outweighs any rights held by the woman, requiring her to give birth? Is a fetus only a
fetus or is it a person that deserves rights and protections? Does "human life" begin at conception
or at birth? Is destroying a fetus akin to "killing a human" or murder?
What about the biological father? What rights does he have over a fetus? If the woman seeks an
abortion, can he prevent it? And, what if she wants to give birth to a child, while he does not
want it to happen? What say does he have? Is this, therefore, simply a question of the woman's
rights, or the man's rights as well?
Is a woman responsible for actions and behavior that may lead to an unwanted pregnancy,
making her responsible for the fetus even if it is "unwanted"? Are there circumstances in which a
woman cannot be said to be responsible for her own impregnation, such as failed contraception
or rape? Can this justify an abortion?
Is abortion an issue that is subjectively moral/immoral, so should be reserved to individual
judgment (not law)? Must opponents simply tolerate the practice? Or, is the scale of abortions
world-wide too large to ignore, and does this scale give cause to a ban?
Is abortion an important way for young women to ensure that their futures are not destroyed? Is
it an important part of ensuring that women can have sex comfortably and without worry? Is

child-rearing more fulfilling than many women tend to believe? Is it wrong to consider "quality
of life" issues here? Is the "sanctity of life" more important than "quality of life"? Does abortion
result in psychological disorders or depression? Does it increase the chances of cancer? What
about during emergencies in which the risks of giving birth are very high for a woman? Should
she be forced to endure these risks, or can an abortion be appropriate in these circumstances?

Does abortion generally empower women with an important choice regarding their bodies? Or,
does it demean them, possibly by opening them to sexual exploitation by men.
Are there viable alternatives to abortion such as adoption? Does the option of adoption invalidate
all concerns regarding raising a child? Are there concerns regarding the safety of child-birth that
make the possibility of putting a child up for adoption risky? Is abortion itself risky? How do the
risks of abortion compare to the risks of child-birth?
Does the illegalization of abortion merely push women to seek "back alley" abortions, which are
less safe? Is it impossible to enforce any ban on abortions? Does this matter? Is abortion merely
a new form of birth control that is being exploited by women, and which allows them (and their
partner) to act recklessly in their sexual behavior?
Is it better to abort a child that will be unwanted or neglected by its parent? Is this good for
children that would, perhaps, suffer, and possibly good for society that would suffer from their
presence (crime)? Or is it wrong to base decisions regarding abortion (life and death) on merely
whether a baby is wanted? Are the social problems that will confront a baby irrelevant or

inappropriate to consider? Can/should they be addressed by other means than abortion? These
and other questions frame the complicated abortion debate, which continues to be highly
contentious, with massive support on both sides internationally.

Why abortion should be legal:

1. Abortion is about allowing woman the right to make choices about when they want to have
children in relation to their age, financial stability & relationship stability. It is the not the place
of government to legislate against woman's choices.
2. Raising a child is not an easy task & requires social & emotional commitment coupled with
financial resources. As such if a person feels they are not ready for a child, it means the
pregnancy is unwanted & resultant allowing a fetus to grow into a child is worse than abortion
since the resultant child will grow in a non conducive & destructive environment without the
love, care & stability that a child needs.".
3. The argument against abortion is a moral argument which is subject to personal interpretation
so should not be legislated against. Those see it morally allowable to do abortion should be
provided with the means to do so & those who don't believe in abortion should have the choice
not to have an abortion%.
4. A fetus is not legally or scientifically a person or human being so abortion cannot be equated
to murder or taking a life since the fetus is not a person nor alive.
5. A fetus is like a brain dead person with no self awareness or consciousness so it is actually
dead.
6. Prohibiting abortions doesn't stop abortions, women would simply seek abortions via illegal
means which are unsafe & illegal, so it is better to provide woman with safe & legal ways to do
an abortion.
7. Abortion prevents unwanted & unplanned pregnancies which prevent child neglect since the
mother does not want to have children at that moment in time.
8. Making abortion illegal is also a class struggle since the rich can always go to other places
where it is legal & have an abortion whilst the poor cannot do this, but have to resort to unsafe
abortions which can lead to their death.
9. Making abortion illegal is more or less compulsory pregnancy which contradicts the quest &
fight for freedom.

10. Making abortion illegal will increase teenage pregnancy (children having children). This
usually leads to illegal abortions which can lead to death or permanent health defects, poverty,
joblessness, hopelessness, and dependency.
11. A woman's right to choose abortion is a fundamental right
12. Personhood begins at birth, not at conception. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy
(fetus), not a baby. Personhood at conception is not a proven biological fact.
13. Fetuses are incapable of feeling pain when an abortion is performed.
14. Access to legal, professionally-performed abortions reduces injury and death caused by
unsafe, illegal abortions.1%. The antiabortion position is usually based on religious beliefs and
threatens the vital separation of church and state. Religious ideology should not be a foundation
for law.
15. Modern abortion procedures are safe. Abortion gives couples the option to choose not to
bring babies with severe and life threatening medical conditions to full term.
16. Many women who choose abortion don't have the financial resources to support a child.
17. Motherhood must never be a punishment for having sexual intercourse.
18. A baby should not come into the world unwanted. %5 of all pregnancies among American
women is unintended. Saving a child is an important lifelong decision that requires
consideration, preparation, and planning.
19. Abortion reduces crime. Teenage girls, unmarried women, and poor women are more likely
to have unintended pregnancies, and since unwanted babies are often raised in poverty, their
chances of leading criminal lives in adulthood are increased.
20. So we have the right to force the mother to keep the baby solely because she consented to
participate in these sexual activities, we have the right to take away anothers right as we
continue to fight for other rights why do we take away the rights of a woman because she has the
potential to have a baby". We get right to life, liberty & pursuit of happiness when we are born.

ARGUMENT 1
The individual womans right to choose whether she wants to bear a child. People are not merely
a means to an end, but ends in themselves. A woman treated as an incubator of a fetus by the law
is merely a means to an end and is therefore not being regarded as a person. A woman is a
person, while an embryo is not a person. The womans right, as a person, to be treated as an end

in her, accords her the right to choose whether she will accept a pregnancy or not. The law needs
to reflect this right.

ARGUMENT 2
When debating against the Christians on abortion, hoist them on their own petard.
Having a soul is important to the Christians because it is the soul that transmigrates to Heaven
and eternal life. Furthermore, the reason why we can kill, eat and experiment on animals (and
previously communists) is because they lack souls.
Fathers of the Christian religion, St. Augustine (d.430) and St. Thomas Aquinas (d.1270),
following Aristotle, decreed that the fetus acquired a soul after 40 days for males and after 90
days for females.
This example, from a Christian source, highlights a philosophical problem; the logical
impossibility of precisely drawing the line in what is called the bald-hairy distinction problem.
When is a beard not a beard after 5 or 30 days? It is impossible to precisely draw the line
between night and day, although we can tell the difference between night and day. To precisely
draw the line as to when the fetus gets a soul is impossible in this continuous growth period.
Another problem for the religious is that science does not support the existence of an immortal,
indestructible, indivisible soul. There is no evidence for the existence of any supernatural realms,
and psychology and neurology show that brain damage and brain death correspond with loss of
function, personality and awareness. The evidence of science should be taken as factual rather
than the unfounded assertions of religion.

ARGUMENT 3
(a) The latest criterion for death, say before allowing an organ transplant, is for the
electroencephalogram to be flat, indicating an absence of mental activity, even though the heart
may still be beating. (A person in a deep coma still has a non-flat E.E.G.)
(b) A necessary condition for a living organism to become a human being is for mental activity
which is associated with thought and mind.
(c) The early fetus has no central nervous system/brain, hence no mental activity.
(d) The central nervous system of the fetus develops after the 4th (or even the 5th) month.

It is difficult to determine precisely when mental activity begins in the fetus and even more
difficult to establish the point when it becomes an autonomous, thinking, feeling, emotional, selfconscious person.
(e) The medical profession applies the same criterion (absence of mental activity) for the
definition of life at both ends of the spectrum.
(f) The early embryo is a potential human being, not an actual one. Things may be done to it
which may not be done to an actual human being. We are all going to die, and things will be done
to us then, not permitted when actually living now.

ARGUMENT 4
Up to 14 days after fertilization the early embryo (called a zygote) can divide into two separate
identical genetic twins to produce identical genetic twin babies 9 months later. At 14 days a
primitive streak, or ridge of cells, develops on the disc of the embryo and then generally identical
twins can no longer occur.
But, now and then, more than one primitive streak may be formed, giving rise to identical twins,
or, fortunately far less often, Siamese twins. A week later the streak is replaced by the neural tube
and plate, a primitive spine.

Why abortion should not be legal?

The debate over whether or not abortion should be a legal option continues to divide Americans
long after the US Supreme Courts 7-2 decision on Roe v. Wade declared the procedure a
"fundamental right" on Jan. 22, 1973.
Proponents, identifying themselves as pro-choice, contend that choosing abortion is a right that
should not be limited by governmental or religious authority, and which outweighs any right
claimed for an embryo or fetus. They say that pregnant women will resort to unsafe illegal
abortions if there is no legal option.
Opponents, identifying themselves as pro-life, contend that personhood begins at conception, and
therefore abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent human being. They say abortion inflicts
suffering on the unborn child, and that it is unfair to allow abortion when couples who cannot
biologically conceive are waiting to adopt.
Variations exist in arguments on both sides of the debate. Some pro-choice proponents believe
abortion should only be used as a last resort, while others advocate unrestricted access to
abortion services under any circumstance. Pro-life positions range from opposing abortion under
any circumstance to accepting it for situations of rape, incest, or when a woman's life is at risk.
Abortion is murder:
The killing of an innocent human being is wrong, even if that human being has yet to be born.
Unborn babies are considered human beings by the US government. The federal Unborn Victims
of Violence Act, which was enacted "to protect unborn children from assault and murder," states
that under federal law, anybody intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child should
"be punished... for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being." The act also states
that an unborn child is a "member of the species homo sapiens." At least 38 states have passed
similar fetal homicide laws.
Life begins at conception, so unborn babies are human beings with a right to life:
Upon fertilization, a human individual is created with a unique genetic identity that remains
unchanged throughout his or her life. This individual has a fundamental right to life, which must
be protected. Jerome Legume, the French geneticist who discovered the chromosome
abnormality that causes Down syndrome, stated that "To accept the fact that after fertilization has

taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion... The
human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it
is plain experimental evidence.

Fetuses feel pain during the abortion procedure:

Maureen Condic, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Adjunct
Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine, explains that
the "most primitive response to pain, the spinal reflex," is developed by eight weeks gestation,
and adds that "There is universal agreement that pain is detected by the fetus in the first
trimester." According to Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand, MBBS, DPhil, Professor of Pediatrics,
Anesthesiology and Neurobiology at the University Tennessee Health Science Center, "If the
fetus is beyond 20 weeks of gestation, I would assume that there will be pain caused to the fetus.
And I believe it will be severe and excruciating pain." Bernard N. Nathanson, MD, the late
abortion doctor who renounced his earlier work and became a pro-life activist, stated that when
an abortion is performed on a 12-week-old fetus, "We see [in an ultrasound image] the childs
mouth open in a silent scream... This is the silent scream of a child threatened imminently with
extinction."
Abortion is the killing of a human being, which defies the word of God:
The Bible does not draw a distinction between fetuses and babies: the Greek word brephos is
used in the Bible to refer to both an unborn child and an infant. By the time a baby is conceived,
he or she is recognized by God, as demonstrated in Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed thee in the
belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." The Sixth
Commandment of the Bible's Old Testament, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13), applies to all
human beings, including unborn babies. In the Hindu religion, the holy text Kaushitaki
Upanishad states that abortion is an equivalent misdeed to killing ones own parents. The BBC
states that "Traditional Buddhism rejects abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of
a life."
The decision in Roe v. Wade was wrong and should be overturned:
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated that the right to privacy defended in Roe v.
Wade is "utterly idiotic" and should not be considered binding precedent: "There is no right to
privacy [in the US Constitution]." In his dissenting opinion in Roe v. Wade, Justice William H.
Rehnquist stated that an abortion "is not 'private' in the ordinary usage of that word. Nor is the
'privacy' that the Court finds here even a distant relative of the freedom from searches and
seizures protected by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution..." Furthermore, the 14th
Amendment bars states from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due

process of law." The Supreme Court overreached in Roe v. Wade when it excluded unborn
children from the class of "persons."

Abortions cause psychological damage:

A 2008 peer-reviewed study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health found that
"Young adult women who undergo... abortion may be at increased risk for subsequent
depression." A peer-reviewed 2005 study published in BMC Medicine found that women who
underwent an abortion had "significantly higher" anxiety scores on the Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale up to five years after the pregnancy termination. A 2002 peer-reviewed study
published by the Southern Medical Journal of more than 173,000 American women found that
women who aborted were 154% more likely to commit suicide than women who carried to term.
A 1996 study published in the British Medical Journal reported that the mean annual suicide rate
amongst women who had an abortion was 34.7 per 100,000, compared with a mean rate of 11.3
per 100,000 in the general population of women. An Apr. 1998 Journal of Social and Clinical
Psychology study of men whose partners had abortions found that 51.6% of the men reported
regret, 45.2% felt sadness, and 25.8% experienced depression.
Abortions reduce the number of adoptable babies:
Instead of having the option to abort, women should give their unwanted babies to people who
cannot conceive. The percentage of infants given up for adoption in the United States declined
from 9% of those born before 1973 to 1% of those born between 1996 and 2002. As a result of
the lack of women putting their children up for adoption, the number of US infant adoptions
dropped from about 90,000 in 1971 to 18,000 in 2007. Around 2.6 million American women
were trying to adopt children as of 2002, according to the US Department of Health and Human
Services.
Women should not be able to use abortion as a form of contraception:
It is immoral to kill an unborn child for convenience. The Guttmacher Institute reported that half
of all women having abortions every year have had at least one previous abortion, while 8.5% of
abortions reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 were undergone by
women who had three or more previous abortions. This suggests that many women are using
abortion as a contraceptive method. Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt, PhD, wrote that after
abortion was legalized, "Conceptions rose by nearly 30 percent, but births actually fell by 6
percent, indicating that many women were using abortion as a method of birth control, a crude
and drastic sort of insurance policy."

If women become pregnant, they should accept the responsibility that comes with
producing a child:
People need to take responsibility for their actions and accept the consequences. Having sexual
intercourse, even when contraceptive methods are used, carries with it the risk of a pregnancy.
The unborn baby should not be punished for a mistake made by adults. If women are unprepared
to care for their children, they should at least put them up for adoption.

CONCLUSION
Total abortion ban places women and girls on the brink of death. It also severely compromises
the health and wellbeing of thousands who are forced to rely on unsafe clandestine abortions,
who have suffered miscarriage, or who have been raped. It leads to the arbitrary and unjust
imprisonment of women and girls for crimes which in reality amount to attempting to exercise
their basic human rights. The failure of the Salvadoran government to address damaging cultural
norms that marginalize and restrict the lives of women and girls, as well as their refusal to
properly a dress the inescapable barriers to modern contraception and effective sexuality
education, condemns generations of young women to a future shaped by inequality,
discrimination, limited choices and restricted freedoms. Amnesty Internationals findings provide
a glimpse into the pervading cultural and institutional barriers that women and girls in face to
exercising their human rights, particularly those barriers that obstruct the realization of their
sexual and reproductive rights. The testimonies of the women and others who spoke to Amnesty
International illustrate in explicit and distressing terms the terrible cost that these barriers exact
on women and girls on a daily basis in terms of their health, personal freedoms, socio-economic
circumstances and mortality. They also demonstrate how gender equality cannot become a reality
in as long as cultural prejudices and prevalent gender stereotypes are enshrined and promoted
through reckless, discriminatory laws and institutional practices.

Reference

www.en.wikipedia.org
http://www.profesionalesetica.org
www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/legal/
www.debate.org
www.deism.com/abortion.htm