Should abortion be legalized in all countries?
Abortion is a very controversial subject that has been continually argued over for the past few years and probably will be in the many years to come. Abortion is the destruction of the fetus or unborn child while the child is still in the mother’s womb. This can be done by almost anyone from the mother herself to back alley doctors and even by clinics especially set up for this purpose. The main argument of the abortion is ‘should it be legalized?’ In this essay, I would like to specify the argument specifically in the field of law, in the case of worldwide; should abortion be legalized in all countries?
According to a research done by WHO, for a decade, the decline in abortion incidence was greater in developed countries, where nearly all abortions are safe and legal, than in developing countries, where more than half are unsafe and illegal. Most abortions occur in developing countries. Almost all abortion-related deaths occur in developing countries; the highest in Africa. This fact shows that legalization should be applied differently considering the countries’ situations; social environment for pregnant women, social conditions for children to grow, and general consciousness and policies.
In the case of most of developed countries, no matter whether the abortion is legal or illegal, its incidence rate is low. This is due to the social policies that insure the right of life and basic sex education. For example, the lowest abortion rates in the world are in Western and Northern Europe where well-being policies are widely operated and the education of contraception is actively done. Considering that abortion in those countries is accessible with few restrictions, there is no need to force them to regulate abortion legally.
On the other hand, developing countries have strict laws that prohibit abortion. However, there are much more abortion incidences in the region. The matter of fact is not the weak legal measures, but lack of education and poor social environment. For those countries, conscious innovation of people is needed before the severe laws. The way which this can be achieved is by educating. For example, regular sex education in schools and life-protection campaigns will change people’s basic thoughts and decreases the abortion possibility. Furthermore, consultation office for accidently pregnant women will prevent them from being exposed to the dangerous and unsafe abortion and help them to have right choice.
Legalization of abortion depends on the countries’ circumstances. Whether if the abortion is legalized or not, countries with high social awareness about abortion may maintain the low rate. Countries which are culturally immature need compulsive legal regulations to control the abortion problem. Legalization of abortion is a significant matter that responsibility follows. Ironically, only those countries that respect right to life have right to legalize the abortion.