Arguments about abortions can essentially be narrowed down to whose choice it all comes to (Smyth, 2002). When having an abortion was a criminal act in Canada, it was the government’s choice to limit what a women does with her body (Smyth, 2002). Now that it is legal, the power of choice in the hands of Canada citizens. The government’s decision to decriminalize abortion allows women to enjoy their Charter rights to life, liberty, and security (Smyth, 2002). Today, women are able to make the choice of what they want to do with their bodies without having to worry about committing a criminal act. Having the option to abort also benefits women in many other circumstances such as pregnancy from aggravated sexual assault, pregnancy at a young age, or simply being unable to support a child. Although some argue that abortions take away a child’s right to life, there can be many negative physical and mental disadvantages to having an unexpected child (Smyth, 2002). For example, women who become pregnant while still in high school may experience bullying or exclusion simply because they are carrying a child. This can have a large impact on the individual’s mental health, along with the various physical health complications that come with childbearing. Freedom of choice grants with the choice of determining the direction of their life when considering the …show more content…
In such places, black market abortions become fairly popular (Rodrigues et al., 2015). The black market abortion drug is called misoprostol, a drug commonly used to reduce stomach ulcers and should be taken with extreme caution (Anderson, Stewart, Thornton, & Wilson, 2015). Women who use this drug are often self-administering it, which can results in a variety of negative side effects due to the wrong dosage (Anderson et al., 2015). A large portion of women who take this drug require hospitalization, which ultimately costs the health care system a great deal of money (Rodrigues et al., 2015). Medical abortions are a much more cost effective way to terminate pregnancies for both the health care system and women. In the United States, an average of 95% of women required post abortion care in hospitals for black market abortions, while the other 6% is for medical abortions (Rodrigues et al., 2015). These statistics demonstrate that medical abortions cause less complications for women in the long run. Canada’s current stance on abortion leaves women with the opportunity to have a safe medical abortion rather than resorting to black market