Abortion: Consequentialist and Deontological Perspectives
Abortion can be termed as the dissolution of pregnancy by therapeutic or non-therapeutic measures before the foetus is necessarily developed to subsist. While discussing about abortion, the term is essentially taken synonymous with 'induced abortion', that is, for whatever the reason, the pregnancy is made to end purposefully in par with the decision taken by the woman. The occurrence of spontaneous abortion also termed as miscarriage, where the termination of pregnancy is independent of the woman’s will or even her knowledge are seldom taken into account even in the comprehensive studies related to abortion (Murphy, 1985).
Abortion has moral, religious, and cultural dimensions associated with it. Abortion being a very sensitive and argumentative issue, also remains a public health concern in many parts of the world. Regardless of the fact that more than one-quarter population of the world reside in countries where the legal status of the procedure is prohibited or permitted only to save the woman’s …show more content…
Under the purview of this law, it is legal for a woman to undertake abortion if there are serious physical or mental injury, which may be dangerous for the mental health of the woman; if the pregnancy resulted from contraceptive failure or from rape; chances of birth of a child with mental or physical abnormalities. Abortion can be done till 20 weeks of pregnancy duration without any mandatory spousal consent. About 4.6 lakh MTPs were performed in India in 1996-97 according to the data shown by the ministry of health and family welfare. Additionally, 6.7 million abortions are performed in India often by non-professionals in other than government recognised and registered institutions in unhygienic conditions [Khan et al 1998]. (Visaria, Ramachandran, Ganatra, & Kalyanwala,
Abortion can be termed as the dissolution of pregnancy by therapeutic or non-therapeutic measures before the foetus is necessarily developed to subsist. While discussing about abortion, the term is essentially taken synonymous with 'induced abortion', that is, for whatever the reason, the pregnancy is made to end purposefully in par with the decision taken by the woman. The occurrence of spontaneous abortion also termed as miscarriage, where the termination of pregnancy is independent of the woman’s will or even her knowledge are seldom taken into account even in the comprehensive studies related to abortion (Murphy, 1985).
Abortion has moral, religious, and cultural dimensions associated with it. Abortion being a very sensitive and argumentative issue, also remains a public health concern in many parts of the world. Regardless of the fact that more than one-quarter population of the world reside in countries where the legal status of the procedure is prohibited or permitted only to save the woman’s …show more content…
Under the purview of this law, it is legal for a woman to undertake abortion if there are serious physical or mental injury, which may be dangerous for the mental health of the woman; if the pregnancy resulted from contraceptive failure or from rape; chances of birth of a child with mental or physical abnormalities. Abortion can be done till 20 weeks of pregnancy duration without any mandatory spousal consent. About 4.6 lakh MTPs were performed in India in 1996-97 according to the data shown by the ministry of health and family welfare. Additionally, 6.7 million abortions are performed in India often by non-professionals in other than government recognised and registered institutions in unhygienic conditions [Khan et al 1998]. (Visaria, Ramachandran, Ganatra, & Kalyanwala,