Abortion, a decision for the woman or a matter of politics.

Abortion, a decision for the woman or a matter of politics.

What is abortion all about? Some say we should forbid it, and some say it is the right every woman has, to give birth or not. What are the ethical and moral problems in our society that sometimes force a woman to terminate pregnancy?
The first law in Sweden that allows abortion came in 1938. In the same year it became legal to give information about contraceptive.
But people have in all times been using different methods to get rid of unwanted babies. The original inhabitants of northern America used no less then 210 different herbaceous plants to cause barrenness. Women from the entire world have always known the method to cause abortion and for thousands of these it led to their death. If not for the infections they had by using dirty tools, so by persecutions against them.
For many centuries in Europe it was forbidden to terminate pregnancy. If a woman did that, they burned her to death. That is only one example of what history has done to this modern social problem.

The situation in Sweden
    In Sweden there are about 35000 abortions carried through per year. That is almost one third of all pregnancies! What reason could there be to choose abortion in stead of going through with a pregnancy?
    5% of the cases choose abortion on medical grounds. That means if the baby is seriously injured or if the mother risks her life if she gives birth. In this case according to regulations abortion can be done without questioning. This is an example where the situation decides what to do. In fact all ethical perspectives say that abortion will not be questioned if her life is in danger. But often this is babies that are wanted. That makes it harder for the parents to take the decision.
    Another ground for abortion is different kinds of social problems. It could be bad economy, the parents can not effort another child, and in some cases it has with family planning to do. Maybe the family already has many children so they can not support one more. Or maybe the parents feel so young/old and the carrier risk to be ruin. Abortions on these grounds are not so simple. It would be very hard to make a special rule for these cases. So you have to make a unique decision in every case. And to terminate pregnancy just because you mean well, is not a good idea. There has to be a distinction between responsibility and a good will.
    A big problem today is the bad relationship between couples, 53% of all abortion are made on grounds of bad relationships. Maybe the parents do not know each other well, and they have not talked about having children. It is hard to see the consequences it might lead to if you choose to give birth to this kid. But if you look at it as if you want the best to every part, you have a new perspective. That means that you have to split the mother and the kid and see that they are two separate individuals. What is the best for this child, to have a life with parents that do not love each other or not have a life at all?
    The law we have in Sweden today makes it possible for the woman to decide about her body and the life she can give. It is important to remember that if we would drop free abortion it would only lead to illegal abortions. And I am sure of the bad consequences it would lead to.
    It is very hard to make an ethical fair decision about abortion. But I believe that if you want the best, you make sure that you take your responsibility, and that could lead to different decisions depending in what situation you are in. And the society can not make a rule that everyone should follow, it would have terrible consequences. So, depending on the situation terminated pregnancy can be used. But never forget that it is a human life the decision effects, so I am glad that we still have some rules left to lean on.

It is hard for the woman to take a decision about abortion,
and often connected to strong emotional feelings.