Abortion legislation

Introduction. This study qualitatively explores perceptions of women who have experienced abortion care. It explores women's journey through abortion from confirmation of pregnancy to post-abortion. Aim. The study seeks to understand the implications of these perceptions for policy and practice. Main Outcome Measures. A qualitative study involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 women, aged between 22 and 57 years, who had undergone legal induced abortion in the UK when they were 16 years or older. Participants were not recruited under the age of 16 because of the ethical and legal complexities of interviewing minors. Additionally, 16 years was deemed to be the most appropriate age as this is the legal age of consent in the UK. Methods. Participants were recruited from 12 community contraception and sexual health clinics in two NHS trusts, one in England and one in Wales. Participant recruitment was set at a minimum of 12 and participants were recruited on a " first come first served basis " (i.e., the first 12 who contacted the researcher). The number of participants was raised to seventeen as this was the number deemed to be the most suitable for data saturation in this particular qualitative research. Results. Women in this study understood abortion as highly taboo and a potentially personally stigmatizing event. These perceptions continued to affect disclosure to others, long after the abortion, and affected women's perceptions of the response of others, including society in general, significant others, and health professionals. Conclusions. Women's experiences of abortion may be influenced by perceived negative social attitudes. Health professionals and abortion service providers might combat the perceived isolation of women undergoing abortion by attending not only to clinical/technical aspects of the procedure but also to women's psychological/emotional sensitivities surrounding the event. Astbury-Ward E, Parry O, and Carnwell R. Stigma, abortion and disclosure—Findings from a qualitative study. J Sex Med 2012;9:3137–3147.

The abortion involves the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy. Protecting access to abortion effectuates vital constitutional values, including dignity, autonomy, equality, and bodily integrity. This is something central to a woman's life, to her dignity. It's a decision she must make for herself. And when government controls that decision for her, she's being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices. Without the right of reproductive choice, women cannot participate equally in the nation's social, political and economic life. Their freedom to decide whether and when to have children opens doors that would otherwise be closed. Through this paper, we have tried to address that how various arguments of pro-life supporters are wrong and how the arguments of pro-choice supporters are in accordance with the human conscience.

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Disagreements about abortion are often assumed to reduce to disagreements about fetal personhood (and mindedness). If one believes a fetus is a person (or has a mind), then they are "pro-life." If one believes a fetus is not a person (or is not minded), they are "pro-choice." The issue, however, is much more complicated. Not only is it not dichotomous-most everyone believes that abortion is permissible in some circumstances (e.g. to save the mother's life) and not others (e.g. at nine months of a planned pregnancy)-but scholars on both sides of the issue (e.g. Don Marquis and Judith Thomson) have convincingly argued that fetal personhood (and mindedness) are irrelevant to the debate. To determine the extent to which they are right, this article will define "personhood," its relationship to mindedness, and explore what science has revealed about the mind before exploring the relevance of both to questions of abortion's morality and legality. In general, this article does not endorse a particular answer to these questions, but the article should enhance the reader's ability to develop their own answers in a much more informed way.