Dean 1

Savy Dean

Professor Workman

English 1201

2 May 2022

Rogerian Argument

The screaming, the crying, the constant need for time and attention: children.

Having children is one of the largest responsibilities people will have in their lives, and

some people don’t ever want to have that responsibility. There are many ways to avoid

this responsibility, the first being the obvious: don't get pregnant. Life happens, mistakes

occur, and people that don’t want to be pregnant get pregnant. This is the reason for

abortion. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy while the fetus is still in the womb.

Even with the option of abortion, many individuals choose to continue the pregnancy

and give birth to the child. Pregnancy can be the most joyful day of someone's life or the

most sorrowful, it all depends on each individual situation. Besides the obvious physical

trauma of abortion and pregnancy, what are the pyschological effects of these

methods?

Abortion can occur for many different reasons, but they all root out of the lack of

desire for a child to be born. There could be no support from family members, no father,

or there could be a fatal medical condition concerning the baby and/or the mother.

These are all main factors behind the decision to have an abortion: “Being confronted

with an unintended pregnancy in the face of competing demands, concerns about the

well-being of loved ones, lack of social support, and/or lack of financial or emotional

resources to obtain pregnancy-related care or to parent a new baby may contribute to

feelings of distress” (Biggs). People can also have differing effects as well as differing

situations. The main psychological affects of abortions are depression and anxiety

occuring in many different forms. Because of these affects states are now requiring that

any person getting an abortion has to be informed/warned of the possible effects of

having an abortion. Antonia Biggs states, “Currently, 27 states have mandated waiting

period laws, 18 states have mandated counseling laws, and eight states require people

seeking abortion to be warned of the negative psychological and emotional responses

to abortion. In Texas, people are told that they may experience recurring depression,

thoughts of suicide, and anxiety after an abortion”. Abortion is becoming more and more

relevant and an even more popular choice as a way out of pregnancy.

Abortion can be a great relief for some people, but others can look back and

regret their decision. It is also a common misconception that people who undergo an

abortion will have pyschological trauma, but it solely depends on the individual. Nancy

Adler explains, “About 17 percent reported negative emotions after abortion, which

include a sense of loss and concern about social approval. Studies which quantified the

strength of these emotions as much as possible, reported that the positive emotions

were generally stronger than the negative emotions”. Therefore, the reality is that only a

small fraction of women will end up psychologically damaged from their abortion.

If a woman does decide to go through with having a child, she can still

experience negative psychological effects just like abortion. It is very common for

women to experience a psychological change during or post pregnancy: “About 15

percent of women will have depression or anxiety during pregnancy. And even more will

suffer from these conditions after giving birth” (Better Health). These effects can include
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many variations of mental illness, the most well-known being postpartum depression.

This is a type of depression that occurs to the mother after giving birth to a child. It

stems from the change in hormones and fatigue from giving birth. These main two

factors combining can make the mother even more fatigued and can make her anxiety

heighten. Artur Bjelica states, “Pregnancy is always associated with changes in

psychological functioning of pregnant women. It is usually associated with ambivalence,

frequent mood changes, varying from anxiety, fatigue, exhaustion, sleepiness,

depressive reactions to excitement. During pregnancy, changes include body

appearance, affectivity and sexuality, whereas the position and role of women attains a

new quality”. Pregnancy is a true challenge for women and can have many lasting

effects.

Pregnancy and abortion are seen as complete opposite solutions to finding out

you are pregnant, but they are similar in some ways. They both concern a baby and a

parent's choice. Before deciding what to do with the baby the mother has the same

opportunity to educate themselves, be influenced by external and internal factors, and

finally make their decision. This all is based on their own personal beliefs and

circumstances, but despite abortion or pregnancy being the final decision, they all begin

the same. The reactions are pure and uninfluenced, the mother is the first to know and

the mother is the one to decide the baby’s fate. This is what makes abortion and

pregnancy similar. Although this makes them related, the factors that contribute to

abortion and pregancy are different.

People that choose abortion usually are struggling financially or have a lack of

support and people who choose pregnancy are most likely supported by their families
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and have enough resources to provide for their baby. Despite these factors, the

education provided to the mother is the key to differing decisions. Has the mother been

educated by republican, democrat, both, or none? Education is the most likely thing to

change the mother’s decision. If a mother hears that going through with the pregnancy

gives you a higher chance of developing depression, they might start leaning towards

abortion, and vise versa. If the communities around the mother are very pro-life, she will

most likely believe that because that is all the information she is being provided.

The compromise between pregnancy and abortion is education. Educating

mothers instead of forcing them to do what others want will be the most beneficial to the

mother’s health despite if they choose abortion or pregnancy. There is an ongoing study

that backs up the fact that force is worse than choice. A study that the University of

California has been conducting says, “The women who were turned away and ultimately

did not give birth reported the most anxiety, and lowest self-esteem and life satisfaction

one week after being denied an abortion”. This shows that being turned away from an

abortion, will hurt the mother pyscholgically more than the abortion itself.

All of this evidence work in favor of abortion being the best choice for women.

Science has given society the option of avoiding undesirable pregnancies and babies

being born in bad environments where they wouldn’t be supported in the most loving

environment and with opportunities that would provide them with a good life.

Psychologically, abortion and pregnancy have similar effects, but new studies are

showing that the undesired pregnancies are what women need to be more aware of.

Having an unwanted pregnancy or being denied an abortion can trigger so many

differing mental health problems in mothers. That is why education is so important for

women to acknowledge when deciding between abortion and pregnancy.

Works Cited

Adler, Nancy E., "Psychological responses after abortion." Science, vol. 248, no. 4951,

6 Apr. 1990, pp. 41+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A8989657/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=19f73f5c.

Biggs, M. Antonia, "Developing and validating the Psychosocial Burden among people

Seeking Abortion Scale" PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 12, 10 Dec. 2020, Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A644514450/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=cf19304e.

Bjelica, Artur. [Pregnancy as a psychological event]. Medicinski pregled vol. 57,3-4

(2004): 144-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15462597/#:~:text=Psychological

%20changes%20during%20pregnancy%3A%20Pregnancy,sleepiness%2C

%20depressive%20reactions%20to%20excitement.

Pregnancy stages and changes. Pregnancy stages and changes - Better Health

Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/pregnancy-

stages-and-changes

"Study: Abortion Doesn't Harm Women's Mental Health, but Denying One Does." Daily

Beast, 14 Dec. 2016. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A474679040/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=7e236b08.