Public Health Seminar

1. Seminar on
Debate on Abortion:
Pro-choice or Pro-life?
Under cordinal guidance of
Hari Prasad Kaphle
Assistant Professor, Pokhara University
By
Alisha Gurung
Reg No. 2015-1-37-0002
At
School of Health and Allied Sciences
Pokhara University, Dhungepatan, Nepal
2019

2. Introduction
•The term “ Abortion” means to terminate or ending
pregnancy by removing or expulsion of embryo and
fetus from uterus.(William C. Shiel, 2018)
•It is one of the controversial issue and widely
debated topic with many moral, ethical, social,
political and religious issues.
9/26/2019 2

3. Contd.
•The debate on abortion surrounds the issues whether
the fetus has right to life and whether the pregnant
woman has right over her own body to terminate
pregnancy or not regardless of health, viability,
intent, quality of life concerns.
•The sides involved in debate are pro-choice and pro-
life.
9/26/2019 3

4. Contd.
•In some countries, it has been legalized while in
some countries it has been banned.
•Case of Roe v Wade in 1973 in America was the
landmark for the legalization of abortion and the
ethical perspectives on abortion was also publicized
after that.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What
Lies in between. European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-79/26/2019 4

5. Contd.
•According to WHO and ICPD, unsafe abortion is
one of the major public health problem.
•Abortion has many complications including
Hemorrhage, Sepsis, Deep vein thrombosis, Death,
Future infertility, Later infant disability and Breast
cancer.
9/26/2019 5

6. Global Scenario of Legal Abortion
Source: Singh S, Remez L, Sedgh G, Kwok L, Onda T. Abortion worldwide 2017: uneven
Progress and unequal AccessAbortion worldwide 2017: uneven Progress and unequal
Access. 2018
Prohibited Altogether To save woman's life
To preserve health Broad social or economic grounds
On request( Gestational Limits Vary)
9/26/2019 6

7. Global Scenario of Incidence of
Abortion
17
19
29
34
36
44
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Northern America
Oceania
Europe
Africa
Asia
Latin America and Carribean
No. of abortions per 1000 per women aged 15-44 years
Northern America Oceania Europe Africa Asia Latin America and Carribean
Source: Singh S, Remez L, Sedgh G, Kwok L, Onda T. Abortion worldwide 2017: uneven
Progress and unequal Access Abortion worldwide 2017: uneven Progress and unequal
Access. 2018
9/26/2019 7

8. Trends in Abortion
40
37
35 34 3539
36
35 34
36
46
40
34
30
27
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1990-1994 1995-1999 2000-2004 2005-2009 2010-2014
No. of abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44 years
World Developing countries Developed countries
Source: Singh S, Remez L, Sedgh G, Kwok L, Onda T. Abortion worldwide 2017: uneven
Progress and unequal AccessAbortion worldwide 2017: uneven Progress and unequal Access.
2018
9/26/2019 8

9. Percentage of pregnancies that ended in
abortion per 1000 women of reproductive
age in Nepal, 2014
31
15
19
27
41
31
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
National
Far Western
Mid Western
Western
Central
Eastern
9/26/2019 9Source: Guttmacher institute, 2014

10. Pro-life Vs Pro-choice
Pro-life
•It refers to oppose of
abortion or belief one
should have freedom to
choose an abortion.
•It is often referred as
anti abortion.
Pro-choice
•It refers to support of
abortion or support
belief that one should
have freedom to choose
abortion.
9/26/2019 10
McCurdy SA. Abortion and public health: Time for another look. The
Linacre Quarterly. 2016

11. 9/26/2019 11
Source: Head, Tom. The Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice Debate: ThoughtCo; 2019.

12. Perspectives of Pro-life
•Unborn as Moral Subject
Fetus is a human being and should given full rights
and moral status.
•Philosophical Considerations
If an unborn is a human, it should be entitled to
rights, and if a human is entitled to rights, it also must
have moral values. It is equivalent to murder.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between.
European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-79/26/2019 12

13. Contd.
•Religious Views on Abortion
All life is sacred and abortion terminates life
therefore, it must be rejected. Abortion is sin against
God.
Permitting abortion would lead to consequences
with harmful social effects.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What
Lies in between. European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7
9/26/2019 13

14. Contd.
•Abortion is a waste of a country's manpower and its
resources. The resources used to undergo abortion
could be used in solving other economic needs.
•Legalizing of abortion is like a license for
promiscuity, rape, robbery and assault.
9/26/2019
Source: Bisong PB, Ogar JN, Asira AE. The abortion debate: a contribution from
Ibuanyidanda perspective. Online Journal of Health Ethics. 2016;12(2):6.
14

15. Contd.
•The unborn child who did not do crime should not
be punished with abortion instead it is the
perpetrator who should be punished.
•Women should not use abortion as another form of
contraception.
Source: Lowen, Linda. Key Arguments From Both Sides of the Abortion Debate.
2019.
9/26/2019 15

16. Contd.
•Abortion could lead to medical complications in the
present and the future complications like
 Ectopic pregnancies
 Miscarriages
 Pelvic inflammatory diseases
 Sterility
Tubal pregnancies and
 Menstrual problems.
Source: Bisong PB, Ogar JN, Asira AE. The abortion debate: a contribution from
Ibuanyidanda perspective. Online Journal of Health Ethics. 2016;12(2):6.
9/26/2019 16

17. Perspectives of Pro-choice
Nonsensical Pregnancy
•Woman who is not ready or who do not want to have
child and modern woman could harm child and lead
to greater chance of misfortune.
•Having unwanted child will have future implications
like physical mental issues and may have greater
chances that children might not foresee a promising
future.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between.
European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7
9/26/2019 17

18. Contd.
Fundamental Right
•Freedom of choice is a fundamental right and
women must have right to autonomy about her
decisions about abortion.
Source: Lowen, Linda. Key Arguments From Both Sides of the Abortion Debate. 2019.9/26/2019 18

19. Contd.
•Abortion is the right of the women and they have the
right to do whatever they want with their bodies.
The fetus is part of their body and thus they have the
right to abort it or not.
•Gomberg (1990) believes abortion should be seen as
a refusal of the mother to nurture her baby and not
murder.
Source: Bisong PB, Ogar JN, Asira AE. The abortion debate: a contribution from Ibuanyidanda
perspective. Online Journal of Health Ethics. 2016;12(2):6.
9/26/2019 19

20. Contd.
Crime and Abortion relationship
•During 1960s, abortion was forbidden with effort to
double population and there was more miserable
living and youngsters were more involved in crimes.
•Then after 1973, there was substantial drop in
criminality.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between.
European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7
9/26/2019 20

21. Contd.
Philosophical considerations
•Fetus is not yet a person and does not have a moral
value.
•Boonin proposed that if a fetus is considered a
person, then a zygote is a person as well should be
entitled to human rights.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between.
European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7
9/26/2019 21

22. Contd.
Abortion is ethically permissible by facts if:
• the mother does not want the child
• the father does not want the child
• mother will possibly die from giving birth
• pregnant due to rape.
Source: Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between.
European Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7
9/26/2019 22

23. Contd.
•If a women have no legal access to abortion then she
will do unsafe abortion carried out in unsuitable
condition by untrained persons.
•It will definitely affect on health and well being of
women.
Source: Lowen, Linda. Key Arguments From Both Sides of the Abortion Debate. 2019.9/26/2019 23

24. Contd.
•In the case of rape or incest, a woman is too afraid to
speak up, thus the morning after pill may be
ineffective in these situations.
•Contraceptives may be ineffective sometimes and
pregnancy can occur.
9/26/2019 Source: Lowen, Linda. Key Arguments From Both Sides of the Abortion Debate. 2019. 24

25. Contd.
•Among all arguments and perspectives, most
controversial issue is regarding personhood.
• In case of U.S., abortion has also deep political
roots like liberals and conservatives.
9/26/2019 25

26. Bibliographies
•Bisong PB, Ogar JN, Asira AE. The abortion debate:
a contribution from Ibuanyidanda perspective.
Online Journal of Health Ethics. 2016;12(2):6.
•Singh S, Remez L, Sedgh G, Kwok L, Onda T.
Abortion worldwide 2017: uneven Progress and
unequal AccessAbortion worldwide 2017: uneven
Progress and unequal Access. 2018.
•Lowen, Linda. Key Arguments From Both Sides of
the Abortion Debate. 2019.
9/26/2019 26

27. •Lopez R. Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice,
Pro-Life, and What Lies in between. European
Journal of Social Sciences. 2012;27(4):511-7.
•Jones K. Ethics of abortion: the arguments for and
against. Nursing standard. 2007;21(37).
•Rocca CH, Puri M, Dulal B, Bajracharya L, Harper
C, Blum M, et al. Unsafe abortion after legalisation
in Nepal: a cross‐sectional study of women
presenting to hospitals. BJOG: An International
Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
2013;120(9):1075-84.
9/26/2019 27

28. •Borgmann C, Weiss C. Beyond apocalypse and
apology: A moral defense of abortion. Perspectives
on sexual and reproductive health. 2003;35(1):40-3.
•Puri M, Singh S, Sundaram A, Hussain R, Tamang
A, Crowell M. Abortion incidence and unintended
pregnancy in Nepal. International perspectives on
sexual and reproductive health. 2016;42(4):197.
•McCurdy SA. Abortion and public health: Time for
another look. The Linacre Quarterly. 2016;83(1):20-
5.
9/26/2019 28

29. Are you a Pro- choice or Pro-life??