Abortion Pill: Medical Advance Or Setback? Essay, Research Paper

The subject of abortion has created some of the most controversial, social, and moral debates in United States history. On Jan. 22, 1973, in the case Roe Vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that it was a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion during the first trimester of the pregnancy (The Ruling). Still other interest groups argue that human life begins at conception and having an abortion is murder to an unborn child. These opposing viewpoints create a delicate political and social debate in which the lives of unborn children are placed in the center. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the RU 486 “abortion pill”, citing that the “overall safety of the pill is excellent”(Food and Drug). This scientific development has the potential to make abortions much more accessible and private to American women. I believe that the abortion pill harbors great qualities for women who choose abortion, yet is an enormous medical setback because it will cost the lives of so many more unborn children.

For patients who undergo an abortion the psychological issues are some of the hardest to deal with. Suicide rates for women who have an abortion are more than 5 times that of women who have the baby (Abortion-Statistics). While traditionally abortions are very difficult on women, RU 486 makes it much easier for women to choose abortion. Instead of having to travel long distances to an urban clinic, the abortion process can be much more private, an agreement between a woman and her physician (Robinson). With the abortion pill women have the luxury of spending up to twice as much time in the counsel of their doctors than with surgical abortions (Robinson). Furthermore, The abortion pill can only be taken in the first seven weeks of pregnancy and is generally completed a few days later, compared to a surgical abortion which is usually done further into the pregnancy (Robinson). The abortion pill makes psychological recovery much easier because the less time the child is in the womb the less a mother becomes attached to the child.

In the United States today, 25% of all pregnancies end in abortion (Abortion: All Sides). With so many lives in the balance, one of the primary arguments has become the physical health of women who have abortions. Of the women that previously had a surgical abortion 90% said they would prefer the pill if they had another abortion and would recommend it to others (Robinson). However one of the side effects of RU 486 is bleeding up to 9 days, compared to a surgical abortion’s five day duration (Robinson). The recovery process is quicker with a surgical abortion but more traumatic. One death in 200,000 occur with a surgical abortion, compared to one in 500,000 with the abortion pill. Both of these alternatives are far safer for the mother than childbirth that claims one death in every 14,300 births (Robinson). These statistics prove that the safest alternative for the mother in the event of a pregnancy is an abortion using the abortion pill and the most dangerous is going through with childbirth. However the safest thing for the child is natural childbirth by far. The voice of the life in question is never heard and it has a one hundred percent chance of death in the first 2 cases.

Based on the evidence and statistics an abortion pill is far superior to that of a surgical abortion. Yet is that good for society or does it just make the murder of innocent children more accessible? With the introduction of the abortion pill, abortion becomes very reachable, changing the way it has been seen in the past and dulling the senses of the common person. Is it better for society to let down its guard against abortion and slowly accept it as common? I am sure the children in question could give an answer if they had a chance. Making abortion easier and more appealing only further disguises that it is murder. I strongly believe that five months cannot change murder from a horrible crime into a choice.

“Abortion: All Sides of the Issue.” 12 Oct. 2000.

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“Abortion-Statistics.” The Life Research and Communications Institute. 12 Oct. 2000.

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“Food and Drug Administration Approves Abortion Pill.” CNN. 12 Oct. 2000. .

Robinson, B. A. “RU-486 ABORTION PILL.” 12 Oct. 2000.

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“The Ruling.” The Detroit News. 12 Oct. 2000.

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