Essay Example on Abortion has always been and will remain a controversial Issue

Summary Abortion has always been and will remain a controversial issue if the right steps are not taken to educate our society about the matter In Pakistani society abortion is deemed as a taboo mere mention of it in a household can cause conflicts and chaos Usually women in Pakistan who bear the stress of pregnancy and childbirth have the least say in the decision making process The population council of Pakistan PCP conducted a survey which showed that more than 50 percent women in Pakistan do not want a second child However the law of Pakistan gives little or no control to the women to make their own decision regarding their own bodies Unwanted pregnancy leads to induced abortions the law of Pakistan not allowing abortions easily PCP discovered that about 890 000 abortions are taking place nationally These are only the reported cases the study also shows that 696 000 women with post abortion complications visit health facilities annually for post abortion care 2 Background Over the past several years we have seen an increase in the rate of abortions carried out annually In a country like Pakistan which is still developing and is dealing with terrorism poverty economic and political instability where people are deprived of basic necessities of life access to proper abortion clinic is a far out of their reach 

A study conducted in January 2012 showed that proportion of total abortions carried out by untrained personnel had risen from 44 percent to 49 percent between 1995 and 2008 and the percentage is increasing at an alarming rate with every passing day Abortion was legally restricted in almost every country by the end of the nineteenth century According to the United Nations Population Division abortion is legally restricted fall into three main categories 1 Common Law 2 Civil Law 3 Islamic Law Pakistan being an Islamic state falls into the third category In the Pakistan penal Code PPC there are many articles which discuss abortion and the punishment regarding it Although abortion is legal in Pakistan but there are certain set of rules you have to follow The Section 338 of the PPC says before the fetus organs are formed the offence is penalized by imprisonment for 3 10 years After organs are formed compensation is imposed Imprisonment may also be imposed Abortion is only permissible for saving the life of the mother or providing her necessary treatment until the organs of the child have formed following which only the life exception applies 3 Issue Pakistan society is still a very conservative society as compared to the west Women in Pakistan are treated as second class citizens and are denied of their basic rights e g contraception They don t have a right over their own body and mind Contraception is considered to be un Islamic in our society since it is has that stigma around it no one dares to educate themselves or young girls about it Early marriages poverty having too many children are few of the reasons for abortion

All of this results in high rates of unintended pregnancy unplanned births and induced abortion The unintended pregnancy rate increased between 2002 and 2012 it rose from 71 to 93 per 1 000 women aged 15 49 In 2012 there were approximately nine million pregnancies of which 4 2 million were unintended Of these unintended pregnancies 54 resulted in induced abortions and 34 in unplanned births Although abortion is legalized in Pakistan however it is legal and performed under certain circumstances Due to this law women are forced to go to untrained professionals for abortion which cause post abortion complications which can be life threatening for them 4 Policy Recommendations 1 As we know unplanned pregnancies and then induced abortions result in substantial costs to the country s health care system Also affecting the women and their families Policy makers and service providers must take steps to prevent unintended pregnancies by taking in account the suggestions mentioned Improve access to quality contraceptive services as an urgent priority especially in rural areas so that Pakistani women are better able to time and space their pregnancies and have the number of children they desire Help parents communicate with their teens about sex and healthy relationships 2 NGO s and public sectors should educate people especially girls in rural areas about contraceptive pills family planning abortion and post abortion care Life skills based education should be given to boys and girls 

3 Government should take steps and track down all underground abortion clinics led by untrained people and should start the training of additional health care providers including doctors and mid level providers in safer methods of treating post abortion complications 4 Islamic scholars should enlighten people with the true Islamic teachings regarding family planning and abortion trying to eliminate misconceptions regarding these extremely sensitive issues 5 Rape victims should be given the option to keep the child or abort it The law of Pakistan states that rape victims cannot abort their child unless their life is in danger but what we fail to see is that by keeping the unwanted child the victims have a constant living reminder of the tragedy that affected their lives miserably 6 24 hours help lines should be established where doctors psychiatrists and counselors should be present to guide the callers and educate them regarding the matter concerning them Recommendation Today abortion is perhaps the most controversial moral and political issue causing much contention between political parties women right activists and theologians as well as many other groups With abortion rate increasing at an alarming rate steps should be taken immediately by the government First and foremost we need to break the stigma around contraceptive pills and abortion If we can t talk about an issue openly how are we going to tackle it In society like ours the politics of abortion is that to keep silent and not to create awareness on the subject