HAZEL LOUISE P.

AQUINO SIR WILLIAM

10 – MAKATAO 10/29/19

Legalization of Abortion
“Our bodies, our lives”, women have the right to choose what they do with their own body, but I believe that abortion
involves not one but two. The abortion non-purists have fought for over the years was never really about the women’s
right to their own body. It was about their right to reproduction, which is something entirely different. The law should
see abortion as a homicide, a murder case. Prosecutions have always been focused on the abortionist, but women who
procure abortion should be severely punished. Just the thought of taking defenseless lives and the mother who
should’ve have been the first to defend that fragile human being depending on you for everything. Abortion is evil, but
anti-abortion purists shouldn’t fall for the trick of absolutism.

There can be a kind of abortion that is an adequate humane exception. Let’s take France as an example, abortion is
severely restricted and is only legal on demand through the 12th week of pregnancy. It is permitted if two physicians
certify that the abortion will be done to prevent grave permanent injury to the mother’s health or when the child will
suffer from a particularly severe illness recognized as incurable. The law in France also imposes penalties on those who
perform illegal abortions, ranging from forfeiture of medical licenses for doctors to fines and, in some cases,
incarceration (for providers, not for the woman obtaining the abortion) ranging from six months to 10 years. It’s
reasonable; it would be an ideal settlement for our country. It will be a breakthrough to establish a legal framework for
our country’s progressive reform. Any enduring political settlement will stipulate consensus, and that can only be
worked out through the democratic process. It may even be a long term project but it will be a way to an effective and
lasting settlement.

Most people don’t give clear reasoning about their opinion in abortion. Pro-lifers derived their positions from the
traditional teaching of the Catholic Church that condemn all abortion. While the others tend to rely on their mentality of
“I know it when I see it” — definitely yes to abortion for 14-year-olds raped by their fathers, definitely no to adult
women who didn’t bother to use contraception during sex and delayed aborting until the eighth month. This is a very
different discussion than the one we are presently having. It is different from the argument of most pro-lifers, that no
medical condition requires abortion of infants. But this thought has us writing one part of an imaginary statute without
taking up some consideration and seeing the rest of the law. The clear intention of legalizing abortion is to save the lives
of mothers whose lives are endangered in the process of labor, which can be considered a justifying circumstance.

The gradual legalization of abortion also leads to a prudent path of reducing and mitigating killings. The government
should also take into account easier access to non-abortive contraception, better adoption procedures and improved
access to care for vulnerable young mothers. For those who are truly concerned about women and children, the answer
is that we should help and support programs that promote the health and well-being of mothers and the children they
bear. For now, we are a long way from having that fight. Only experience will show what is effective, and our preference
should be for the effective and lasting settlement. In reality, if the Penal Code for abortion was overturned today we
would be faced with countless fights and innumerable legislatures. But abortion opponents shouldn’t resort to
replicating their rivals’ error by attempting to ruin the political process. In a country with such strong religious and
conservative roots, it is very unlikely to happen anytime soon. In a confusing country of double standards, it will be a
long and frustrating process, and much evil will be done before it is complete. It will be an evolution, or rather an
amendment, and we should not avoid it.