Posicion paper legalization of abortion

Position Paper

Legalization of abortion

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus, resulting inor caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species. In the context of humanpregnancies, an abortion induced to preserve the health of the gravida is termed a therapeutic abortion, while an abortion induced for any other reason is termed anelective abortion. The term abortion most commonly refers to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy, while spontaneous abortions are usually termed miscarriages.Abortion in China is legal and is a government service available on request for women. In addition to easy access to contraception, abortion remains imperative to Chinarealizing its goals of population stability through its One Child Policy.
Exact statistics on the number of abortions performed annually are hard to come by as not allabortions are registered and Family Planning statistics are usually considered state secrets. However in 2008 there were an estimated 13 million abortions performed, andapproximately 10 million abortion pills sold. Induced abortions are more common in urban areas, where couples may only have one child. In rural areas it is permissible tohave a second child if the first born is a girl and a ‘second-birth permit’ is granted, costing approximately 4,000 Yuan until the establishment of the People’s Republicof China the practice of abortion was illegal, but by the 70s it was officially termed a ‘remedial measure’ for realizing China’s goals of controlling the population.