Controversy on Abortion Issue

Abortions were first permitted in the United States between 1660 and 1776 (Rosenblatt 3:8). The colonies, following English common law, authorized abortions. The people had authority and reportedly, treated it with benign tolerance. For example, since the majority of their congregations accepted abortion, the clergy (particularly Protestant) also accepted abortion.

Acceptance of abortion began to change in the late eighteenth century. Between 1820 and 1840, the medical profession seized authority over the issue and lobbied the states to adopt restrictive legislation. The impetus for the doctors' movement was threefold: (a) doctors considered themselves sole custodians of decisions pertaining to life, (b) doctors held the view that a woman's social role was to increase and nurture the population, and (c) doctors sought to drive nonphysician practitioners (midwives, pharmacists, homeopaths) who attended women out of business.

By 1841, ten states had passed restrictive abortion

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professionals in general, find questionable two contentions which legal professionals rely on: (a) that a 20-week gestational period may be viable, and (b) that medical tests truly can determine whether a fetus at 20-weeks or older could survive. Physicians call the 20-week viability standard questionable because they realize that when a fetus is viable is an inexact science. The 20-week number was selected to allow doctors a four week margin of error in estimating fetal age. However, it is commonly accepted by medical professionals that 24 weeks is approximately the lower limit of survivability and that a 20-week old fetus cannot survive even with the best of care and dramatic medical technological advances. An infant's lungs, kidneys, brain and other vital organs are not mature enough to sustain life outside the womb. Despite misconceptions by laypersons, no research is on the horizon to push the threshold lower. Surveys (Silberner 3:23) indicate that the medical community remains divided, as does the rest of the American public, on whether abortion should remain legal. One survey, conducted by the American College of obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), found that 84 percent of ACOG members believe abortion should b
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1936
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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