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This, therefore, means that the above authors are of the opinion that abortion is not accepted in the African context, and the researcher, agrees with his support for pro-life, with the use of African cultural values.
Abortion is not in any way part of our culture, because “to ensure that conception may not be affected, precautions by means of taboo observation is taken for the child to be born safely, and for the benefit of the mother.”[ Cf. R. Ngong, Whom shall I send Hospitality, p. 42] In other words taboos and other social regulations are ultimately meant to protect the unborn child and the mother, thus it is absolutely meant to protect life.
In African traditional religion, procreation stands as a pillar of marriage for it is unacceptable for a couple to stay without bearing off-springs. “The fight against immortality is conquered by the fact that one has to procreate. To avoid cutting of inheritance one has to put to birth.”[ Cf.
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J.S. Mbiti, African Religions, and Philosophy, p. 131 ] If therefore the aim of marriage in the African perspective is for procreation and sustenance of our lineage, then abortion becomes unacceptable.
Maternal mortality is a large and un-abating problem, mainly occurring in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNFPA and the World Bank, 287,000 women die each year worldwide from pregnancy-related causes. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world of 500 per 100,000 births.
WHO estimates 47,000 of these deaths per year are attributable to unsafe abortion, making abortion a leading cause of maternal mortality.”[ Google scholar, internet source, WHO (25th January 2020)] Not all unsafe abortions result in death, disability or complications. The morbidity and mortality associated with unsafe abortion depend on the method used, the skill of the provider, the cleanliness of the instruments and environment, the stage of the woman’s pregnancy and the woman’s overall health. It is estimated that 5 million women per year from the developing world are hospitalized for complications resulting from unsafe abortions, resulting in long and short term health problems. The health consequences and burdens resulting from unsafe abortion disproportionately affect women in Africa.”[ Internet source, google scholar, WHO (25th May 2020)]
There is no doubt about the fact that abortion history can be traced back from the onset of when human beings believed that by avoiding the uses or the consummation of some herbs, seeds, and medicines which can help toughen a pregnancy, women also understood that by eating the same herbs and medicines it can as well distract the pregnancy by ending or aborting it. According to John Riddel in his book “Eve’s Herbs,” states that an ancient Egyptian medical text drawn, ostensibly, from records dating as far back as the third millennium BCE. The documents further noted that the Ebers Papyrus suggests that an abortion can be induced with the use of a plant-fiber tampon coated with a compound that included honey and crushed dates. Later herbal abortifacients included the long-extinct silphium, the most prized medicinal plant of the ancient world, and pennyroyal, which is still sometimes used to induce abortions (but not safely, as it is highly toxic).”[ Cf. google scholar, Eve’s Herbs, John Riddel, 1997] From the above, one can conclude with a simple understanding that some things such as herbs, seeds, and foods that unintentionally triggered miscarriages could also be directed to deliberately causing abortion.
Basically, there are two ways of which abortion can be procured, and these are the artificial and natural abortion. To start with, natural abortion is that which happens spontaneously without any human interventions. Most at times people normally term it as miscarriage. On the other hand, artificial abortion is that which is induced, either by drugs or any external influence. This is what is term as embryotomy which is an intentional ending of the life of the embryo.
The researcher is, therefore, going to focus on the artificial/induced form of abortion since it is the one that is being carried out in my area of studies.
The artificial or induced abortion is the one that is brought on deliberately with complete consent of the will. Thus, an artificial/induced abortion is the one that is carried on decisively, and it can be of two ways. There is direct and indirect abortion. Direct abortion is the premeditated killing of the unborn which may be influenced by fear or shame, of getting a child out of wedlock, or because of genetic disorders. Indirect abortion comes unintended. This may come as consequences such as an ectopic pregnancy.
From the above definition of indirect abortion, we distinguish between the three main types of abortion, which are ‘the medical abortion, the surgical, and the induction and uterine contractions methods.
Our research has also found out that, in Koforidua, there is another form of abortion that involves the use of drugs for the procurement of abortion. This type is known as medical abortion. In medical abortion there are drugs that prevent the implantation of the fertilized egg. Some examples of such drugs include the morning after pill and mifepristone.
On the other hand, most of these women in Koforidua also go for surgical abortion which is been done by the use of different methods such as the Dilation and Curettage (the D and C) method, and the Vacuum Aspirator (dilation and evacuation) method. During the D and C method, the cervix of the woman is expanded by the use of a spoon-shaped instrument to permit the scraping of the uterine content, the embryo. This method is very dangerous because if the clinician is not careful, it can lead to a perforation of the uterus with its resultant haemorrhage that could be deadly to the mother. During the dilation and evacuation method, the suction machine is used to aspirate the content of the uterus.
The third method or way of procuring an abortion is the ‘Induction and Uterine contraction. The uterus is a muscular organ that can contract. During this method of procuring abortion, a given quantity of amniotic fluid is removed from the womb of the woman and it is replaced by the same quantity of a saline solution, and in doing this, it causes a cardiac arrest of the fetus leading to its death.
This chapter has presented the general overview of abortion: the meaning of abortion from different sources, as well as, from the sources of some prominent personalities, groups, and traditions. The abortion topic in our modern world is a troubling and debatable one and is too vast to be discussed in only a few pages, as one would readily accord with me that what has been dealt on in this first chapter is just only but a tip of an iceberg. The core purpose of this first chapter has been to highlight the world view of abortion, and this will open the way into the next chapter of this essay which will focus on the findings of the same issue of abortion in Koforidua.
Probing Abortion Perspectives: Recognizing Global Benefits. (2024, Jan 25). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/probing-abortion-perspectives-recognizing-global-benefits-essay
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