The Never-Ending Abortion Debate

            Abortion, a topic of endless debate between conservatives and liberals, religion and State, and sometimes within one's conscience and situation. According to the medical-dictionary.com, abortion is defined as, 'premature stoppage of a natural or a pathological process.' Anti-abortion groups say it is murder and that life begins at the moment of conception. Yet, Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups feel that it is within a woman's rights to choose if she wants to have an unsuspected pregnancy or the choice to abort the fetus. The practice of abortion or intentional miscarriage dates all the way back to the ancient times with the use of herbal remedies, sharp objects, or strenuous labor to induce a miscarriage or an abortion. These acts were often extremely painful and fatal. The Romans also relied on herbs such as pennyroyal and hellebore, but had also created some of the first gynecological tools for abortive procedures. These surgical instruments were designed to dilate and extract a fetus by using a needle or spike and a covered blunt hook. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, once stated and advised prostitutes who became pregnant to, "to jump up and down, touching her buttocks with her heels at each leap, so as to induce miscarriage.".
             Over the past century, procedures for abortions have come a long way from taking toxic herbs and doing jumping jacks. In the mid 20th century, doctors injected women with water in an attempt to flush out the fetus. Partial birth abortions were introduced. This procedure typically would be performed in a later term pregnancy. The doctor would induce labor resulting in the child coming out feet first and before the child was completely out of the womb, the suction device would be shoved into the back of the child's neck for the purpose to suction the brain from the child. Now, if you live in any liberal state, you can go to any pharmacy and buy the morning after pill for an estimated sixty dollars.