why should women with sickle-cell be allowed to have abortions?

Question

this is for my argumentive essay

Answer 1

Because sickle-cell anemia can be passed down to the baby. Many pregnancies of women with sickle-cell end in miscarriage anyway because the baby's blood can't process enough oxygen to develop properly.

Answer 2

No comment on a woman's right to choose abortion. I'll address the issue of sickle cell anemia. As you may know, sickle cell is a hereditary disorder that affects mostly Africans, but can affect Mediterranean and Middle Eastern people. More than 70,000 people in America have the disorder. It occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes (one from each parent). This causes their red blood cells to change shape and instead of being flexible and round, the cells become rigid and curved, like a sickle (old fashioned farm tool). In turn, this messes up the hemoglobin. It causes them to clump together which makes the red cells sticky and even more fragile. Instead of moving smoothly through the blood system, a sickle cell will clog up blood vessels and deprive the body's tissues and organs of oxygen. These cells also have a shortened life (from a normal 4 months to only 10-20 days) which causes anemia. So sickle cell can make a person more prone to infections and other chronic diseases. That said, there is no cure for sickle cell. Treatment is strictly for management and support during periods of crisis. In the past, death from organ failure often occured between ages 20-40 in most sickle cell patients. However, research has given us a better understanding of the disease and patients are able to live full and healthy lives well into their 50s.

Now that is a layman's view of the disease. I recommend for a more scientific explination that you visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000527.htm.

As to the abortion issue, I don't know of a test to determine if a fetus has the disease. Using sickle cell as an excuse would mean that the mother knows her sickle cell gene status and also the father's. It takes both parents to carry the gene and you can have one gene and not have the disease. Even if there was a test, the disease is controllable and these people can live long and happy lives.

Answer 3

I do not think they should keep the child because the blood can not form from oxygen. The baby would eather die in the body or shortly after birth.Good question.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if this site helps your argument or not but it has a lot of good information on it.

Answer 5

Under no circumstances should anyone have the right to kill her baby.