Аn overview of the ethical issues of optional abortion

Abstract

Аbortion has been a controversial issue throughout human history and has been determined according to the socio-economic conditions, moral and religious norms of different societies. It has been practiced at all times and by all peoples. The purpose of this examination is to investigate and analyse the literature related to the ethical and legal options for the woman. For the world at large, at the moment the attitude is extremely contradictory - from a total ban to full acceptance. The moderate opinion allows abortion in certain symptoms according to the period of pregnancy, rejecting full liberalisation as unethical. In twenty European states optional abortion is lawful. In the rest seven members (U.K., Finland and Cyprus) is allowed a broad interpretation of the grounds for refusal, (Ireland, Poland and Luxembourg) restrictive interpretation of the grounds for refusal and complete unwillingness or fear of performing abortions, lead to extremely rare (reported) legal abortions if any. In Bulgarian, the attitude towards abortion goes through a ban and upward liberalization. In the 1950s, abortion was banned, except on strict medical grounds. At a later stage, this problem was again discussed, and in the 1990 s the conditions for voluntary abortion were completel liberalised. Conclusion The bottom line is that a dual strategy is needed. In the event of an accident, adequate, accessible, safe and legal abortion services must be provided. On the other hand, every woman should be given the opportunity to prevent unwanted pregnancies by provided information, training, counseling, affordable contraceptive services and the provision of a wide variety of reliable, safe, acceptable methods of contraception.