Pregnant University Students Have Better Solutions
Rather Than Abortion
Ya-Ju Chiang
Central University
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Abstract
It
is joyful to greet new lives. New lives represent new beginnings and display
the secret to nature, the continuous circulation of lives. However, there are
some exceptions. If mothers get pregnant accidentally and without full
preparation, how do they greet the holy new lives with happiness? As grown-ups,
college students live in freedom. It is common for them to build relationship
and have sex with others out of their willingness. However, not every
university student supports the daily expenses and tuition by themselves. Some
are still supported by their families. Consequently, if students are pregnant,
what should they do? They hardly have the ability to raise the babies. Nonetheless
in the following pages, I will utilize information from a local video, relevant
Act, foreign case and a book to strengthen my points that pregnant students
have better solutions rather than abortion.
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Pregnant University Students Have Better Solutions Rather
Than Abortion
It is common for college students to
have sexual relationships with others during college life. Since college
students are around 20, which means they are grown-ups in law, they have rights
to decide their relationships and even have sex with their lovers. However,
when college couple who have sex out of their willingness and then the girl is
pregnant, should the girl take abortion?
Students seldom have economical
foundations to support their babies, but life is so precious and holy that
nobody can restrain it or part with it. Many husbands and wives around the
world have difficulty getting a baby due to low sperm count for males,
ovulation problems as well as tubal blockage for females and other factors. The
infertility couple desperately seek for a baby and may try many medical methods
such as conducting artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization(IVF) .
The process is costly, prolonged and arduous but is not 100 percent successful.
Accordingly, if college students have sex and the girl is pregnant, I think the
girl should give birth to it as a respect for the scarce and sacred life.
Next, abortion is harmful to females.
Abortion may lead to infertility because the baby in the uterus is not moved
out completely. During the process of abortion, the doctor may also hurt the
endometrium.
In addition, pregnant students do not
need to worry that the child will prevent them from finishing their studies.
According to the University Act, college and graduate pregnant students can
apply for prolonging studying term. Both female and male students can apply for
extending to raise child younger than 3 years old.
Besides, if college students have
problems bringing up their children, they can put children up to adoption by
applying to court. Given that foster parents have been infertile
and longing for children for many years, when they adopt a child, they
will definitely take good care of the youngster and provide the youngster a
decent financial foundation. Then the adoption of foster parents successfully
makes up for the incapability of the child’s biological parents in financial
and raising aspects.
To sum up, if college
students are pregnant, they should not conduct abortion because abortion is
harmful to their bodies and there are still many methods they can take such as
adoption to provide their children better living conditions instead of choosing
abortion easily. Pregnant students can also apply for temporary suspension of study to finish their studies.
Last but not least, we should cherish every valuable life and give birth to it.
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Abortion Influences Women’s Mental and Physical Health
Life is so
precious that everyone should take abortion issues more seriously. In a video
entitled ‘‘College Talk-If College Students Are Pregnant’’, a student called
Lin Lin argues that if she is pregnant, she will deliver her child because it
is a life and she is reluctant to give it up. She will also be afraid of the
unborn child following her after she takes abortion. The host then asks her,
“If the child’s father and you haven’t built a steady relationship, what will
you do? ” Lin Lin responds,“ It’s ok. I can take care of the baby by myself.
And my parents also think that if I get pregnant accidentally, I should deliver
it because abortion is harmful to female’s body and the baby is a life. Even
the father cannot take care of it now, in the future, probably there will be
another man who is willing to accept this child.”
Dr.
Chen mentions that university students are special cases. Their ages range from
18 to 22. They have higher knowledge background. Many students would find ways
to solve the pregnant problems by themselves. Accordingly, they do not have
exact statistical data about the rate of pregnancy among college students.
However, he shares another data. According to the rough estimation from Taiwan
Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2011, every year, the average
amount of abortion is twice as much as the amount of childbirth. That is to
say, last year(2010), the fertility amount was 170000 and the amount of
abortion would be around 340000. According to this ratio, among the 340000
aborted babies, he believes that there were 60000 to 70000 babies aborted by
mothers aged around 18 to 22 years old. The statistical data is extremely
shocking.
Abortion
may cause eternal mental fear and trauma to the person taking it. For instance,
Lin Lin says that she will be afraid of the unborn child following her after
she takes abortion. Moreover, abortion will
lead to infertility forever. For example, university students may buy
miscarriage medicine from unreliable or illegal sources and may accidentally
find an unreliable doctor to conduct an abortion surgery. If the baby in the
uterus is not moved out completely or during the process of abortion, the
doctor hurts the endometrium, there is a good possibility that women cannot get
pregnant anymore in the future.
To
sum up, university students should not take abortion because it affects both
mental and physical health toward women. Besides, nowadays the abortion rate is
too high compared with the fertility rate in Taiwan. We are responsible for
stopping this trend in order to protect each precious life.
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Embryos Deserve Rights To Live
Ronald Dworkin is a contemporary American scholar
of constitutional law. In Dworkin's book, Life's dominion: an argument
about abortion, euthanasia, and individual freedom, he argues on page
29 that there are two arguable aspects in abortion issue. The first concerns
whether the embryo has the two morally relevant qualities or not, benefits of
living continuously and rights to protect these benefits. If the answer to the
first question is yes, then we can get derivative objections against abortion
and the derivative reasons of allowing law to prohibit or to restrain abortion
(Ronald Dworkin, 1993).
And then
here comes another query, is abortion sometimes wrong morally not because it
makes somebody unfair or non-right but because it denies and offends the
sacredness or irreverence of human lives? Suppose the second question is true,
this is detached objections against abortion and it can also hold detached
reasons which argue that abortion is illegal or it has to be regulated instead
of mentioning derivative objections and explanations (Ronald Dworkin,1993).
On page 40, Ronald brings up the ideas of typical liberals
who are against abortion. Typical liberals insist that abortion is always the
serious moral decision made at least after embryos' individual genetic
qualities established and successful embryo implantationusually about fourteen
days following pregnancy. From that time on, abortion means eliminating a human
life that has already begun. Only due to this cause, it involves in solemn
moral expense (Ronald Dworkin,1993).
It is by no means allowable to take abortion by
virtue of tedious and trivial reasons. Unless abortion is taken in order to
avoid tremendous harm, there are no excuses for abortion. The following are
false actions. A woman takes abortion because of a long-expecting journey to Europe,
being more comfortable when getting pregnant in other seasons, the embryo being
a girl and she wanting a boy and so on (Ronald Dworkin,1993).
Decision of abortion involves moral
aspects. Both derivative and detached objections stand against abortion. When
contemplating on whether taking abortion or not, we need to take embryos’
benefits of living and the holiness of human lives into account. Even though
somebody may think an embryo is not a complete life therefore does not equip
with human rights, but it is out there, just inside mother’s uterus. It is
certainly being. It deserves the basic rights to continue living which nobody
can deprive of.
As for
the abovementioned motives for abortion, college students may find other reasons
other than merely boring and petty ones such as economical burdens and
psychological pressure. If students can find ways to balance the difficulties, I
think they should not give up their babies easily since the action also entails
mothers shouldering ethical loads and social judgments. Abortion is not always
the best refuge from the upcoming responsibilities. Take them and let embryos
proceed with their lives.
The Amended University Act Ensures
Students’ Right To Education
If
college students or their lovers are pregnant, should they give up their
current studies? Should they give up their colorful university lives in order
to give birth to their babies and raise them? As a matter of fact, they need
not sacrifice their studies.
Article
26 of University Act was amended in 2008 by Ministry of Education and the amended Article 26 allows
college students, both females and males, to extend their studying term due to
pregnancy, childbirth and childcare. As a result, college couples can apply for
temporary suspension of study in order to earn money to raise their children.
Giving birth does not mean college students should totally give up everything
including their studies for their children.
Before Article 26 of
University Act was corrected, most college students can only apply for
temporary suspension of study for at most 2 years. However, it takes a mother
at least one and a half year to go through the pregnant period, deliver her
baby, take postpartum staycation and breastfeed. If a mother wants to continue
looking after her youngster, it may go beyond 2 years, which is the limited
length for temporary suspension of study.
Fortunately,
according to the revised Article 26 of University Act in 2008 , ''A student pursuing a bachelor degree or
above may request for prolonging the studying term on account of pregnancy,
childbirth, or childcare for the toddler under three years old.'' Moreover, the
Act is suitable for both males and females.
In terms of the academic rules of NCU, Reg.40
notes that students can apply for temporary suspension of study because of
pregnancy, childbirth, or childcare for the toddler under three years old. The
accumulated suspension length is limited to 4 years. The period of suspension
will not be taken into account for the total suspension length. Upon the termination
of the suspension period, the birth certificate of the student’s child and
relevant documents will be used to apply for resumption of Study.
All in all the revised version of Article 26
of University Act ensures students’ right to education and at the same time
offer them time to take care of the toddler and earn money to support the
economic needs for raising a child and a family during the temporary suspension
of study.
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Pregnant Girls
Find Hope In The School Of Hope
People in Malaysia, especially
Muslims, are expected to keep sexual abstinence until marriage. In Islamic
tradition, if people break the rule and get pregnant, they are not even allowed
to take abortion. Consequently, the shame of giving birth out of
wedlock and the lack of anywhere to turn for help cause numerous pregnant young
girls in Malaysia to take the only solution they see before them: to abandon
their babies. According to the website of Royal Malaysia Police in 2010, from
2005 to 2010, there were 407 unwanted babies be dumped in Malaysia.
In light of the stigma of
pre-marital sex and the horrible amount of abandoned babies in Malaysia, the chief minister of Malacca, Mohammed Ali Rustam, set up the
first school for pregnant teenagers in Malaysia, SekolahHarapan, or School of Hope, in September 2010.
The idea of the school is to provide education for pregnant girls,
and they need not stop their education due to pregnancy. They will be shielded
from the gossip and shame they would experience in their original schools and
will carry on their schooling in privacy until they give birth.
The school not only provides
students with normal courses, it also gives pregnant girls a dormitory to live
which named RumahHarapan, or Home of Hope.
In School of Hope and Home of Hope, students receive religious
and maternity healthcare counseling which mainly encourages those
pregnant girls to face social perspectives and to deliver their children with
great bravery. They are also provided with medical check-ups and skill training such as cooking and baby-caring courses for the
preparation of being a mother and a wife in the near future.
The abovementioned treatments,
tuition, fee of dorm and even students’ deliveries are all provided by the Malacca Islamic Affairs
Department. In a state where many Muslims
reside, the chief minister of Malacca, Mohammed Ali Rustam, bravely takes the
initiatives to provide a shelter for pregnant girls. The school of hope is not
merely a hope for the mothers and the babies; it is also a hope for the whole
country, the sprouting consciousness for the rooted Islamic traditions little
by little.
The school of hope is a great
support for pregnant girls. If they can receive thoughtful care, nonstop
education and most important of all, a shield from the outside gossip, they
will have greater willingness and bravery to deliver their embryos and to take
care of them.
Before the school was set up,
nobody tells pregnant girls how to deal with pregnancy. But now, in the School
of Hope, some people provide counseling, skill training and a refuge for them.
Pregnant girls then find fire of hope to light up their lives and their embryos
once again.
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Conclusion
For
university students, it is a troublesome task to decide whether they should
take abortion. Economical burdens, social and family pressure as well as the
uncertainty of future all oppress pregnant university students. But one thing
is for sure, abortion influences women’s mental and physical health and the
unborn embryos. In moral aspect, we need to take embryos’
benefits of living and the holiness of human lives into account. In law aspect,
the amended University Act ensures students’
right to education. Students have rights to apply for temporary suspension of
study to take care of their child and earn money for the economic needs. Through
the Malaysian case, those pregnant girls find hope for them and their babies in
the School of Hope. To sum up, abortion is a brutal way to cope with the unborn
embryos. There are still plenty of methods to face the pregnancy and to greet
the holy lives.
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References
Ctitv. (2011). 5/3
College Talk- If College Students Are Pregnant (Part
1).Retrieved October,10, 2012, from YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwLTQ
HKwtGQ
Ministry of Education-University Act. (2009, Nov 18).
Retrieved October 28, 2013 from the Ministry of Education:http://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?
Type= E&id=24
National
Central University, General Rules and Regulations.(2010, July 19).Retrieved October
29, 2013 from National CentralUniversity:http://webcache.googleuser content.com/search?q=cache:http://pdc.adm.ncu.edu.tw/rule/rule99/1.pdf
PDRM. (2010). Baby Dumping Statistic. Retrieved December
14,2013 from Official Portal of Royal Malaysia Police : http://www.rmp.gov.my/
Ronald Dworkin. (1993). Life's dominion: an argument
about abortion, euthanasia, and individual freedom. (Ya-Ru Chen, Zhen-Ling Guo, Trans.) New
York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Tawfiq, I. (2010). A School of Hope?. Retrieved November 25, 2013 from OnIslam
.net: http://www.onislam.net/english/family/gender-issues/education-for-life/449363-a-school-of-hope.html
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