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<title> Why Abortions Should Remain Legal </title>
To have a child is quite time-consuming and expensive, includes a great deal of responsibility and often results in big changes of the parents' living patterns. Most people are ready to take these changes because they want to have a child, but this is not always the case. Unwanted pregnancies do occur and there are several reasons for why abortions should be a legal option in these cases. 
	According to Imsen, many people defend the right to abortions simply because it is fashionable and because this topic often becomes a "...successful moneymaking theme for movies, theatres, media and other cultural life." (Imsen, 2000) Although this may be true in some cases, there is often much more behind a person's support for the right to abortions. This issue is very closely linked to the parents' right to decide over their own lives and is also connected with their well-being. For example, a woman who has become pregnant through a rape, might have psychological reasons for not wanting to keep the child. Rape is one of the ten most common reasons for why American women choose to have an abortion and among the other nine reasons you find: "She is not ready for the way becoming a parent will change her life: it would be hard to keep her job, continue her education, and /or care for her other children. She cannot afford to have a baby now.... She is too young or too immature to have a child....[and] She or the foetus has a health problem." ("Survey of Reasons for Abortions", 2000) According to the same source, a woman usually has at least three reasons for having an abortion. 
	In "Apropos of Abortions" (Imsen, 2000), the author claims that it is wrong to put personal interests, such as a career like mentioned above, in first place and to let "...much more important life qualities be left out." Although it is easy to agree on this statement to a certain extent, the statement is not always applicable. Personal interests such as money, education, work and maturity cannot always easily be changed or neglected. As a result, a child may be unwanted and this in its turn, can have negative effects on his or her quality of life. Furthermore, the quality of life of the parents is also very important and the situation described above is very closely linked to this topic. As mentioned in the introduction, having a child affects the parents in several ways and requires a great deal of responsibility. If you do not want to become a parent, these changes might appear to be nothing but a great burden. Whether or not this is true for a specific mother or father is difficult for an outside observer to tell. Consequently, it has to be up to the parents to decide whether or not they want to have a child and if they believe that they can offer him or her a good quality of life. 
	Is it then right to let people decide over life and death through abortions? In this case, Imsen supports his arguments against abortions on Christianity. He claims that to approve of abortions is to "...legalise what God has branded as sin and therefore forbidden." (Imsen, 2000) Whether or not you choose to support Imsen's point of view is for each and one to decide, but already the title of the internet site "Why abortion is Biblical" by Brian Elroy McKinley suggests that there is more than one way of looking at this issue from a Christian perspective. No matter if we support our answer on a religious belief or not, most people would agree that it is wrong to kill other human beings. However, a foetus has not yet made its entrance into this world and unless you have a special permission from the National Board of Health and Welfare, abortions are not allowed in Sweden after the 18th week of a pregnancy. Still, the ideal would certainly be that no child was unwanted and that abortions were not necessary, but unfortunately reality does not always co-operate with our ideals. 
	Who is then to decide what to do when an unwanted pregnancy occurs? Imsen criticises women for "...tak[ing] the supreme power to alone seal the life, growth and future of the unborn infant," whereas the father and the foetus cannot make their voices heard. (Imsen, 2000) The fact that the foetus cannot be consulted on this matter has its obvious explanations. However, the father should indeed be able to influence the decision, but it is quite normal that the mother has the final say if the parents' opinions differ. After all, it is she who has to go through the nine months of pregnancy and it is she who has to give birth, no matter if the father is still around or not.
	As with almost every other right, the right to decide about an abortion does not come without responsibilities. For example, abortions should not be used as a contraceptive pill, but rather as a final solution to use when every other option has been considered carefully. If people were better informed about contraceptive pills and cared more about preventing themselves from unwanted pregnancies, the number of abortions could probably be reduced. Such a decrease could in its turn possibly reduce the criticism of abortions. 
	Although the question of abortions cannot be regarded in just black or white, the reasons in favour of this issue clearly overweigh those against and the right to abortions should therefore be defended and supported. However, because of its delicate nature, it is important that we treat the subject with respect. A decision to have an abortion should be made only after careful considerations and - if possible - in consensus of both parents.

 
Summary of "Apropos of Abortions" by Arne Imsen
In "Apropos of Abortions", Arne Imsen propagates against abortions. He claims that many people defend and support this action simply because it's fashionable and because there is a lot of money involved in the form of movie scripts and the like that are based on this theme. One of his main arguments against abortions is that they are based on egoistic interests, rather than on the value of a life and that abortions can therefore not be justified. Furthermore, Imsen argues that it is wrong that the pregnant woman alone gets to decide over life and death, whereas the foetus and the foetus's father have no legal rights to influence the decision. Many of Imsen's arguments are based on his Christian beliefs and he uses quotations from the Bible to prove that abortions are sinful.

References
1. Imsen, Arne, 2000: Apropos of Abortions. (05.03.2000.) 				 		
	 http://www.maranata.a.se/apropa/abort.html 
	 (Note! Free translations from Swedish to English.)
2. Survey of Reasons for Abortions. (19.03.2000.)
	 http://www.aborto.com/voto-1.htm
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