Claim: Abortion also poses a great threat to the mother.

According to American Pregnancy

Association, physical and emotional side effects may vary from woman to woman and may greatly affect
one’s life for the long run. Anticipated physical side effects may start to occur for the first 2 to 4 weeks
that normally includes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding. In worse cases, more
serious complications may follow after an abortion. Although serious complications occur in fewer than
1 out of 100 first trimester abortions and approximately 1 out of every 50 late term abortions, it is
important to be aware of the following risks; heavy or persistent bleeding, infection or sepsis, damage to
the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, perforation of the uterus, damage to other organs, and death.
On the other hand, emotional and psychological effects following abortion are more common than
physical side effects and can range from mild regret to more serious complications such as depression.
The emotional side effects of having an abortion are just as real as physical side effect. These side effects
must not be ignored. This can not only greatly affect the mother but also the people that surround her.

Counterclaim: A way to avoid the threat attached to abortion is for it to be legalized and let
legitimate medical institutions perform abortions to willing mothers. According to
plannedparenthood.org, abortion is a safe medical procedure. The vast majority of women who have an
abortion do so in their first trimester. Medical abortions have less than 0.5 percent risk of serious
complications and do not affect a woman's health or future ability to become pregnant or give birth.
Also, according to familydoctor.org, when done by health care professionals during the first or second
trimesters, both medical and surgical abortions are generally very safe. Serious complications are rare.
Abortion generally does not reduce a woman’s ability to get pregnant in the future.

Dispute to counterclaim: According to Sigerist (1996), the original text of the Hippocratic Oath,
traditionally taken by doctors when swearing to practice medicine ethically, forbids abortion. One
section of the classical version of the oath reads: "I will not give a woman a pessary, a device inserted
into the vagina, to cause an abortion." The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath, written in 1964 by
Louis Lasagna, still effectively forbids doctors from performing abortions in the line, "Above all, I must
not play at God."