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Education is supposed to be the first step in nation-building. But India simply doesn’t have enough teachers. The country already faces a shortage of 8 lakh teachers in primary and middle schools. And the situation is going to get even worse.
About 10% of teachers at this stage are above 55 years of age. With 6.5% teachers expected to retire or leave the profession each year, some 35 lakh teachers will be left at the primary and middle level by 2011 — a colossal shortfall of almost 25 lakh teachers.
That’s the worrying conclusion that emerges after looking at latest figures available from the District Information System for Education. If you consider the total number of children aged 5-14, who should be studying in Classes I-VIII, there were about 24 crore children in this age group in 2006. The recommended pupil-teacher ratio for primary classes is one teacher for 40 students — though in advanced countries, like the US or the UK, and even in China, this ratio is already below 30. However, even going by the ratio of 1:40, India needs 60 lakh teachers for Classes I-VIII, and has just 52 lakh — a figure which is set to shrink further.
The pupil-teacher ratio improves for higher classes — 1:33 for Classes IX to XII, 1:25 in higher education. But that’s because many students drop out. A more realistic picture emerges if you consider the total number in various age groups that could potentially be studying. If everyone in the age group 15-19 years were to start attending school, India would need about 38 lakh teachers for Classes IX to XII at a pupil-teacher ratio of 1:30 for higher classes. It actually has just 26 lakh teachers, a shortage of 12 lakh. Govt focusing on quantity at cost of quality
India is facing a shortage of 8 lakh teachers in primary and middle schools. We are not feeling the crunch yet because enrollment is still low, drop-outs are high and so the present number of teachers are managing. But consider this: the right to education has been made a fundamental right and the government is working out its implementation. Once it becomes operational, children will have to study, and the government will be running short of teachers.
So, what is the government doing about this? Well, its focusing on quantity, even at the cost of quality. Teachers qualify from teachers training colleges (or their equivalents). In 1995, the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) was given statutory powers, including the power to recognize teachers education colleges, and set their quality standards. According to latest data, it has granted recognition to over 10,000 colleges since 1995.
In the process, NCTE relaxed the minimum norms for appointment of teachers who would be teaching future teachers. Thus, students pursuing BEd degrees are being taught by teachers who themselves have BEds, according to the latest NCTE norms.
In violation of UGC norms, these teachers need not have cleared the National Eligibility Test, a mandatory provision for teaching a graduate degree course.
In the desperation to churn out teachers in large numbers, little attention is being paid to their qualifications. According to a study by the National University of Educational Planning and Education (NUEPA), about a quarter of all teachers taking Classes I to VIII have themselves studied only till the secondary stage. Another quarter have studied up to the senior secondary stage. So, educational qualification of almost half of all teachers is senior secondary or below. And it’s not as if they are being trained while in service. Only 31% of teachers got inservice training, as per the study.
Several state governments are also appointing para-teachers, or contractual teachers. Although at the all-India level, the proportion of para-teachers among all teachers is about 10%, several states have appointed them in large numbers. Jharkhand has about 39% para-teachers, UP 25%, Chhattisgarh 17%, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh about 14%. About 44% of these para-teachers are untrained and not specifically qualified to teach children. They are paid anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 per month. It isn’t hard to imagine their motivation levels.
Regular teachers don’t fare much better. While pay scales vary from state to state, the central figure which serves as a benchmark is Rs 4,500 for primary school, Rs 5,500 for secondary level (graduate teachers) and Rs 6,500 for senior secondary level (post-graduate teachers). In many private schools, the pay is lower.
In higher education, the regulation of qualifications for teachers in general colleges and universities is much more stringent with norms being laid down by the UGC. However, there is considerable laxity within those norms. A study of the assessments done by the National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) of 1,473 colleges showed that about a quarter of teachers were not permanent — they were either classified as ‘temporary’ or ‘part-time’. In the latter two categories, over 80% of the teachers only had postgraduate degrees.
Among permanent teachers, over 30% were PhDs and 20% were MPhils, but among the temporary and part-time teachers the share of PhDs and MPhils was just 15-18%.
Whether it is schools or higher education institutions, having short-term appointments with low qualifications appears to be the policy of choice, perhaps to cut down on costs. But this begs the question, what will be the quality of education provided by such a system?
Categories: News paper
Tagged: 000 colleges since 1995. In the process, 1:25 in higher education. But that’s because many stu, 473 colleges showed that about a quarter of teachers we, 500 and Rs 2, 500 for primary school, 500 for secondary level (graduate teachers) and Rs 6, 500 for senior secondary level (post-graduate teachers), 500 per month. It isn’t hard to imagine their motivat, a mandatory provision for teaching a graduate degree co, a shortage of 12 lakh. Govt focusing on quantity at cos, about a quarter of all teachers taking Classes I to VII, about us, according to the latest NCTE norms. In violation of, administration, administrative staff, administrators, adults, and even in China, and has just 52 lakh — a figure which is set to shrin, and set their quality standards. According to latest da, and the government will be running short of teachers., as per the study. Several state governments are als, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh about 14%. About 44% of these, but among the temporary and part-time teachers the shar, calendar, Chhattisgarh 17%, child, children, children will have to study, classrooms, community leaders, computers, contact form, counselors, curriculum, district staff, drop-outs are high and so the present number of teacher, Education, Education is supposed to be the first step in nation-bu, educational qualification of almost half of all teacher, even at the cost of quality. Teachers qualify from teac, even going by the ratio of 1:40, having short-term appointments with low qualifications, health education, health planning, high school, hiv infections, hiv seropositivity, including the power to recognize teachers education col, India needs 60 lakh teachers for Classes I-VIII, India would need about 38 lakh teachers for Classes IX, information, it has granted recognition to over 10, its focusing on quantity, kids, learning, like the US or the UK, little attention is being paid to their qualifications., media, middle school, NCTE relaxed the minimum norms for appointment of teach, or contractual teachers. Although at the all-India leve, over 30% were PhDs and 20% were MPhils, over 80% of the teachers only had postgraduate degrees., parents, perhaps to cut down on costs. But this begs the questio, principals, public schools, research, researchers, Rs 5, school, schools, several states have appointed them in large numbers. Jh, singles, some 35 lakh teachers will be left at the primary and m, staff, state tests, students, students pursuing BEd degrees are being taught by teach, support staff, teachers, teaching, the central figure which serves as a benchmark is Rs 4, the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) was g, the pay is lower. In higher education, the proportion of para-teachers among all teachers is a, the regulation of qualifications for teachers in genera, there is considerable laxity within those norms. A stud, there were about 24 crore children in this age group in, these teachers need not have cleared the National Eligi, this ratio is already below 30. However, training of, united states, universities, UP 25%, what is the government doing about this? Well, what will be the quality of education provided by such, who should be studying in Classes I-VIII, worship
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.[1] It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
The capital city, Baghdad, is in the center-east. Iraq’s rich history dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing. During its long history, Iraq has been the center of the Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Abbasid empires, and part of the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Parthian, Sassanid, Umayyad, Mongol, Ottoman, and British empires.[2]
Since an invasion in 2003, a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British, has occupied Iraq. The invasion has had wide-reaching consequences: increased civil violence, establishment of a parliamentary democracy, the removal and execution of former authoritarian President Saddam Hussein, official recognition and widespread political participation of Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab majority, significant economic growth, building of new infrastructure, and use of the country’s huge reserves of oil. According to the 2007 Failed States Index, produced by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Iraq has recently emerged as the world’s second most unstable country,[3] after Sudan,[4] and the United States has recently referred to it in court proceedings as “an active theater of combat.”[5] Iraq is developing a parliamentary democracy composed of 18 governorates (known as muhafadhat).
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The origin of the name Iraq (Arabic: العراق ‘al-‘Irāq, Turkish: Irak, Assyrian: ܥܪܐܩ, Kurdish: عيَراق) is disputed. There are several suggested origins for the name. One dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk (or Erech)[6] ; another maintains according to Professor Wilhelm Eilers, The name al-‘Irāq, for all its Arabic appearance, is derived from Middle Persian erāq “lowlands”.[7]
Under the Persian Sassanid dynasty, there was a region called “Erak Arabi,” referring to the part of the south western region of the Persian Empire that is now part of southern Iraq. The name Al-Iraq was used by the Arabs themselves, from the 6th century, for the land Iraq covers.
The Arabic pronunciation is [ʕiˈrɑːq]. In English, the name is pronounced as either [ɪ.ˈɹɑ(ː)k] ( the only pronunciation listed in the Oxford English Dictionary) or [ɪ.ˈɹæk]] (listed first by MQD).
Topography of Iraq
A scaled map of Iraq showing major cities, the Euphrates & the Tigris, the unnamed peak, and the surrounding area.
Iraq is located at 33°00′N, 44°00′E. Spanning 437,072 km² (168,743 sq mi), it is the 58th-largest country in the world. It is comparable in size to the US state of California, and somewhat larger than Paraguay.
Iraq mainly consists of desert, but between the two major rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) the area is fertile, the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic metres (78 million cu. yd) of silt annually to the delta. The north of the country is mostly composed of mountains; the highest point being at 3,611 metres (11,847 ft) point, unnamed on the map opposite, but known locally as Cheekah Dar (black tent). Iraq has a small coastline along the Persian Gulf. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab (known as arvandrūd: اروندرود among Iranians) there used to be marshlands, but many were drained in the 1990s.
The local climate is mostly desert, with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern mountainous regions have cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding.
Comprising 112 billion barrels (1.78×1010 m³) of proven oil, Iraq ranks second in the world behind Saudi Arabia in the amount of Oil reserves; the United States Department of Energy estimates that up to 90% of the country remains unexplored. These regions could yield an additional 100 billion barrels (1.6×1010 m³). Iraq’s oil production costs are among the lowest in the world, but only about 2,000 oil wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared with about 1 million wells in Texas alone.[8]
The upper part of the stela of Hammurabi’s code of laws
The region of Iraq was historically known as Mesopotamia (Greek: “between the rivers”). It was home to the world’s first known civilization, the Sumerian culture, followed by the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, whose influence extended into neighboring regions as early as 5000 BC. These civilizations produced some of the earliest writing and some of the first sciences, mathematics, laws and philosophies of the world; hence its common epithet, the “Cradle of Civilization“.
In the sixth century BC, Cyrus the Great conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Mesopotamia was subsumed in the Achaemenid Persian Empire for nearly four centuries. Alexander the Great conquered the region again, putting it under Macedonian rule for nearly two centuries. A Central Asian tribe of ancient Iranian peoples known as the Parthians later annexed the region, followed by the Sassanid Persians. The region remained a province of the Persian Empire for nine centuries, until the 7th century.
The Arab empire and the caliphs during their greatest extent. Under Muhammad, 622-632 Under the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661 Under the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750
Beginning in the seventh century AD, Islam spread to what is now Iraq during the Islamic conquest of Persia, led by the Muslim Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid. Under the Rashidun Caliphate, the prophet Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law Ali moved his capital to Kufa “fi al-Iraq” when he became the fourth caliph. The Umayyad Caliphate ruled the province of Iraq from Damascus in the 7th century. (However, eventually there was a separate, independent Caliphate of Cordoba.)
The Abbasid Caliphate built the city of Baghdad in the 8th century as their capital, and it became the leading metropolis of the Arab and Muslim world for five centuries. Baghdad was the largest multicultural city of the Middle Ages, peaking at a population of more than a million, and was the centre of learning during the Islamic Golden Age. The Mongols destroyed the city during the sack of Baghdad in the 13th century.
In 1257, Hulagu Khan amassed an unusually large army, a significant portion of the Mongol Empire’s forces, for the purpose of conquering Baghdad. When they arrived at the Islamic capital, Hulagu demanded surrender but the caliph refused. This angered Hulagu, and, consistent with Mongol strategy of discouraging resistance, Baghdad was decimated. Estimates of the number of dead range from 200,000 to a million.
The Mongols destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate and The Grand Library of Baghdad (Arabic بيت الحكمة Bayt al-Hikma, lit., House of Wisdom), which contained countless, precious, historical documents. The city would never regain its status as major center of culture and influence.
In 1401, warlord of Turco-Mongol descent Tamerlane (Timur Lenk) invaded Iraq. After the capture of Bagdad, 20,000 of its citizens were massacred. Timur ordered that every soldier should return with at least two severed human heads to show him (many warriors were so scared they killed prisoners captured earlier in the campaign just to ensure they had heads to present to Timur).[9]
Later, the Ottoman Turks took Baghdad from the Persians in 1535. The Ottomans lost Baghdad to the Iranian Safavids in 1609, and took it back in 1632. From 1747 to 1831, Iraq was ruled, with short intermissions, by the Mamluk officers of Georgian origin who enjoyed local autonomy from the Sublime Porte.[10] In 1831, the direct Ottoman rule was imposed and lasted until World War I, during which the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers.
During World War I the Ottomans were driven from much of the area by the United Kingdom during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. Ottoman losses are unknown but the British captured a total of 45,000 prisoners of war. By the end of 1918 the British had deployed 410,000 men in the area, though only 112,000 were combat troops.
During World War I the British and French divided Western Asia in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The Treaty of Sèvres, which was ratified in the Treaty of Lausanne, led to the advent of modern Western Asia and Republic of Turkey. The League of Nations granted France mandates over Syria and Lebanon and granted the United Kingdom mandates over Iraq and Palestine (which then consisted of two autonomous regions: Palestine and Transjordan). Parts of the Ottoman Empire on the Arabian Peninsula became parts of what are today Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
At the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted the area to the United Kingdom as a mandate. It initially formed two former Ottoman vilayets (regions): Baghdad, and Basra into a single country in August 1921. Five years later, in 1926, the northern vilayet of Mosul was added, forming the territorial boundaries of the modern Iraqi state.
For three out of four centuries of Ottoman rule, Baghdad was the seat of administration for the vilayets of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra. During the mandate, British colonial administrators ruled the country, and through the use of British armed forces, suppressed Arab and Kurdish rebellions against the occupation. They established the Hashemite king, Faisal, who had been forced out of Syria by the French, as their client ruler. Likewise, British authorities selected Sunni Arab elites from the region for appointments to government and ministry offices.[specify][11]
Britain granted independence to Iraq in 1932, on the urging of King Faisal, though the British retained military bases and transit rights for their forces. King Ghazi of Iraq ruled as a figurehead after King Faisal’s death in 1933, while undermined by attempted military coups, until his death in 1939. The United Kingdom invaded Iraq in 1941, for fear that the government of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani might cut oil supplies to Western nations, and because of his strong ideological leanings to Nazi Germany. A military occupation followed the restoration of the Hashemite monarchy, and the occupation ended on October 26, 1947. The rulers during the occupation and the remainder of the Hashemite monarchy were Nuri al-Said, the autocratic prime minister, who also ruled from 1930–1932, and ‘Abd al-Ilah, an advisor to the king Faisal II.
The reinstated Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown by a coup d’etat of the Iraqi Army, known as the 14 July Revolution. The coup brought Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim to power. He withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union, but his government lasted only until 1963, when it was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. Salam Arif died in 1966 and his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed the presidency. In 1968, Rahman Arif was overthrown by the Arab Socialist Baath Party. This movement gradually came under the control of Saddam Hussein ‘Abd al-Majid al Tikriti, who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), then Iraq’s supreme executive body, in July 1979, while killing many of his opponents.
Saddam Hussein ‘Abd al-Majid al Tikriti, President of Iraq, 1979-2003.
In 1979, Saddam Hussein took power as Iraqi President, after killing and arresting his leadership rivals. Shortly after taking power, the political situation in Iraq’s neighbour Iran changed drastically after the success of the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which resulted in a Shi’ite Muslim theocratic state being established. This was seen as a dangerous change in the eyes of the Iraqi government, as Iraq too had a Shi’ite majority and was ruled by Hussein’s government which, apart from having numerous Sunnis occupying leading positions, had a pan-Arab but non-religious ideology. This left the country’s Shiite population split between the members and supporters of the Ba’ath Party, and those who sympathised with the Iranian position. In 1980, Hussein claimed that Iranian forces were trying to topple his government[citation needed] and declared war on Iran. Saddam Hussein supported the Iranian Islamic socialist organization called the People’s Mujahedin of Iran which opposed the Iranian government. During the Iran-Iraq War Iraqi forces attacked Iranian soldiers and civilians with chemical weapons. Hussein’s regime was notorious for its human rights abuses; a well-known example is the Al-Anfal campaign[12][13][14] as well as attacks on Kurd civilians inside Iraq, such as the Halabja massacre, as punishment for elements of Kurdish support of Iran. The war ended in stalemate in 1988, largely due to American and Western support for Iraq. This was part of the US policy of “dual containment” of Iraq and Iran.
Dead Iraqi Kurds of Halabja in 1988 after they were attacked by Iraqi armed forces which used poison gas to massacre the civilian population.
Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, a number of cultural projects were undertaken. The ruins of Babylon were rebuilt to represent the ancient city as seen here.
In 1977, the Iraqi government ordered the construction of Osirak (also spelled Osiraq) at the Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, 18 km (11 miles) south-east of Baghdad. It was a 40 MW light-water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR). In 1981, Israeli aircraft bombed the facility, in order to prevent the country from using the reactor for creation of nuclear weapons.
In 1990, faced with economic disaster following the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein looked to the oil-rich neighbour of Kuwait as a target to invade to use its resources and money to rebuild Iraq’s economy. The Iraqi government claimed that Kuwait was illegally slant drilling its oil pipelines into Iraqi territory, a practice which it demanded be stopped; Kuwait rejected the notion that it was slant drilling, and Iraq followed this in August 1990 with the invasion of Kuwait. Upon successfully occupying Kuwait, Hussein declared that Kuwait had ceased to exist and it was to be part of Iraq, against heavy objections from many countries and the United Nations.
The UN agreed to pass sanctions against Iraq and demanded its immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. Iraq refused and the UN Security Council in 1991 unanimously voted for military action against Iraq. The United Nations Security Council, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, adopted Resolution 678, authorizing U.N. member states to use “all necessary means” to “restore international peace and security in the area.” The United States, which had enormous vested interests in the oil supplies of the Western Asia,[citation needed] led an international coalition into Kuwait and Iraq. The coalition forces entered the war with more advanced weaponry than that of Iraq, though Iraq’s army was one of the largest armed forces in Western Asia at the time. Despite being a large of military force, the Iraqi army was no match for the advanced weaponry of the coalition forces and the air superiority that the U.S. Air Force provided. Iraq responded to the invasion by launching SCUD missile attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hussein hoped that by attacking Israel, the Israeli military would be drawn into the war, which he believed would rally anti-Israeli sentiment in neighbouring Arab countries and cause those countries to support Iraq. However, Hussein’s gamble failed, as Israel reluctantly accepted a U.S. demand to remain out of the conflict to avoid inflaming tensions. The Iraqi armed forces were quickly destroyed, and Hussein eventually accepted the inevitable and ordered a withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Before the forces were withdrawn, however, Hussein ordered them to sabotage Kuwait’s oil wells, which resulted in hundreds of wells being set ablaze, causing an economic and ecological disaster in Kuwait.
The aftermath of the war saw the Iraqi military, especially its air force, destroyed. In return for peace, Iraq was forced to accept “no-fly zones,” dismantle all chemical and biological weapons it possessed, and end any attempt to create or purchase nuclear weapons, to be assured by the allowing UN weapons inspectors to evaluate the dismantlement of such weapons. Finally, Iraq would face sanctions if it disobeyed any of the demands.
Shortly after the war ended in 1991, Shia Muslim Iraqis engaged in protests against Hussein’s regime, but Hussein responded with violent repression against Shia Muslims, and the protests came to an end.[citation needed] After the war, Iraq on a number of occasions throughout the 1990s was accused of breaking its obligations, including the discovery in 1993 of a plan to assassinate former President George H. W. Bush, and the removal of UN weapon inspectors in 1998 (the Iraqi government claimed that it suspected that some inspectors were spies for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency)[citation needed]. As a result of these violations, economic sanctions were imposed upon Iraq.
It is estimated more than 500,000 Iraqi children died as a result of the sanctions.[15] Critics, particularly neoconservatives in the United States after 1998, claimed that containment of Iraq through sanctions without weapons inspectors in the area was sufficient to prevent Iraq from rebuilding its weapons of mass destruction and demanded a hardline approach to Iraq, demanding compliance with inspections on penalty of war.[citation needed] The Bush administration made a number of allegations against Iraq, including that Iraq was acquiring uranium from Niger and that Iraq had secret weapons laboratories in trailers and isolated facilities throughout Iraq.[citation needed]; as of June 2008, none of these allegations have proven true. Saddam Hussein, under pressure from the U.S. and the U.N., finally agreed to allow weapons inspectors to return to Iraq in 2002, but by that time the Bush administration had already begun pushing for war.
Downtown Baghdad monument of Saddam Hussein vandalized by Iraqis shortly after the invasion of Coalition forces in April 2003.
On March 20, 2003, a United States-organized coalition invaded Iraq, with the stated reason that Iraq had failed to abandon its nuclear and chemical weapons development program in violation of U.N. Resolution 687. The United States asserted that because Iraq was in material breach of Resolution 687, the armed forces authorization of Resolution 678 was revived. The United States further justified the invasion by claiming that Iraq had or was developing weapons of mass destruction and stating a desire to remove an oppressive dictator from power and bring democracy to Iraq. In his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002, President George W. Bush declared that Iraq was a member of the “Axis of Evil“, and that, like North Korea and Iran, Iraq’s attempt to acquire weapons of mass destruction posed a serious threat to U.S. national security. Bush added,
Iraq continues to flaunt its hostilities toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade… This is a regime that agreed to international inspections — then kicked out inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world… By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes [Iran, Iraq and North Korea] pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred.”[16]
However, according to a comprehensive U.S. government report, no weapons of mass destruction have been found since the invasion.[17] Yet, there are news reports which contradict this.[18]
Occupation zones in Iraq after invasion.
Following the invasion, the United States established the Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq.[19] Government authority was transferred to an Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004, and a permanent government was elected in October 2005. More than 140,000 Coalition troops remain in Iraq.
Some studies have placed the number of civilians deaths as high as 655,000 (see The Lancet study), although most studies have put the number much lower; the Iraq Body Count project has a figure of less than 10% of The Lancet Study, though IBC organizers acknowledge that their statistics are an undercount as they base their information off of media-confirmed deaths. The website of the Iraq body count states, “Our maximum therefore refers to reported deaths – which can only be a sample of true deaths unless one assumes that every civilian death has been reported. It is likely that many if not most civilian casualties will go unreported by the media.”[20].
After the invasion, al-Qaeda took advantage of the insurgency to entrench itself in the country concurrently with an Arab-Sunni led insurgency and sectarian violence.
On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged.[21] Hussein’s half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Hassan and former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court Awad Hamed al-Bandar were likewise executed on January 15, 2007;[22] as was Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam’s former deputy and former vice-president (originally sentenced to life in prison but later to death by hanging), on March 20, 2007.[23] Ramadan was the fourth and last man in the al-Dujail trial to die by hanging for crimes against humanity.
At the Anfal genocide trial, Saddam’s cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (aka Chemical Ali), former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed al-Tay, and former deputy Hussein Rashid Mohammed were sentenced to hang for their role in the Al-Anfal Campaign against the Kurds on June 24, 2007.[citation needed]
Acts of sectarian violence have led to claims of ethnic cleansing in Iraq, and there have been many attacks on Iraqi minorities such as the Yezidis, Mandeans, Assyrians and others.[24]
Although violence has declined from the summer of 2007,[25] the U.N. reported of a cholera outbreak in Iraq.[26]
The mandate of the multinational force in Iraq, last extended by UN resolution 1790, will end on December 31, 2008. The Independent has reported that the US is seeking a “strategic alliance” giving US forces broad freedom in continuing to operate in Iraq.[27]
The dispersion of native Iraqis to other countries is known as the Iraqi diaspora. There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime of Saddam Hussein and continuing through to 2007. The UN High Commission for Refugees has estimated that nearly two million Iraqis have fled the country in recent years, mostly to Jordan and Syria.[28] Although some expatriates returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, the flow had virtually stopped by 2006.[29]
In addition to the 2 million Iraqis who fled to neighbouring countries, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates the number of people currently displaced within the country at 1.9 million.[30]
Roughly 40% of Iraq’s middle class is believed to have fled, the U.N. said. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return.[31] Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries.[32][33]
In recent times the Diaspora seems to be reversing with the increased security of the last few months, and the Iraqi government claims that so far 46,000 refugees have returned to their homes in October of 2007 alone.[34].
The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as numerous independent commissions. Aside from the federal government, there are regions (made of one or more governorates), governorates, and districts within Iraq with jurisdiction over various matters as defined by law.
Currently, Kurdistan is the only legally defined region within Iraq, with its own government and quasi-official militia, the Peshmerga. Iraq itself is divided into eighteen governorates (or provinces) (Arabic: muhafadhat, singular – muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). The governorates are subdivided into districts (or qadhas).
The following governorates are within the region Iraqi Kurdistan:
Jalal Talabani, the sanctioned President of Iraq.
Iraq was under Baath Party rule from 1968 to 2003; in 1979 Saddam Hussein took control and remained president until 2003 after which he was unseated by a US-led invasion.
On October 15, 2005, more than 63% of eligible Iraqis came out across the country to vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution. On October 25, the vote was certified and the constitution passed with a 78% overall majority, with the percentage of support varying widely between the country’s territories.[35] The new constitution had overwhelming backing among the Shia and Ķurdish communities, but was overwhelmingly rejected by Arab Sunnis. Three majority Arab Sunni provinces rejected it (Salah ad Din with 82% against, Ninawa with 55% against, and Al Anbar with 97% against).
Under the terms of the constitution, the country conducted fresh nationwide parliamentary elections on December 15 to elect a new government. The overwhelming majority of all three major ethnic groups in Iraq voted along ethnic lines, turning this vote into more of an ethnic census than a competitive election, and setting the stage for the division of the country along ethnic lines.
Iraqi politicians have been under significant threat by the various factions that have promoted violence as a political weapon. The ongoing violence in Iraq has been incited by an amalgam of religious extremists that believe an Islamic Caliphate should rule, old sectarian regime members that had ruled under Saddam that want back the power they had, and Iraqi nationalists that are fighting the U.S. military presence.
Iraq has number of ethnic minority groups in Iraq: Kurds, Assyrians, Mandeans, Iraqi Turkmen, Shabaks and Roma. These groups have not enjoyed equal status with the majority Arab populations throughout Iraq’s eighty-five year history. Since the establishment of the “no-fly zones” following the Gulf War of 1990–1991, the situation of the Kurds has changed as they have established their own autonomous region. The remainder of these ethnic groups continue to suffer discrimination on religious or ethnic grounds.
In 2008, the U.S. pressured Iraq to enter an alliance with imposing conditions. If Iraq enters this alliance, the U.S. plans to establish 50 military bases in Iraq that will be stationed with U.S. troops. U.S. personnel will also enjoy full legal immunity and the U.S. won’t be required to notify the Iraqi government when ot how many of its troops enter or leave the country.[36]
An old 50 dinar bill
Iraq’s economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the 1980s financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran led the government to implement austerity measures, borrow heavily, and later reschedule foreign debt payments. Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. A combination of low oil prices, repayment of war debts (estimated at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait.
On November 20, 2004, the Paris Club of creditor nations agreed to write off 80% ($33 billion) of Iraq’s $42 billion debt to Club members. Iraq’s total external debt was around $120 billion at the time of the 2003 invasion, and had grown by $5 billion by 2004. The debt relief will be implemented in three stages: two of 30% each and one of 20%.[37]
At the end of 2005, and in the first half of 2006, Iraq implemented a restructuring of about $20 billion of commercial debt claims on terms comparable to that of its November 2004 Paris Club agreement (i.e. with an 80% writeoff). Iraq offered to its larger claimants a U.S. dollar denominated bond maturing in 2028. Smaller commercial claimants received a cash settlement of comparable value.
An April 2008 estimate of the total Iraqi population is 28,221,181.[38]
Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq’s population are Arabs; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds at 15-20%,[39] Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen and others (5%),[40] who mostly live in the north and northeast of the country. Other distinct groups are Persians and Armenians. About 20,000 [41] Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq.
Arabic and Kurdish are official languages. Assyrian and Turkmen are official languages in areas where the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen are located respectively. Armenian and Persian are also spoken but to a lesser extent. English is the most commonly spoken Western language.
Religious composition includes:
There are no official figures available, mainly due to the highly politically charged nature of the subject. Two estimates of the Muslim proportions of the population are:
Shi’a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37% (source: CIA World Fact Book).
The Shi’a are mostly Arabs, some are Turkmen and Faili Kurds, and almost all are Twelver school. Sunnis are composed of Arabs, Turkmen who are Hanafi school and Kurds who are Shafi school.
According to most western sources the majority of Iraqis are Shi’ite Arab Muslims (around 60%), and Sunnis represent about 40% of the population made up of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. Sunnis hotly dispute these figures, including an ex-Iraqi Ambassador,[43] referring to American sources.[44] They claim that many reports or sources only include Arab Sunnis as ‘Sunni’, missing out the Kurdish and Turkmen Sunnis.
Ethnic Assyrians (most of whom are adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East) account for most of Iraq’s Christian population, along with Armenians. Bahá’ís, Estimates for the numbers of Christians suggest a decline from 8-10% 60 years ago to 5% at the turn of the century to 3% in 2008. About 600,000 have fled to Syria, Iraq or other countries or relocated to Kurdish controlled areas. Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, although the Faili (Feyli) Kurds are largely Shi’a.
As of November 4, 2006, the UNHCR estimated that 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighboring countries, and 1.6 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month.[45] A May 25, 2007 article notes that in the past seven months only 69 people from Iraq have been granted refugee status in the United States.[46]
In the most recent millennium, what is now Iraq has been made up of five cultural areas: Kurdish in the north centered on Arbil, Sunni Islamic Arabs in the center around Baghdad, Shi’a Islamic Arabs in the south centered on Basra, the Assyrians, a Christian people, living in various cities in the north, and the Marsh Arabs, a nomadic people, who live on the marshlands of the central river. There are also the Bedouin tribes primarily in southern and western Iraq, with smaller groups scattered throughout the country. Markets and bartering are the common form of trade.
Kathem Al Saher, a well known Iraqi born pop singer, songwriter, and musician.
Iraq is known primarily for an instrument called the oud (similar to a lute) and a rebab (similar to a fiddle); its stars include Ahmed Mukhtar and the Assyrian Munir Bashir. Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, the most popular radio station was the Voice of Youth. It played a mix of western rock, hip hop and pop music, all of which had to be imported via Jordan due to international economic sanctions. Iraq has also produced a major pan-Arab pop star-in-exile in Kathem Al Saher, whose songs include Ladghat E-Hayya, which was banned for its racy lyrics.
Stuffed Masgouf ready for roasting in the oven
The Iraqi cuisine is generally a heavy cuisine with more spices than most Arab cuisines. Iraq’s main food crops include wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, and dates. Vegetables include eggplant, okra, potatoes, and tomatoes. Beans such as chickpeas and lentils are also quite common. Common meats in Iraqi cooking are lamb and beef; fish and poultry are also used. Soups and stews are often prepared and served with rice and vegetables. Although Iraq is not a coastal area, the population is used to consuming fish, however, freshwater fish is more common than saltwater fish. Masgouf is one of the most popular dishes. Biryani although influenced by the Indian cuisine, is much milder with a different mixture of spices and a wider variety of vegetables including potatoes, peas, carrots and onions among others. Dolma is also one of the popular dishes. The Iraqi cuisine is famous for its extremely tender kabab as well as its tikka. A wide verity of spices pickles and Amba are also extensively used.
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Photography (IPA: [fә'tɒgrәfi] or IPA: [fә'tɑːgrәfi][1]) is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects expose a sensitive silver halide based chemical or electronic medium during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically. Photography has many uses for both business and pleasure. It is often the basis of advertising and in fashion print. Photography can also be viewed as a commercial and artistic endeavor.
Lens and mounting of a large-format camera
A handheld digital camera.
A modern DSLR camera, the Canon EOS 40D
The word “photography” comes from the French photographie which is based on the Greek φώς (phos) “light” + γραφίς (graphis) “stylus”, “paintbrush” or γραφή (graphê) “representation by means of lines” or “drawing”, together meaning “drawing with light.” Traditionally, the product of photography has been called a photograph, commonly shortened to photo.
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The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.
Photographers control the camera and lens to “expose” the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a “latent image” (on film) or “raw file” (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Modern digital cameras replace film with an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.
The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:
Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:
Camera controls are inter-related. The total amount of light reaching the film plane (the “exposure”) changes with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and focal length of the lens (which changes as the lens is zoomed). Changing any of these controls alters the exposure. Many cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically. This automatic functionality is useful in many situations, and in most situations to occasional photographers.
The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that don’t have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. Aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. If the f-number is decreased by a factor of 
, the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up “one stop” (using lower f-stop numbers) doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.
Exposures can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed and aperture. For example, f/8 at 8 ms (=1/125th of a second) and f/5.6 at 4 ms (=1/250th of a second) yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. In addition to the subject or camera movement that might vary depending on the shutter speed, the aperture (and focal length of the lens) determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. For example, using a long lens and a large aperture (f/2.8, for example), a subject’s eyes might be in sharp focus, but not the tip of the nose. With a smaller aperture (f/22), or a shorter lens, both the subject’s eyes and nose can be in focus. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus.
Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into the final photographic work. This process consists of two steps, development, and printing.
During the printing process, modifications can be made to the print by several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the printing process. Most controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:
Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge’s study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police, and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment.
Commercial advertising relies heavily on photography and has contributed greatly to its development.
Nicéphore Niépce’s earliest surviving photograph, c. 1826. This image required an eight-hour exposure, which resulted in sunlight being visible on both sides of the buildings.
Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040) invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera,[2] Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) discovered silver nitrate, and Georges Fabricius (1516–1571) discovered silver chloride. Daniel Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1568. Wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694. The fiction book Giphantie, by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche, described what can be interpreted as photography.
Photography as a usable process goes back to the 1820s with the development of chemical photography. The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce. However, the picture took eight hours to expose, so he went about trying to find a new process. Working in conjunction with Louis Daguerre, they experimented with silver compounds based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that a silver and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to light. Niépce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued the work, eventually culminating with the development of the daguerreotype in 1837. Eventually, France agreed to pay Daguerre a pension for his formula, in exchange for his promise to announce his discovery to the world as the gift of France, which he did in 1839.
Meanwhile, Hercules Florence had already created a very similar process in 1832, naming it Photographie, and William Fox Talbot had earlier discovered another means to fix a silver process image but had kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre’s invention, Talbot refined his process so that it might be fast enough to take photographs of people. By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process, which creates negative images. John Herschel made many contributions to the new methods. He invented the cyanotype process, now familiar as the “blueprint”. He was the first to use the terms “photography”, “negative” and “positive”. He discovered sodium thiosulphate solution to be a solvent of silver halides in 1819, and informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery in 1839 that it could be used to “fix” pictures and make them permanent. He made the first glass negative in late 1839.
In March of 1851, Frederick Scott Archer published his findings in “The Chemist” on the wet plate collodion process. This became the most widely used process between 1852 and the late 1880s when the dry plate was introduced. There are three subsets to the Collodion process; the Ambrotype (positive image on glass), the Ferrotype or Tintype (positive image on metal) and the negative which was printed on Albumen or Salt paper.
Many advances in photographic glass plates and printing were made in through the nineteenth century. In 1884, George Eastman developed the technology of film to replace photographic plates, leading to the technology used by film cameras today.
(wratten #25) to enhance or diminish the rendering of certain light wavelengths.
All photography was originally monochrome, or black-and-white. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its “classic” photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The Cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for example.
Many photographers continue to produce some monochrome images. Some full color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black and whites, and some cameras have even been produced to exclusively shoot monochrome.
Color photography was explored beginning in the mid 1800s. Early experiments in color could not fix the photograph and prevent the color from fading. The first permanent color photo was taken in 1861 by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.
Early color photograph taken by Prokudin-Gorskii (1915)
One of the early methods of taking color photos was to use three cameras. Each camera would have a color filter in front of the lens. This technique provides the photographer with the three basic channels required to recreate a color image in a darkroom or processing plant. Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii developed another technique, with three color plates taken in quick succession.
Practical application of the technique was held back by the very limited color response of early film; however, in the early 1900s, following the work of photo-chemists such as H. W. Vogel, emulsions with adequate sensitivity to green and red light at last became available.
The first color plate, Autochrome, invented by the French Lumière brothers, reached the market in 1907. It was based on a ’screen-plate’ filter made of dyed dots of potato starch, and was the only color film on the market until German Agfa introduced the similar Agfacolor in 1932. In 1935, American Kodak introduced the first modern (‘integrated tri-pack’) color film, Kodachrome, based on three colored emulsions. This was followed in 1936 by Agfa’s Agfacolor Neue. Unlike the Kodachrome tri-pack process, the color couplers in Agfacolor Neue were integral with the emulsion layers, which greatly simplified the film processing. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, are based on the Agfacolor Neue technology. Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.
Color photography may form images as a positive transparency, intended for use in a slide projector or as color negatives, intended for use in creating positive color enlargements on specially coated paper. The latter is now the most common form of film (non-digital) color photography owing to the introduction of automated photoprinting equipment.
Traditional photography burdened photographers working at remote locations without easy access to processing facilities, and competition from television pressured photographers to deliver images to newspapers with greater speed. Photo journalists at remote locations often carried miniature photo labs and a means of transmitting images through telephone lines. In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1990, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born.
Digital imaging uses an electronic image sensor to record the image as a set of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. The primary difference between digital and chemical photography is that chemical photography resists manipulation because it involves film and photographic paper, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing that is comparatively difficult in film-based photography and permits different communicative potentials and applications.
Digital point-and-shoot cameras have become widespread consumer products, outselling film cameras, and including new features such as video and audio recording. Kodak announced in January 2004 that it would no longer sell reloadable 35 mm cameras in western Europe, Canada and the United States after the end of that year. Kodak was at that time a minor player in the reloadable film cameras market. In January 2006, Nikon followed suit and announced that they will stop the production of all but two models of their film cameras: the low-end Nikon FM10, and the high-end Nikon F6. On May 25, 2006, Canon announced they will stop developing new film SLR cameras.[3]
According to a survey made by Kodak in 2007, 75 percent of professional photographers say they will continue to use film, even though some embrace digital.[4]
According to the U.S. survey results, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of professional photographers prefer the results of film to those of digital for certain applications including:
Because photography is popularly synonymous with truth (“The camera doesn’t lie.”), digital imaging has raised many ethical concerns. Many photojournalists have declared they will not crop their pictures, or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make “illustrations,” passing them as real photographs. Many courts will not accept digital images as evidence because of their inherently manipulative nature. Today’s technology has made picture editing relatively simple for even the novice photographer.
Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography to which money exchanges hands. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. Wholesale, retail, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. The commercial photographic world could include:
The market for photographic services demonstrates the aphorism “one picture is worth a thousand words,” which has an interesting basis in the history of photography. Magazines and newspapers, companies putting up Web sites, advertising agencies and other groups pay for photography.
Many people take photographs for self-fulfillment or for commercial purposes. Organizations with a budget and a need for photography have several options: they can employ a photographer directly, organize a public competition, or obtain rights to stock photographs. Photo stock can be procured through traditional stock giants, such as Getty Images or Corbis; smaller microstock agencies, such as Fotolia; or web marketplaces, such as Cutcaster.
Classic Alfred Stieglitz photograph, The Steerage shows unique aesthetic of black and white photos.
During the twentieth century, both fine art photography and documentary photography became accepted by the English-speaking art world and the gallery system. In the United States, a handful of photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, John Szarkowski, and Edward Weston, spent their lives advocating for photography as a fine art. At first, fine art photographers tried to imitate painting styles. This movement is called Pictorialism, often using soft focus for a dreamy, ‘romantic’ look. In reaction to that, Weston, Ansel Adams, and others formed the f/64 Group to advocate ’straight photography’, the photograph as a (sharply focused) thing in itself and not an imitation of something else.
The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images “written with light”; Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.
Clive Bell in his classic essay Art states that only “significant form” can distinguish art from what is not art.
| “ | There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist; possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? What quality is common to Sta. Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture, a Persian bowl, Chinese carpets, Giotto’s frescoes at Padua, and the masterpieces of Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Cezanne? Only one answer seems possible – significant form. In each, lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions. | ” |
On February 14th 2006 Sotheby’s London sold the 2001 photograph “99 Cent II Diptychon” for an unprecedented $3,346,456 to an anonymous bidder making it the most expensive of all time.
The camera has a long and distinguished history as a means of recording phenomena from the first use by Daguerre and Fox-Talbot, such as astronomical events (eclipses for example) and small creatures when the camera was attached to the eyepiece of microscopes (in photomicroscopy). The camera also proved useful in recording crime scenes and the scenes of accidents, one of the first uses being at the scene of the Tay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879. The set of accident photographs was used in the subsequent court of inquiry so that witnesses could identify pieces of the wreckage, and the technique is now commonplace in courts of law.
Between 1846 and1852 Charles Brooke[6][7][8] invented a series of self-recording instruments which used photography for the automatic registration of their measurements by using a coal gas light-source, a mirror and optics to amplify readings and a clockwork drum covered in photographic paper to record the results. These instruments included barometers, thermometers, psychrometers, and magnetometers, which registered their variations by means of photography. Charles Brooke’s inventions obtained the premium offered by the British Government, as well as a council medal from the jurors of the Great Exhibition. The account of the perfecting of these apparatus will be found detailed in the British Association Reports from 1846 to 1849, and in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 1847, 1850, and 1852. These self-recording instruments were adopted at the Royal Observatories of Kew and Greenwich, Paris, and other meteorological stations around the world. In 1859 a self-recording magnetometer[9] of United States manufacture, based on the designed of Charles Brooke, was built by the Coast Survey and the Smithsonian Institution at a magnetic observatory on the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. The Smithsonian report also noted that the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory had a self-registering magnetograph in 1850, which was described by General John Henry Lefroy, in Silliman’s Journal, May, 1850. While several observatories had these devices, none were in continuous operation until January 1858, when the self-recording magnetographs[10] at the Kew Observatory became fully operational. The instrument at Kew was a set of three separate devices comprising a Declination Magnetograph, a Horizontal-force Magnetograph and a Vertical-force Magnetograph.
On August 28, 1859 and again on September 2, 1859 the self-recording magnetometers at the Kew Observatory in London, supervised by Balfour Stewart, recorded two of the largest terrestrial magnetic storms known to Science. These events are now know as the Stewart Super Flare and the Carrington Super Flare[11], the latter in honor of Richard Christopher Carrington who had the good fortune to observe the solar flare which occurred on September 1, 1859, with the magnetic storm reaching the Earth on September 2, 1859.
Besides the camera, other methods of forming images with light are available. For instance, a photocopy or xerography machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static electrical charges rather than photographic film, hence the term electrophotography. Photograms are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of an image scanner to produce digital pictures.
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LONDON: Planning to fly off to the tropics? Well, its time you reconsidered your holiday plans, for according to a new research, a typical flight there has a greater impact on global warming than a flight in temperate latitudes.
As well as producing carbon dioxide and contrails, planes also produce nitrogen oxide, which triggers both the creation of the warming gas ozone, and the destruction of another greenhouse gas, methane, according to the study.
According to Keith Shine of the University of Reading, UK, in mid-latitudes, the ozone and methane reactions cancel each other out and you get zero net warming from nitrogen oxide emissions, reports New Scientist .
But the brighter sunlight in the tropics is very efficient at converting nitrogen oxide to ozone – in fact it creates ozone five times faster than in the air of mid-latitudes, according to Shine’s calculations.
Whereas methane destruction only increases marginally, Shine added.
Worryingly, the warming effects of ozone are particularly strong at a plane’s typical cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, he adds.
The research raises the question of whether future attempts to control aircraft emissions should consider extra penalties for flights in tropical countries where air travel is booming. India, for instance, has the fastest growing airline fleet in the world.
The study is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research .
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New Delhi: In one of the biggest ever seizure of pirated CDs, the crime branch seized more than 25,000 pirated DVDs and play stations and arrested four persons from Palika Bazaar near Connaught Place. Those arrested were identified as Sikander (33), Sunil (27), Jitender (29) and Suresh (27).
Police said they received information that a consignment of pirated DVDs and play-stations were being brought to Palika Bazaar and their mastermind Mukesh Sharma, is trying to sell them through his agent in the market. The police team, led by inspector Ved Prakash, conducted a raid and three shops were raided where a huge quantity was seized. Shop raided in Kashmere Gate: North district police on Tuesday raided a shop in Kashmere Gate and arrested a 41-year-old man for allegedly selling duplicate metal logos and spare parts of Mercedes Benz. The police seized 1008 star-shaped metal logos and spare parts worth Rs 10 lakh from the shop. The accused, Dinesh Chhabra (41), was a resident of Shalimar Bagh.
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An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. The spontaneous expulsion of a fetus or embryo before the 20th week of gestational age[1] is commonly known as a miscarriage.[2] Induced abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus by medical, surgical, or other means at any point during human pregnancy for therapeutic or elective reasons.[3] The approximate number of induced abortions performed worldwide in 2003 was 42 million.[4]
Throughout recorded history, abortion has been induced by various traditional medicine methods, including botanical abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, and abdominal pressure.
The moral and legal aspects of abortion are subject to intense social debate in many parts of the world. Aspects of this debate can include the public health impact of unsafe or illegal abortion as well as legal abortion’s effect upon crime rates, and the ramifications of sex-selective practices. Other debates include the abortion-breast cancer hypothesis, post-abortion syndrome, and fetal pain. Moral arguments often equate abortion to murder, or denial of abortion to oppression of women.
The history of modern Western abortion laws can be traced back to English common law, which allowed abortion before the “quickening” of the fetus. Currently, abortion laws vary from country to country, with regard to religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities.
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In medical terminology, the term abortion refers to two basic phenomena: miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) and induced abortion. In common parlance, the term “abortion” is synonymous with induced abortion. However, in medical texts, the word ‘abortion’ might exclusively refer to, or may also refer to, spontaneous abortion (miscarriage).
Spontaneous abortion is the expulsion of an embryo or fetus due to accidental trauma or natural causes. Most miscarriages are due to incorrect replication of chromosomes; they can also be caused by environmental factors. Spontaneous abortions, generally referred to as miscarriages, occur when an embryo or fetus is lost due to natural causes before the 20th week of gestation. A pregnancy that ends between 20 and 37 weeks of gestation, if it results in a live-born infant, is known as a “premature birth“. When a fetus dies in utero after about 20 weeks, or during delivery, it is termed a “stillbirth“. Premature births and stillbirths are generally not considered to be miscarriages although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap.
Most miscarriages occur very early in pregnancy. Between 10% and 50% of pregnancies end in clinically apparent miscarriage, depending upon the age and health of the pregnant woman.[5] In most cases, they occur so early in the pregnancy that the woman is not even aware that she was pregnant. One study testing hormones for ovulation and pregnancy showed a rate of pregnancy in exposed ovulatory cycles of 59.6%; with 61.9% of conceptuses lost prior to 12 weeks of which 91.7% occuried subclinically, without the knowledge of the mother.[6]
The risk of spontaneous abortion decreases sharply after the 10th week LMP,[7] with a loss rate between 8.5 weeks LMP and birth of about two percent; pregnancy loss is “virtually complete by the end of the embryonic period.”[8]
This risk of spontaneous abortion is greater in those with a known history of several spontaneous abortions or an induced abortion, those with systemic diseases, and those over age 35. Other causes can be infection (of either the woman or fetus), immune response, or serious systemic disease. A spontaneous abortion can also be caused by accidental trauma; intentional trauma to cause miscarriage is considered induced abortion or feticide.[9]
A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in many ways. The manner selected depends chiefly upon the gestational age of the embryo or fetus, in addition to the legality, regional availability, and doctor-patient preference for specific procedures. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or elective. An abortion is considered to be therapeutic when it is performed to:
An abortion is considered to be elective if it is performed for any other reason.
Gestational age may determine which abortion methods are practiced.
In the first 12 weeks, suction-aspiration or vacuum abortion is the most common method.[11] Manual Vacuum aspiration (MVA) abortion, consists of removing the fetus or embryo by suction using a manual syringe, while electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) abortion uses an electric pump. These techniques are comparable, and differ in the mechanism used to apply suction, how early in pregnancy they can be used, and whether cervical dilation is necessary. MVA, also known as “mini-suction” and “menstrual extraction“, can be used in very early pregnancy, and does not require cervical dilation. Surgical techniques are sometimes referred to as ‘Suction (or surgical) Termination Of Pregnancy’ (STOP). From the 15th week until approximately the 26th, dilation and evacuation (D&E) is used. D&E consists of opening the cervix of the uterus and emptying it using surgical instruments and suction.
Dilation and curettage (D&C), the second most common method of abortion, is a standard gynecological procedure performed for a variety of reasons, including examination of the uterine lining for possible malignancy, investigation of abnormal bleeding, and abortion. Curettage refers to cleaning the walls of the uterus with a curette. The World Health Organization recommends this procedure, also called sharp curettage, only when MVA is unavailable.[12] The term D and C, or sometimes suction curette, is used as a euphemism for the first trimester abortion procedure, whichever the method used.
Other techniques must be used to induce abortion in the second trimester. Premature delivery can be induced with prostaglandin; this can be coupled with injecting the amniotic fluid with caustic solutions containing saline or urea. After the 16th week of gestation, abortions can be induced by intact dilation and extraction (IDX) (also called intrauterine cranial decompression), which requires surgical decompression of the fetus’s head before evacuation. IDX is sometimes called “partial-birth abortion,” which has been federally banned in the United States. A hysterotomy abortion is a procedure similar to a caesarean section, and is performed under general anesthesia because it is considered major abdominal surgery. It requires a smaller incision than a caesarean section and is used during later stages of pregnancy.[13]
From the 20th to 23rd week of gestation, an injection to stop the fetal heart can be used as the first phase of the surgical abortion procedure[14] to ensure that the fetus is not born alive.[15]
Effective in the first trimester of pregnancy, non-surgical abortions (referred to as ‘medical abortions’) comprise 10% of all abortions in the United States and Europe. Combined regimens include methotrexate or mifepristone, followed by a prostaglandin (either misoprostol or gemeprost: misoprostol is used in the U.S.; gemeprost is used in the UK and Sweden.) When used within 49 days gestation, approximately 92% of women undergoing medical abortion with a combined regimen completed it without surgical intervention.[16] Misoprostol can be used alone, but has a lower efficacy rate than combined regimens. In cases of failure of medical abortion, vacuum or manual aspiration is used to complete the abortion surgically.
Bas-relief at Angkor Wat, dated circa 1150, depicting a demon performing an abortion by pounding a mallet into a woman’s belly.
Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk medicine: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinct silphium (see history of abortion).[17] The use of herbs in such a manner can cause serious — even lethal — side effects, such as multiple organ failure, and is not recommended by physicians.[18]
Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if severe, can cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing miscarriage.[19] Both accidental and deliberate abortions of this kind can be subject to criminal liability in many countries. In Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion through forceful abdominal massage.[20]
Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol, and insertion of non-surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These methods are rarely seen in developed countries where surgical abortion is legal and available.[21]
The incidence and reasons for induced abortion vary regionally. It has been estimated that approximately 46 million abortions are performed worldwide every year. Of these, 26 million are said to occur in places where abortion is legal; the other 20 million happen where the procedure is illegal. Some countries, such as Belgium (11.2 per 100 known pregnancies) and the Netherlands (10.6 per 100), have a low rate of induced abortion, while others like Russia (62.6 per 100) and Vietnam (43.7 per 100) have a comparatively high rate. The world ratio is 26 induced abortions per 100 known pregnancies.[22]
Histogram of abortions by gestational age in England and Wales during 2004. Average is 9.5 weeks.
Abortion rates also vary depending on the stage of pregnancy and the method practiced. In 2003, from data collected in those areas of the United States that sufficiently reported gestational age, it was found that 88.2% of abortions were conducted at or prior to 12 weeks, 10.4% from 13 to 20 weeks, and 1.4% at or after 21 weeks. 90.9% of these were classified as having been done by “curettage” (suction-aspiration, Dilation and curettage, Dilation and evacuation), 7.7% by “medical” means (mifepristone), 0.4% by “intrauterine instillation” (saline or prostaglandin), and 1.0% by “other” (including hysterotomy and hysterectomy).[23] The Guttmacher Institute estimated there were 2,200 intact dilation and extraction procedures in the U.S. during 2000; this accounts for 0.17% of the total number of abortions performed that year.[24] Similarly, in England and Wales in 2006, 89% of terminations occurred at or under 12 weeks, 9% between 13 to 19 weeks, and 1.5% at or over 20 weeks. 64% of those reported were by vacuum aspiration, 6% by D&E, and 30% were medical.[25]
A bar chart depicting selected data from the 1998 AGI meta-study on the reasons women stated for having an abortion.
A 1998 aggregated study, from 27 countries, on the reasons women seek to terminate their pregnancies concluded that common factors cited to have influenced the abortion decision were: desire to delay or end childbearing, concern over the interruption of work or education, issues of financial or relationship stability, and perceived immaturity.[26] A 2004 study in which American women at clinics answered a questionnaire yielded similar results.[27] In Finland and the United States, concern for the health risks posed by pregnancy in individual cases was not a factor commonly given; however, in Bangladesh, India, and Kenya health concerns were cited by women more frequently as reasons for having an abortion.[26] 1% of women in the 2004 survey-based U.S. study became pregnant as a result of rape and 0.5% as a result of incest.[27] Another American study in 2002 concluded that 54% of women who had an abortion were using a form of contraception at the time of becoming pregnant while 46% were not. Inconsistent use was reported by 49% of those using condoms and 76% of those using the combined oral contraceptive pill; 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or breakage.[28]
Some abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the stigmatization of disabled persons, preference for children of a specific sex, disapproval of single motherhood, insufficient economic support for families, lack of access to or rejection of contraceptive methods, or efforts toward population control (such as China’s one-child policy). These factors can sometimes result in compulsory abortion or sex-selective abortion.
Early-term surgical abortion is a simple procedure which is safer than childbirth when performed before the 16th week.[29][30] Abortion methods, like most minimally invasive procedures, carry a small potential for serious complications.[31][32] The risk of complications can increase depending on how far pregnancy has progressed.[33][34]
Women typically experience minor pain during first-trimester abortion procedures. In a 1979 study of 2,299 patients, 97% reported experiencing some degree of pain. Patients rated the pain as being less than earache or toothache, but more than headache or backache.[35]
Some practitioners advocate using minimal anaesthesia so the patient can alert them to possible complications. Others recommend general anaesthesia, to prevent patient movement, which might cause a perforation. General anaesthesia carries its own risks, including death, which is why public health officials recommend against its routine use.[citation needed]
“French Periodical Pills.” An example of a clandestine advertisement published in an 1845 edition of the Boston Daily Times.
Induced abortion can be traced to ancient times.[36] There is evidence to suggest that, historically, pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques.
The Hippocratic Oath, the chief statement of medical ethics for Hippocratic physicians in Ancient Greece, forbade doctors from helping to procure an abortion by pessary. Soranus, a second-century Greek physician, suggested in his work Gynaecology that women wishing to abort their pregnancies should engage in energetic exercise, energetic jumping, carrying heavy objects, and riding animals. He also prescribed a number of recipes for herbal baths, pessaries, and bloodletting, but advised against the use of sharp instruments to induce miscarriage due to the risk of organ perforation.[37] It is also believed that, in addition to using it as a contraceptive, the Ancient Greeks relied upon silphium as an abortifacient. Such folk remedies, however, varied in effectiveness and were not without risk. Tansy and pennyroyal, for example, are two poisonous herbs with serious side effects that have at times been used to terminate pregnancy.
Abortion in the 19th century continued, despite bans in both the United Kingdom and the United States, as the disguised, but nonetheless open, advertisement of services in the Victorian era suggests.[38]
In the 20th century the Soviet Union (1919), Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) were among the first countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion.[39] In 1935 Nazi Germany, a law was passed permitting abortions for those deemed “hereditarily ill”, while women considered of “German stock” were specifically prohibited from having abortions.[40][41][42][43]
A number of complex issues exist in the debate over abortion. These, like the suggested effects upon health listed above, are a focus of research and a fixture of discussion among members on all sides of the controversy.
A theory attempts to draw a correlation between the United States’ unprecedented nationwide decline of the overall crime rate during the 1990s and the decriminalization of abortion 20 years prior.
The suggestion was brought to widespread attention by a 1999 academic paper, The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime, authored by the economists Steven D. Levitt and John Donohue. They attributed the drop in crime to a reduction in individuals said to have a higher statistical probability of committing crimes: unwanted children, especially those born to mothers who are African-American, impoverished, adolescent, uneducated, and single. The change coincided with what would have been the adolescence, or peak years of potential criminality, of those who had not been born as a result of Roe v. Wade and similar cases. Donohue and Levitt’s study also noted that states which legalized abortion before the rest of the nation experienced the lowering crime rate pattern earlier, and those with higher abortion rates had more pronounced reductions.[44]
Fellow economists Christopher Foote and Christopher Goetz criticized the methodology in the Donohue-Levitt study, noting a lack of accommodation for statewide yearly variations such as cocaine use, and recalculating based on incidence of crime per capita; they found no statistically significant results.[45] Levitt and Donohue responded to this by presenting an adjusted data set which took into account these concerns and reported that the data maintained the statistical significance of their initial paper.[46]
Such research has been criticized by some as being utilitarian, discriminatory as to race and socioeconomic class, and as promoting eugenics as a solution to crime.[47][48] Levitt states in his book Freakonomics that they are neither promoting nor negating any course of action—merely reporting data as economists.
The advent of both sonography and amniocentesis has allowed parents to determine sex before birth. This has led to the occurrence of sex-selective abortion or the targeted termination of a fetus based upon its sex.
It is suggested that sex-selective abortion might be partially responsible for the noticeable disparities between the birth rates of male and female children in some places. The preference for male children is reported in many areas of Asia, and abortion used to limit female births has been reported in Mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and India.[49]
In India, the economic role of men, the costs associated with dowries, and a Hindu tradition which dictates that funeral rites must be performed by a male relative have led to a cultural preference for sons.[50] The widespread availability of diagnostic testing, during the 1970s and ’80s, led to advertisements for services which read, “Invest 500 rupees [for a sex test] now, save 50,000 rupees [for a dowry] later.”[51] In 1991, the male-to-female sex ratio in India was skewed from its biological norm of 105 to 100, to an average of 108 to 100.[52] Researchers have asserted that between 1985 and 2005 as many as 10 million female fetuses may have been selectively aborted.[53] The Indian government passed an official ban of pre-natal sex screening in 1994 and moved to pass a complete ban of sex-selective abortion in 2002.[54]
In the People’s Republic of China, there is also a historic son preference. The implementation of the one-child policy in 1979, in response to population concerns, led to an increased disparity in the sex ratio as parents attempted to circumvent the law through sex-selective abortion or the abandonment of unwanted daughters.[55] Sex-selective abortion might be an influence on the shift from the baseline male-to-female birth rate to an elevated national rate of 117:100 reported in 2002. The trend was more pronounced in rural regions: as high as 130:100 in Guangdong and 135:100 in Hainan.[56] A ban upon the practice of sex-selective abortion was enacted in 2003.[57]
Where and when access to safe abortion has been barred, due to explicit sanctions or general unavailability, women seeking to terminate their pregnancies have sometimes resorted to unsafe methods.
“Back-alley abortion” is a slang term for any abortion not practiced under generally accepted standards of sanitation and professionalism. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an unsafe abortion as being, “a procedure…carried out by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.”[58] This can include a person without medical training, a professional health provider operating in sub-standard conditions, or the woman herself.
Unsafe abortion remains a public health concern today due to the higher incidence and severity of its associated complications, such as incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and damage to internal organs. WHO estimates that 19 million unsafe abortions occur around the world annually and that 68,000 of these result in the woman’s death.[58] Complications of unsafe abortion are said to account, globally, for approximately 13% of all maternal mortalities, with regional estimates including 12% in Asia, 25% in Latin America, and 13% in sub-Saharan Africa.[59] A 2007 study published in the The Lancet found that, although the global rate of abortion declined from 45.6 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003, unsafe procedures still accounted for 48% of all abortions performed in 2003.[60] Health education, access to family planning, and improvements in health care during and after abortion have been proposed to address this phenomenon.[61]
Pro-choice activists near the Washington Monument at the March for Women’s Lives.
Pro-life activists at the March for Life in 2007. The rally is held annually in Washington, DC.
In the history of abortion, induced abortion has been the source of considerable debate, controversy, and activism. An individual’s position on the complex ethical, moral, philosophical, biological, and legal issues is often related to his or her value system. Opinions of abortion may be best described as being a combination of beliefs on its morality, and beliefs on the responsibility, ethical scope, and proper extent of governmental authorities in public policy. Religious ethics also has an influence upon both personal opinion and the greater debate over abortion (see religion and abortion).
Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by advocacy groups belonging to one of two camps. In the United States, most often those in favor of greater legal restrictions on, or even complete prohibition of abortion, describe themselves as pro-life while those against legal restrictions on abortion describe themselves as pro-choice. Both are used to indicate the central principles in arguments for and against abortion: “Is the fetus a human being with a fundamental right to life?” for pro-life advocates, and, for those who are pro-choice, “Does a woman have the right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy?”
In both public and private debate, arguments presented in favor of or against abortion focus on either the moral permissibility of an induced abortion, or justification of laws permitting or restricting abortion. Arguments on morality and legality tend to collide and combine, complicating the issue at hand.
Debate also focuses on whether the pregnant woman should have to notify and/or have the consent of others in distinct cases: a minor, her parents; a legally-married or common-law wife, her husband; or a pregnant woman, the biological father. In a 2003 Gallup poll in the United States, 79% of male and 67% of female respondents were in favor of spousal notification; overall support was 72% with 26% opposed.[62]
A number of opinion polls around the world have explored public opinion regarding the issue of abortion. Results have varied from poll to poll, country to country, and region to region, while varying with regard to different aspects of the issue.
A May 2005 survey examined attitudes toward abortion in 10 European countries, asking polltakers whether they agreed with the statement, “If a woman doesn’t want children, she should be allowed to have an abortion”. The highest level of approval was 81% (in the Czech Republic); the lowest was 47% (in Poland).[63]
In North America, a December 2001 poll surveyed Canadian opinion on abortion, asking Canadians in what circumstances they believe abortion should be permitted; 32% responded that they believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 52% that it should be legal in certain circumstances, and 14% that it should be legal in no circumstances. A similar poll in January 2006 surveyed people in the United States about U.S. opinion on abortion; 33% said that abortion should be “permitted only in cases such as rape, incest or to save the woman’s life”, 27% said that abortion should be “permitted in all cases”, 15% that it should be “permitted, but subject to greater restrictions than it is now”, 17% said that it should “only be permitted to save the woman’s life”, and 5% said that it should “never” be permitted.[64] A November 2005 poll in Mexico found that 73.4% think abortion should not be legalized while 11.2% think it should.[65]
Of attitudes in South and Central America, a December 2003 survey found that 30% of Argentines thought that abortion in Argentina should be allowed “regardless of situation”, 47% that it should be allowed “under some circumstances”, and 23% that it should not be allowed “regardless of situation”.[66] A March 2007 poll regarding the abortion law in Brazil found that 65% of Brazilians believe that it “should not be modified”, 16% that it should be expanded “to allow abortion in other cases”, 10% that abortion should be “decriminalized”, and 5% were “not sure”.[67] A July 2005 poll in Colombia found that 65.6% said they thought that abortion should remain illegal, 26.9% that it should be made legal, and 7.5% that they were unsure.[68]
The “abortion-breast cancer (ABC) hypothesis” (supporters call it the abortion-breast cancer link) posits that induced abortion increases the risk of developing breast cancer;[69] it is a controversial subject and the current scientific consensus has concluded there is no significant association between first-trimester abortion and breast cancer risk.[70][71][72]
In early pregnancy, levels of estrogen increase, leading to breast growth in preparation for lactation. The hypothesis proposes that if this process is interrupted by an abortion – before full maturity in the third trimester – then more relatively vulnerable immature cells could be left than there were prior to the pregnancy, resulting in a greater potential risk of breast cancer. The hypothesis mechanism was first proposed and explored in rat studies conducted in the 1980s.[73][74][75]
The American Cancer Society concludes that presently the evidence does not support a causal abortion-breast cancer association,[76] yet a causal link continues to be championed by pro-life activists like Dr. Joel Brind, Dr. Angela Lanfranchi and Karen Malec.[72] In the past, pro-life advocates have sought legal action regarding disclosure of the abortion-breast cancer issue. This brought short-term legal and political intervention culminating with the Bush Administration changing the National Cancer Institute (NCI) fact sheet from concluding no link to a more ambiguous assessment.[77] In February 2003, the NCI responded by conducting a workshop with over 100 experts on the issue, which determined from selected evidence that it was well-established “abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.”[78]
Though the scientific community is largely skeptical of the hypothesis and has been rejected by some;[77][78] the ongoing promotion of an abortion-breast cancer “link” by pro-life advocates and medical associations is seen by others as merely a part of the current pro-life “woman-centered” strategy against abortion.[79][80][81] Pro-life groups maintain they are providing legally necessary informed consent;[82] a concern shared by conservative Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon.[83] While early research indicated a correlation between breast cancer and abortion;[84][85] the current scientific consensus has solidified with the publication of large prospective cohort studies which find no clear association between abortion and breast cancer.[86][87] These studies along with all relevant research strive to remove from their results the many confounding factors, such as delayed child bearing (parity), which affect breast cancer risk apart from abortion. The abortion-breast cancer hypothesis continues to incite mostly political and some scientific debate.[72]
The relationship between induced abortion and mental health is an area of political and scientific controversy.[88][89][90] A number of studies have concluded that abortion is associated with no more psychological risk than carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term. Other studies have reported a statistical correlation between abortion and negative psychological effects, though no studies have demonstrated a direct causal relationship.[91][81][92] Pre-existing factors in a woman’s life, such as emotional attachment to the pregnancy, lack of social support, pre-existing psychiatric illness, and conservative views on abortion increase the likelihood of experiencing negative feelings after an abortion.[93][94][95]
In a 1990 review, the American Psychological Association has found that “severe negative reactions [after abortion] are rare and are in line with those following other normal life stresses.”[92] In light of additional studies undertaken since that time, both the APA and the United Kingdom Royal College of Psychiatrists are performing systematic reviews of the medical literature in order to update their position statements.
Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by pro-life advocates as a separate condition called “post-abortion syndrome.” However, the existence of “post-abortion syndrome” is not recognized by any medical or psychological organization,[96] and some physicians and pro-choice advocates have argued that the effort to popularize the idea of a “post-abortion syndrome” is a tactic used by pro-life advocates for political purposes.[88][81][97][98]
On March 14, 2008, the Royal College of Psychiatrists released a statement saying “The specific issue of whether or not induced abortion has harmful effects on women’s mental health remains to be fully resolved. The current research evidence base is inconclusive – some studies indicate no evidence of harm, whilst other studies identify a range of mental disorders following abortion.”[90]
The existence and implications of fetal pain are scientifically and politically disputed. A controversial[99] review by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco in JAMA concluded that data from dozens of medical reports and studies indicate that fetuses are unlikely to feel pain until the third trimester of pregnancy.[100][101] There is an emerging consensus among developmental neurobiologists that the establishment of thalamocortical connections (at about 26 weeks) is a critical event with regard to fetal perception of pain.[102] Nevertheless, because pain can involve sensory, emotional and cognitive factors, it may be “impossible to know” when painful experiences are perceived, even if it is known when thalamocortical connections are established.[103]
Whether a fetus has the ability to feel pain and to suffer is part of the abortion debate.[104][105] For example, legislation has been proposed by pro-life advocates requiring abortion providers to tell a woman that the fetus may feel pain during the abortion procedure, and that require her to accept or decline anesthesia for the fetus.[106]
International status of abortion law (detail).
Before the scientific discovery that human development begins at fertilization, English common law allowed abortions to be performed before “quickening“, the earliest perception of fetal movement by a woman during pregnancy, until both pre- and post-quickening abortions were criminalized by Lord Ellenborough’s Act in 1803.[107] In 1861, the British Parliament passed the Offences Against the Person Act, which continued to outlaw abortion and served as a model for similar prohibitions in some other nations.[108] The Soviet Union, with legislation in 1920, and Iceland, with legislation in 1935, were two of the first countries to generally allow abortion. The second half of the 20th century saw the liberalization of abortion laws in other countries. The Abortion Act 1967 allowed abortion for limited reasons in the United Kingdom. In the 1973 case, Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court struck down state laws banning abortion, ruling that such laws violated an implied right to privacy in the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada, similarly, in the case of R. v. Morgentaler, discarded its criminal code regarding abortion in 1988, after ruling that such restrictions violated the security of person guaranteed to women under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada later struck down provincial regulations of abortion in the case of R. v. Morgentaler (1993). By contrast, abortion in Ireland was affected by the addition of an amendment to the Irish Constitution in 1983 by popular referendum, recognizing “the right to life of the unborn”.
Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities continue to influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human rights that are sometimes used as justification for the existence or absence of laws controlling abortion. Many countries in which abortion is legal require that certain criteria be met in order for an abortion to be obtained, often, but not always, using a trimester-based system to regulate the window of legality:
Other countries, in which abortion is normally illegal, will allow one to be performed in the case of rape, incest, or danger to the pregnant woman’s life or health. A few nations ban abortion entirely: Chile, El Salvador, Malta, Ireland and Nicaragua, although in 2006 the Chilean government began the free distribution of emergency contraception.[109][110] In Bangladesh, abortion is illegal, but the government has long supported a network of “menstrual regulation clinics”, where menstrual extraction (manual vacuum aspiration) can be performed as menstrual hygiene.[111]
In places where abortion is illegal or is socially such a stigma that it would not be possible to continue to live there if it became known that a woman had undergone one, pregnant women may engage in medical tourism and travel overseas to countries where they can undergo a termination of their pregnancy. In the USA, it is not unusual for women to travel from one state to another for reasons of termination of pregnancy.
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