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Abortion philosophy 1120 essays
Abortion and ethical dilemmas
Comparative essays on abortion
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The Morality of Abortions
Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.
Many people describe the abortion debate in America as bitter and uncompromising, usually represented on both sides by people with an intense devotion to their cause, and usually with irreconcilable positions. Many of those who are pro-choice insist that a woman's right to abortion should never be restricted, while those who are pro-life maintain that a fetus has a right to life that is violated at any stage of its development if abortion is performed. Discussions between both sides are usually very competitive, and sometimes violent, so any attempt at coming to a mutual agreement is drowned out. How can anyone hear if they refuse to acknowledge the other side, except to argue? Since the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion, compromises that limit or allow abortion have taken two forms: those based on the reasons for abortion, and those based on fetal development at different stages of pregnancy. The first compromise would allow abortion for extreme, or “hard” cases, which include rape, incest, or risk of the life or health of the pregnant woman, but not for the soft cases like financial hardship, inconvenience, possible birth defects, or failure of birth control. Compromises of the second type would allow abortions, but only until a given stage of pregnancy, which is usually much earlier than the medically accepted definition of viability- when the fetus can survive outside the womb (Flanders 8).
Although compromises based on reasons for abortion have been incorporated in laws such as the Hyde Amendment, which restricts Medicaid funding for abortion to so-called “hard” cases, many people now focus on time-based restrictions. This idea is more realistic and practical than banning abortion all together since there would still ...
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... who are not ready to take on the challenges and responsibilities of raising children. To have millions of poor, homeless and unhappy children in the world to cope with life’s injustices would be far more heartbreaking than extracting an embryo from a uterus. Abortion is a very complex issue that should remain a personal decision. The bottom line is that each woman should make her own decision based on her own morals and beliefs.
Works Cited
Alcorn, Randy. Prolife Answers to Prochoice Arguments.
Portland, Oregon: Multnomah, 2001.
Bender, David L. Abortion: Opposing Views.
St. Paul, Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
Carlin, David R., Jr. “Going, Going, Gone.”
Commonwealth 10 Sept. 1993: 6-7.
Cunningham, Amy. “Who Are The Women Who Are Pro-Life?”
Glamour Feb. 1994: 154-157.
Driefus, Claudia., Seizing Our Bodies: The Politics of Women's Health.
New York: Vintage Books, 1977.
Flanders, Carl N., Abortion: Library In a Book,
New York: Facts on Life, 1991.
Points, Dana. “The Truth About The Abortion Pill.”
Mademoiselle Oct. 1994: 106.
Rubin, Rita and Headden, Susan. “Physicians Under Fire.”
U.S. News & World Report 16 Jan. 1995: 52-53.
He would state that what is most important in the case is overall happiness of all individuals. Not just happiness but what is morally the right thing to do overall. Happiness of course is complex and made up of many components so other “ingredients” beside virtue must be taken account of. Mill wouldn’t oppose the use of the drug Brincidofovir because it has proven to work on Ebola. Not using it would lessen happiness of Ebola infected individuals which goes against Mill’s goal to have happiness for all. This being said, knowing that the drug isn’t fully tested or passed FDC (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) or CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) regulations would lead Mill to question the ethnicity of using the drug. Not to mention all the controversy attached to who has the right to have the drug administered first. This then shows how happiness isn’t just about morality and justice but what is logically right to do. In the end, the drug has so far shown to work, even though just on a few cases. Thus according to Mill, happiness is the ultimate goal not the consequences of the action unless they lessen
Abortion continues to be a controversial topic now forty years after the U.S. Supreme Court found it to be a fundamental right in the historic Roe vs. Wade decision. Much of the debate claims to be founded upon scientific or constitutional issues. When examined closely this is just not true.
In the absence of an agreement determining when life begins, state sovereignty has allowed state legislators the authority to shape a state’s policy on abortion. Thus, what has occurred across the United States is the ability for states to enact legislation which places severe limitations on when and how a pregnancy may be te...
When put into an authoritative position over others, is it possible to claim that with this new power individual(s) would be fair and ethical or could it be said that ones true colors would show? A group of researchers, headed by Stanford University psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo, designed and executed an unusual experiment that used a mock prison setting, with college students role-playing either as prisoners or guards to test the power of the social situation to determine psychological effects and behavior (1971). The experiment simulated a real life scenario of William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies” showing a decay and failure of traditional rules and morals; distracting exactly how people should behave toward one another. This research, known more commonly now as the Stanford prison experiment, has become a classic demonstration of situational power to influence individualistic perspectives, ethics, and behavior. Later it is discovered that the results presented from the research became so extreme, instantaneous and unanticipated were the transformations of character in many of the subjects that this study, planned originally to last two-weeks, had to be discontinued by the sixth day. The results of this experiment were far more cataclysmic and startling than anyone involved could have imagined. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the discoveries from Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment and of Burrhus Frederic “B.F.” Skinner’s study regarding the importance of environment.
Many arguments in the abortion debate assume that the morality of abortion depends upon the moral status of the foetus. While I regard the moral status of the foetus as important, it is not the central issue that determines the moral justifiability of abortion. The foetus may be awarded a level of moral status, nevertheless, such status does not result in the prescription of a set moral judgement. As with many morally significant issues, there are competing interests and a variety of possible outcomes that need to be considered when making a moral judgement on abortion. While we need to determine the moral status of the foetus in order to establish the type of entity we are dealing with, it does not, however, exist in a moral vacuum. There are other key issues requiring attention, such as the moral status and interests of the pregnant woman who may desire an abortion, and importantly, the likely consequences of aborting or not aborting a particular foetus. Furthermore, I assert that moral status should be awarded as a matter of degree, based upon the capacities of sentience and self-consciousness an entity possesses. In a bid to reach a coherent conclusion on the issue, the moral status of both foetus and woman, along with the likely results of aborting a particular foetus, must be considered together. Given the multiple facets requiring consideration, I assert that utilitarianism (Mill 1863) offers a coherent framework for weighing and comparing the inputs across a variety of situations, which can determine whether it is ever morally justifiable to have an abortion.
“Any American born after 1973 is a survivor of legalized abortion” (“Abortion”). This quote struck me because of its frankness. After it was legalized, many women had an option to abort their pregnancy against the Catholic Church’s wishes. Any child that was born after that year could have been aborted. This shows that many of the people that are living today could have been killed simply because the mother did not want them and they were considered to not be living in the womb. Being here today, many people survived the mass murder that is abortion and still continues today. The Church urges every mother to think about the morals and laws that God has sent to us. “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). This includes the fetus in the womb that has been alive since conception. The views of the Church and the views of society fight against each other constantly. Abortion is the killing of a human being and is accepted by modern society despite it being against the teachings of the Church and moral good.
The idea of experimentation of prison life achieved by the Stanford University students was intriguing and the results were interesting. Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo’s study due to a result of their curiosity of the reactions of subjects when placed in prisoner or prison guard roles. Their inspiration for the study was somewhat unclear; however, hypothetically reasoning was placed on determining aspects of the actual reality of incarceration. The experimenters also strived to test the theory on whether prisoners face abhorrent conditions due to their interpersonal evils, or do to the aggressive and deviant behaviors of prison guards (Haney, Banks, Zimbardo, 1973).
The current issues concerning a woman’s right to an abortion include the debates between pro-life and pro-choice groups that promote either restrictions or extensions to a woman’s ability to receive abortions respectively, along with debate about the role that the government should play in the process of limiting or extending rights. Pro-life groups argue many points against abortion including the beliefs that life begins at conception, adoption is a viable alternative to abortion, the procedures sometimes cause medical complications, a...
Hertlein, director of the university’s Marriage and Family Therapy program, and assistant professor Markie L.C. Blumer, a faculty adviser in the program wrote, “The Couple and Family Technology Framework: Intimate Relationships in a Digital Age". In their article, Hertlein and Blumer explore how the revolution of technology plays a significant role in promoting relationship. They state,” This revolution poses significant implications in the promotion of relationships at a distance between couple and family practitioners and their clients” (2). They convey that technology position itself in promoting good connections with those are in relationships. Hertlein and Bulmer advocate,” It is much easier to date from one’s own computer than to dress up and go out to seek a possible or potential partner” (3). They defining technology as “convenience” because it can cause miracles in relationships. They social experimented on offline and online conversation, how they converse to each other with technology and face-to face (F2F). The result was F2F was more secured and accounted but, on the other side online conversing was about his or her: perverted inclinations. In some cases, the subjects use technology to inquire for possible and potential
William Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered to be some of the most beautiful poems in English literature. Although little is known about the poet, many seem to put their focus on Shakespeare’s inner life; wondering why he wrote the things he did. William Shakespeare is mostly known for his plays; however, he did accomplish a lot in poetry. William Shakespeare was powerful with his words, and knew how to express things in great depth. Why or who he wrote about is still a mystery. Scholars only know so much about his life, and are still trying to put the unknown pieces together.
In “Sonnet,” Billy Collins satirizes the classical sonnet’s volume to illustrate love in only “…fourteen lines…” (1). Collins’s poem subsists as a “Sonnet,” though there exists many differences in it countering the customarily conventional structure of a sonnet. Like Collins’s “Sonnet,” Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” also faces incongruities from the classic sonnet form as he satirizes the concept of ideal beauty that was largely a convention of writings and art during the Elizabethan era. Although these poem venture through different techniques to appear individually different from the classic sonnet, the theme of love makes the poems analogous.
It is almost unanimously agreed upon that the right to life is the most important and sacred right possessed by human beings. With this being said, it comes as no surprise that there are few issues that are more contentious than abortion. Some consider the process of abortion as immoral and consisting of the deprivation of one’s right to life. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, see abortion as a liberty and a simple exercise of the right to the freedom of choice.
Since Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion has sparked a symbolic war based on the religious, personal, and moral beliefs of two opposing groups: anti-abortionists, who see abortion as murder; and pro-abortionists, who view it “as a symbol of women’s rights to control their own lives.” (Calhoun 220) Public opinion on the issue is no less divided: according to a 2003 poll, 49% of respondents described themselves as “more pro-abortion” while 45% were “more anti-abortion.” (Shaw) However, when the question concerns the legality of abortion, the percentages become skewed. In a 2000 survey, 53% believed that abortion should be legal while 35% believed the contrary. (Shaw) When these questions, in turn, become more specific, important differences occur. A poll by The American National Election Studies offered the following results: 42% of the sample felt “a woman should be able to obtain an abortion as a matter of personal choice”; 15% felt it should be legal “only after establishing need”; 29% believe it should be permitted “only in case of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is in danger”; and a mere 12% felt is should “never be permitted.” (Shaw) An overwhe...
William Shakespeare wrote about many people, places, and things throughout his life. What he might be most remembered for are his writings about love. None might be better than his sonnet 18. Shakespeare uses imagery, personification, unusual techniques and remarkable feelings in this declaration. Few have matched such a task including himself. This short sonnet number 18 is one of the best known and most loved of all 154 poems. Mabillard states that “It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent” (Mabillard).
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