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. Those who adamantly oppose abortion are regarded as pro-life and those who are supporters of abortion are considered pro-choice by contemporary standards. Even among those who advocate abortion, there are discrepancies in their views such as up until what point in the pregnancy is abortion morally permissible. In my opinion, abortion is morally permissible at any stage in a woman’s pregnancy. This is ethically acceptable because a woman should have the right to control what goes on within her body. Along with this, fetuses are still far from personhood (having the qualities of a human being); therefore, we cannot liken abortion to any variety of murderous activity.
Some argue that women have the right to get an abortion because the fetus uses the women as a source of life, thereby giving the women the discretion to permit what goes on within her body. Without the provided nutrition from the women to the fetus, the fetus would not be able to survive. Now, the issue arises, should the fetus force the women to feed it that temporarily resides within her, feeding off her nutrients, if she does not want it to? Some views believe that the women should be responsible for carrying the fetus until its birth if the act that brought it there (sexual intercourse) was vol...
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...ade decided that a woman’s privacy, entailed in the fourteenth amendment, made it acceptable for woman to have more discretion on the status of their pregnancy and whether or not to have an abortion. However, abortions were only acceptable when it involved “defending prenatal life and protecting the health of the mother” (Roe v. Wade, Morality and Moral Controversies, 209). Although this case took a step in the right direction by giving women some direction with abortion, I feel it could have done a better job by making abortion legal under all circumstances seeing how it is morally justifiable from every aspect from the motivations to the process itself.
Works Cited
Arthur, John, and Scalet, Steven, eds. Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Eighth Edition, 2009.
As to any argument, there are two opposing sides when it comes to the matter of abortions. These two opposers usually refer to themselves as “pro-life” and “pro choice”. Pro-life supporters maintain that abortion is wrong and pro-choice believe that it is a woman’s freedom to choose her pregnancy decisions. When it comes to the topic of abortions, most of us will readily agree that it’s a woman’s choice to decide what her reproductive decisions are, i.e. pro-choice. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is in the question of whether or not abortion is a fundamental right granted to women by the Constitution. Whereas some are convinced that a fetus is considered alive at conception, usually citing the word of God, others maintain that
Abortion is a very controversial and sensitive topic in today’s society. Two different sides to this argument is pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life proponents believe in the right to life for unborn fetuses saying that abortion should be considered murder regardless of how far along in the pregnancy the woman is. Pro-choice advocates people who believe the woman carrying the fetus should be able to make her own decision on aborting the fetus.
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...
Abortion, which is defined as a deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, is one of the most controversial issues in society. Many people believe that abortion is unethical and morally wrong, while others believe that it is a woman’s right to decide what to do with her body. According to www.census.gov, “the number of abortions performed annually in the U.S. has leveled off at 1.2 million a year” (1). This statistic supports how many women are choosing abortion. Although abortion is legal in the United States, many people continue to voice their opinions on how it is a human rights violation and should be illegal everywhere.
In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
Being a mother is a lifelong job that requires copious time, energy, and money. There are myriad different reasons in which a woman would consider getting an abortion. The decision is often tragic and painful for the mother. It is one of the biggest choices a woman will make. Many people have strong beliefs about abortion, and if a mother makes a decision that they do not agree with they sometimes turn against the mother, and enkindle egregious feelings about their decision for the rest of their life. Indeed a woman may not get an abortion for selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Additional intentions for having abortion include rape, financial difficulties, obligation by family members, or danger to the baby’s health (Roleff
The permissibility of abortion has been a crucial topic for debates for many years. People have yet to agree upon a stance on whether abortion is morally just. This country is divided into two groups, believers in a woman’s choice to have an abortion and those who stand for the fetus’s right to live. More commonly these stances are labeled as pro-choice and pro-life. The traditional argument for each side is based upon whether a fetus has a right to life. Complications occur because the qualifications of what gives something a right to life is not agreed upon. The pro-choice argument asserts that only people, not fetuses, have a right to life. The pro-life argument claims that fetuses are human beings and therefore they have a right to life. Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thomson, rejects this traditional reasoning because the right of the mother is not brought into consideration. Thomson prepares two theses to explain her reasoning for being pro-choice; “A right to life does not entail the right to use your body to stay alive” and “In the majority of cases it is not morally required that you carry a fetus to term.”
The murder of innocents or, a woman’s right to choose; the Pro-Life/ Pro-Choice Debate, Which side are you on? The issue of abortion has been a topic of interest not only in the medical world but also in the political and religious worlds as well. The pro-life argument states that at conception the fetus is a baby and terminating it is taking a life. The pro-choice argument states that the unborn fetus, not baby, is just a blob of tissue and your terminating a pregnancy not a child. Both sides of the argument will be discussed in this essay along with the views of the church, politicians, women who have had abortion, and even a women who use to worked for Planned Parenthood.
People who in favor of allowing women to make all relevant decisions regarding conception, contraception, pregnancy, and abortion are known as “pro-choice”, while those who in favor of outlawing abortions, and of empowering the government to determine whether abortion should be allowed are known as “pro-life”. Abortion should remain as a legal option for women because the state government has no rights to interfere with a woman’s body; illegal abortions cause more maternal fatalities than legal abortions; and, there is no conclusive evidence or argument that a fetus is equal to a human being and therefore has equal
Abortion has been a controversial topic in the U.S ever since it became legal in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade case. Abortion is defined as the, “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.” Pro-life supporters believe that abortion is unethical and argue that it is the mother’s responsibility to own up to her actions. They also argue that there is always the option of adoption, and that abortion could be very dangerous. I am pro-life and believe that the government doesn’t have the right to decide what a woman can or can’t do with her body.
Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
In my argumentative coursework I am arguing that abortion is wrong and not to be mistaken with 'Abortion should be made illegal.' I will explain later why I have made this statement. Abortion is the termination of an unborn child in its mother's womb for up to twenty four weeks of the pregnancy or in special circumstances e.g. Disability diagnosis a termination right up until the mother goes in to labour. I think the above definition is an easier and less harsh way of saying that abortion is the murdering of a human being. There are several reasons why abortion is legal and several reasons why it shouldn?t be.
For hundreds of years, the United States of America has been a country defined by its promising opportunities and freedom. However, America has proven many times it is not the promised land that many residents of other countries have viewed it to be. Issues like euthanasia, death penalty, freedom of speech, and abortion have given rise to questions of the freedom in America. Abortion has proven to be one of the more tenacious issues that has brought controversy to America. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, abortion is defined as “the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability” (Encyclopedia Brittanica). In simple terms, having an abortion is a pregnant woman choosing to not deliver her child. The Guttmacher Institute provides that there are 6.6 million pregnancies in the United States each year, and 51% are unintended (Guttmacher Institute). Further facts from the Guttmacher Institute states that around 358,000 women die per year because of pregnancy and the United States accounts for 60% of those maternal deaths (Guttmacher Institute). There is an estimated over 1 million abortions in the United States per year (Worldometers Real Time World Statistics). Death is one of the reasons of why women decide to have an abortion. More reasons in modern society include fear of parents, unplanned pregnancies, and financial instability. The controversy surrounding abortion is revolved around the two opposing sides which includes pro-life, the argument that abortion should be illegal, and pro-choice, in which people argue women should have the choice of whether or not to have an abortion. People in favor of pro-life support their decision with many arguments. They state that a fetus is considered a h...
One of the most controversial issues in this day and age is the stance people take on abortion. The two main positions that people take are either of pro-choice or pro-life; both sides, although polar opposites, tend to refer to both the issue of morality and logical rationale. The pro-life side of the debate believes that abortion is an utterly immoral practice that should be abolished. On the contrary, abortion should remain a legal procedure because it is a reproductive right; its eradication would not only take away the pregnant person’s autonomy, but would also put more children in financially unstable homes and the adoption system, and would cause an increase in potentially fatal, unsafe abortions.
Abortions have always been a very controversial topic. Over the years we continue to fight for or against it. One can say that is one of the most talked and argued topic in the United States. An abortion is when a woman terminates her pregnancy before the fetus is viable using various of methods. Some argue that abortions should be illegal and considered murder, while others, from a religious point of view, say that no one has the right to take away the life of a person, in this case the fetus. However, others insist, that abortions are a basic women’s right.