Abortion Case Study

The debate concerning abortion has been controversially contested for decades, and is still discussed today. The main views differ between people who are pro-life and people who are pro-choice. In concept abortion is the premature termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of surviving. The exact time frame, in which a fetus becomes a living human being, is yet to be determined. However it is thought that the heart beats after around 16-25 days and just after 40 days the brain is fully functioning (WebMD website, 2014). Nevertheless views on this are split between individuals who argue that the baby is only a living human after conception. The total number of abortions in 2013 was 185,331. This was 0.1% more than in 2012 (185,122)

Such crimes include rape, incest or child abuse (BBC, website 2014). It can be debated that in these tragic scenarios the mental health of the mother being pregnant following these crimes can be best safe-guarded by her having an abortion. Not allowing the woman to abort a baby she did not plan for or want is seen as grave injustice. Obligating a woman to keep the child, would remind her of the crime she fell victim too, increasing her mental anguish it would also make her less attached to the child in some cases. A woman’s wellbeing including her mental and physical health is of more value than a fetus. Furthermore the fetus is seen an the aggressor of a woman`s integrity and personal life. It is seen as morally defensible to repel against an aggressor even if the means is to kill, if that is the only way to defend human and personal values. (Levay, Simon, 2009)

A hugely debated point for abortion is the social reasons a woman might chose to abort these can include, the woman decided that she cannot financially support a child and believes that bringing it into the world would result in a poor upbringing and a low quality of life (BBC, website 2014).In addition the woman feeling she couldn’t deal with the physical and emotional stress which comes with a child, the mother may feel she couldn’t cope with a child and again feels it would decrease the quality of life the child would

Examples of this could include a child being seriously physically handicapped, having a serious genital issue or suffering from serious mental defects. All of the above can be argued would damage the child’s quality of life, moreover putting a huge strain on the parents who may not both physically and financially be able to cope and give the child the correct upbringing.

In contract to the above debate, there are however many arguments against the use of abortion. (Pro-Life). The first argument which goes against the idea of abortion is from the religious perspective; there are religions which do not allow the use of abortion and even certain types of birth control. Simon (2009) sees the reasoning behind this is because the child to be is seen as a child of god, and the mother is committing a sin for terminating god’s child.

A debate surrounding the use of abortions is that all children have unlimited potential when they are born (BBC, website 2014), and terminating a pregnancy and not allowing the child to be born can be seen as not allowing the unborn child to reach its full potential and its chance of becoming a great success in society or the