Abortion
Abortion is deemed as the premature expulsion of the foetus from the
womb. Abortion is not a modern moral dilemma, contrary to what a lot
of people think. It has been an issue since Jesus' time, and before,
as even in the Old Testament times the law concerning abortion was
that if you killed an unborn child you were responsible to pay
compensation.
In modern times, Parliament has debated the subject many times and has
drawn up two main reasons as to why an abortion can legally be carried
out so long as the pregnancy hasn't reached its 24th week. 1. That
continuing the pregnancy would involve serious mental or physical risk
to the woman or her immediate family or 2. If there is a strong risk
that the baby could be born severely handicapped.
In recent years only two percent of abortions happened due to these
reasons. The other 98% was for risk of 'psychological damage' to the
mother.
The main arguments for abortion, or pro-choice arguments are that a
foetus is not truly alive- whereas there can be no argument that the
mother is- therefore is not the mother's life worth more and more
important? This is one of the main debates that surround the
controversy of abortion- when does life really begin? At conception,
during pregnancy or at birth? Because of this, each side can always
say that the foetus is or isn't alive and that you are or aren't
killing a baby through abortion. Pro-choice campaigners also say that
doctors have no better right than the mothers to deem whether and
abortion is necessary. Additionally, they say that if abortions were
made illegal, thousands of women would risk their lives in dirty
back...
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... they are physically or mentally handicapped- they can come to terms
with it- why can't we? I have noticed that all the arguments against
abortion are impersonal and are based on the idea that life doesn't
start until birth, but with medical advances a baby born as early as
24 weeks can survive in the world. So since birth is so unpredictable,
that cannot be seen as the start of life. I do think that by allowing
abortion, society is taking the easy way out and we should try for
better care for pregnant mothers who would otherwise abort.
In conclusion, I believe that abortion is wrong, and that it is
definitely a curse to society- through the trauma it causes, and the
money and the time it wastes on debates and arguments. I think we
should treat out bodies as God would want and our children, born and
unborn, likewise.
In Roe et al. v. Wade District Attorney of Dallas County (1973), one of the most controversial cases in recent history, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state laws that limit a woman's right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. Justices Rehnquist and White dissented.Mr.
Abortion is defined as the premature expulsion of a fetus so that it does not live. Abortions can happen as a result of natural occurrences, but the interest of this paper is abortion that is induced. Abortion has been the topic of heated debates in many places. Nicole Miller went through an abortion at the age of 18, now 20 and is attempting to talk about the experance that it put her through. The government has had long difficult battles over the aspects of abortion. Legal cases have set benchmarks that are somewhat vulnerable. The church has had to analyze doctrines to decide whether abortion is right or wrong. There has also been violence in the way of abortion clinic bombings, assassinations, and political protest.
Abortion is a widely arguable issue that begs the question whether a mother has the right to abort her child or if the child has the right to life. Abortion is the deliberate removal of a fetus from the womb of the mother, resulting in the death of the child. Abortions are said to be morally permissible after a certain number of months after the mother is pregnant because of the development of the embryo to have a brain. The other side of the argument is that right when the mother is pregnant, it is wrong for the mother to abort because the embryo has a right to life as soon as the mother is pregnant. This is a primary concern for anti-abortion supporters. Mary Warren takes this pro-life stance to defend the life of the fetus by not allowing abortions under any circumstance in her case, “On the Moral and legal status of Abortion”, 1973. Warren argues whether abortion is morally permissible at any stage of pregnancy and under any circumstances. Warren’s argument for her stance on abortion is stated as 1) It is wrong to kill human beings. 2) Fetuses are innocent human beings. 3) Therefore it is wrong to kill fetuses. She claims that the credit for her argument lies in the definition of the term ‘human being’. The definition of human is a member of the biological species Homo Sapien. This includes adults, children, and also fetuses that are unborn in the mother’s womb. This is the argument for why abortion is not morally permissible in any case because fetuses are innocent human beings with an inherent right to life as a biological organism. Along with a moral sense of community, human is being a member of the moral community o...
During the Clinton administration the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, a bill that would make it illegal in all of the United States for a partial-birth abortion to be performed, caused major debate throughout the House of Representatives and the Senate; recently different versions of the bill had been passed through the both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In prior years Clinton had vetoed similar bills to ban partial-birth abortions.
Abortion refers to termination of pregnancy with the consent of the mother. Therefore even when the mother herself is demanding abortion, pro-lifers maintain that termination must not be allowed because it violates basic rights of the unborn child. Pro-choice quarter on the other hand, advocates a mother’s right to health and feels that an unwanted child would only lead to numerous economic, social and emotional problems for the woman. The paper therefore addresses both sides of the issue and also briefly mentions that the role of the Supreme Court in this area.
Perhaps no contemporary issue inspires more heated debate than abortion - the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. Many have witnessed and experienced the bitterness of such a controversial debate. There are two types of people in this world. Pro - choice activists believe in the right to choose a safe, legal abortion. Pro - life activists believe that abortion is murder. Why is the debate over abortion so emotional? Some argue about the rights of the fetus (unborn child) while others argue if abortion should be legal. The debate usually strays from these basic issues. For example, pro - choice advocates try to convince their opponents women's rights are at risk. Pro - life supporters argue that the rights of the fetus are as important as those of the mother, and that abortion is murder. "Other pro - choice defenders argue that if abortion is murder, why do so many pro - life advocates fight against the most logical methods of preventing this so - called genocide - birth control and sex education?" (Reardon, 138) Another reason for the bitterness of this debate is that most pro - choice and pro - life advocates reached their conclusions about abortion very early in life, probably even earlier than they can remember. They were taught from previous generations that there was only one correct point of view. Many people have trouble seeing why others who were brought up with the opposite viewpoint cannot simply look at the "facts" and be persuaded to change their minds. Tempers flare when opponents resort to oversimplification because the issue is definitely not simple.
Does a mother have the right to take the life of her unborn child, never giving it a chance to walk this earth and fulfill its God given purpose? Or is it God’s will for that child to be taken at that time, to play an ever constant reminder to the mother of her past decisions, having God use that guilt or experience as a source to steer her life? We neither have the ability to create nor destroy life, as it is God who ultimately decides whether the person terminates that life. From a non-biblical standpoint, it is based on whether a woman finds it ethically right to terminate a pregnancy and what effect it would ultimately have on her happiness. Therefore, abortion is not philosophically incorrect. In this paper, we will discuss the cosmological argument, individual relativism, and act-utilitarianism, all as they pertain to abortion, and how natural law and ethical relativism cause opposition to these theories.
Abortion has been an issue since 1820. In the beginning the problem was more about protecting doctors who have licenses. “Regular doctors thus had an incentive to ban abortion as part of an effort to drive irregular doctors many of whom were women out of business” (Straggenborg, p.211). The AMA (American Medical Association), which was the group that the regular doctors made, started a campaign that made the people believe that the white population was getting smaller and the population of the immigrants was rising. Abortions were made illegal to insure the stability of the population of American citizens. It seems odd that the only reason that abortions were made illegal at one point was because of money issues and a lust for white supremecy. It seemed to have nothing to do with the rights of a child or a woman. One of the reasons why abortion came into question in the beginning of the 1950s was due to the fact that a lot of doctors and lawyers were seeing many cases of illegal abortions and it was becoming a large social problem. Since there was a lack of competition for legal abortions, doctors found no problem making them legal again -- “They felt that abortions were justified under certain circumstances, and they begun to see the laws against abortion as an infringement on their own medical discretion” (Straggenborg, p.212). And so the issue arose again with many pro- choice groups speaking up. Then with court cases like Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade, abortion again became legal in the United States.
Sara is driving down 7th avenue in her red pickup truck, in a hurry and traveling well over the speed limit. Becky, who is 3 months pregnant, is waiting to cross the street on the corner of 7th avenue and Bell. The street light changes and Becky is signaled by the crosswalk sign to proceed across the street. Sara is putting in a new CD and not paying attention to the fact that she has a red light, without enough time to stop Sara runs the red light and hits Becky who has just started to cross the street. Now Becky is rushed to the hospital, she is hurt but will live but her baby dies. Should Sara be charged with the death of the unborn baby?
Imagine you are the one who has issues, whether it’s drug related or mental instability, and you wind up pregnant; you may realize that you are unable to care for the child that will form inside of you, so you want to do what you think is right: abortion. Abortion is not a bad thing like many people seem to think. I believe that it is a mature decision to make if you know that you cannot care for a child. The argument is made that abortion kills the embryo inside of a woman, which is a human, and goes against a human’s right to live. I do not agree with this, though, because the embryo does not have a brain that can process things yet. An embryo is too small to count as a human in my opinion, so if the mother does not believe that she is not responsible enough for a child then she should be allowed to have an abortion.
Many people do not realize that at the moment of conception life begins, it is a medical fact, once conceived; the structure of life is beginning to take place (Medical Testimony). Whether it is a mammal, sea creature, or even insects, they all start life as humans do. Directly following conception, there is an unreplaceable genetic code made that is unique and made to thrive but is destroyed without ever getting the chance to reach full potential.
Abortion, in my opinion, has been one of the largest debataable issues in American Society. There are so many aspects and views to examine before one can even begin to form their own opinion. In order to discuss an important issue such as abortion, we must first understand what it means. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before the fetus has developed and grown enough to live outside the mother. When abortion happens naturally before the 20th week it is called a spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage. If it happens naturally after the 20th week it is termed a late fetal death or a still birth. An abortion caused by a medical procedure is called an induced abortion. Most induced abortion are performed in the first trimester or first 12 weeks after conception.