Abortion

629 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical argument on abortion

The word abortion by definition means, naturally or especially induced expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently, according to the American Century Dictionary. This is one subject that, when mentioned, completely polarizes individuals. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemma that faces many individuals to create a emotional and sometimes violent atmosphere. There are many points of view toward abortion but the only two fine distinctions are "pro-choice" and "pro-life".

A person that is pro-choice would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers and that the state has no right to interfere. A person that is pro-life would say that from the moment of conception, the fetus is alive. This life imposes on us a moral obligation to preserve it and that abortion is tantamount to murder (Kolner 5)This is important because part of our society would have to carry the guilt of terminating a human life. This would be severe and almost unbelievable for a society as educated as ours to make this big of a mistake. How could the country that leads in individual rights be so ignorant? We are America where everyone is created equal and deserves a chance to pursue happiness.

What if this fetus is not a human life, is this a question that we can really answer? These are questions that haunt our nations soul.Early in our nations history they had no means of measuring or telling if a fetus was alive in the womb. The colonies inherited English Common Law and operated under it until well into the 19th century. Abortion was illegal according to English Common Law. Abortion prior to quickening (feeling life) was a misdemeanor. Abortion after quickening was a felony.

This type of punishment was inherited from earlier ecclesiastic laws. In the early 1800s it was discovered that human life did not begin when she "felt life," but rather at fertilization. As a direct result of this, the British Parliament in 1869 passed the "Offenses Against the Persons Act," eliminating misdemeanor charge and dropping the felony punishment back to fertilization. One by one, across the middle years of the 19th century, every then present state passed its own law against abortion. By 1860, 85% of the population lived in states that had prohibited abortion with new laws.

These laws, preceding and following the British example, moved the felony punishment from quickening back to conception.

Show More
Related

  • Argumentative Essay On Abortion

    2739 Words  | 6 Pages

    Abortion refers to the termination of one’s pregnancy, resulting in the removal of one’s fetus to prevent it from being born. While the concept is simple enough, the crux of the argument lies in the morality of this procedure and whether or not a woman should be allowed to sacrifice a fetus to better her own life. Abortion must continue to be legalized in order to ensure that women have that choice.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In Huck Finn

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Run along and smouch the knives—three of them.’ So I done it” (Twain, 561). This quote is an instance of Tom Sawyer dehumanizing Huck basically by telling him he lacks the human quality of understanding. This quote is strangely familiar. It actually seems about the same as the following. “I see it warn’t no use wasting words—you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” (Twain, 373). There’s a sort of parallel here- Huck is to Tom as Jim is to Huck. It seems as though Twain did this on purpose- As if he meant for the reader to realize this parallel. The choice of using the word learn, instead of teach could just be a dialect thing, but I think otherwise. I think it was used in both instances to create the connection. Huck is dehumanizing Jim saying he doesn’t have the human quality to learn and Tom is doing the same to Huck. Due to the connection, I’d say Tom is putting Huck down twice as hard. Not only is he bad at learning and understanding, but he’s just about as good at it as a black

    Read More

  • Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance Man

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of his creations was the flying machine. He loved the idea of people soaring like birds and wanted to make that dream a reality. The designs of the flying machine is clearly inspired by the wings of animals that could fly. Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine has a wingspan of over 33 feet. The frame of the machine was made out of pine that was covered in silk. A sleek and light design that also proved to be sturdy. The way the machine worked is the pilot would lie face down on the board and he would have pedal a crank that was connected to a rod-and-pulley system. There was also a hand crank that was available. This was used for additional energy and the steering was done with a head piece. The pilot was to work the crank with both his hands and feet at the same time. Doing so would cause the wings to flap. A unique feature was the wings were designed to twist when they flapped. This design was an inspiration from nature. Besides his flying machine, he also conceived the idea for a parachute. Although credit for the first parachute doesn't formally go to Leonardo da Vinci he did create the design for it a couple hundred years before it was actually invented. He made a sketch of the idea but he never actually built and tested it for himself. Many of his inventions were never truly built and tested. Leonardo wasn’t only engrossed with the sky,

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Pro Choice Vs Pro Life

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pro-choice versus pro-life argues over the issue of what should be the right stance when dealing with the life of an unborn child. From the perspective of a person who is pro-choice, they believe that “individuals have unlimited autonomy with respect to their own reproductive systems, just as long as they don’t violate the independence of others.” Pro-choice also argues that the government should not have the right to decide whether a woman should exterminate her pregnancy or not. From their viewpoint, they believe that what should be legal in the eyes of the government is contraception use, celibacy, abstinence, and abortion for the first two trimesters of pregnancy. On the stance of pro-life, they argue that the government has a right to protect this regardless of any situation.

    Read More

  • Pro Life And Pro-Choice: The Pros And Cons Of Abortion

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance Man

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    Leonardo Da Vinci could be argued as one of the most famous persons in the Renaissance Era and one of the greatest painters to ever live. Leonardo is talented and has made many contribution throught his life. He did so many things such as painting, anatomy , mechanics, and architecture. And he is one of the reasons why the Renaissance era could be regarded at one of the greatest time periods in history.

    Read More

  • Abortion

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    For over two hundred years, abortion has been apart of the United States culture. During the 1700’s, Americans viewed abortion merely as a means of ridding women of pregnancies that resulted from illicit relationships. Birthrates in the U.S. were extremely high at the end of the eighteenth century, so consequently the Americans wanted to lower birth rates. This social trend is best cited as “induced abortions became such a popular method of fertility control that it becomes a kind of epidemic” (qtd in Omran). Abortion went from a marginal practice of the desperate few to being a significant factor in the effort of American women to regulate their own fertility. In the 1830’s the use of new contraceptive techniques became available, but for a short while, the abortion rate increases with the new introduction to contraceptives. This is due to the idea that people thought that they could have more sex, which they did, but most of the general public did not master the use of contraceptives, so many “mistakes” occurred. Even when contraceptives were used correctly, the quality of contraceptive devices was not very good. After contraception devices became more mainstream, the abortion rate lowered(Sachdev 150-151).

    Read More

  • Exploring Abortion: The Great Contention in Contemporary Politics

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    ”The pro-life movement seeks to force their moral beliefs on others - grounded in their own religion or personal philosophy. The pro-choice movement doesn 't make claims on the morality of abortion - we leave that as an individual choice for every woman faced with an unwanted pregnancy. If they feel abortion is wrong and they want to give their child up for adoption, or keep it, we will support their decision. Pro-life people say "Abortion is wrong;" we only say

    Read More

  • Contraception Coverage

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Contraception, contragestion, (preventing the fertilized egg from implantation - morning-after-pill) and the chemical or surgical induction of abortion are all types of birth control routes to prevent or end pregnancy (“What”). Contraception is the devices, drugs, agents, sexual practices, or surgical procedures to prevent a pregnancy. Contraception tends to help a women decide if and when she would want to have a baby (“What”). There are around 17 different types of birth control methods. According to the article from Oxford there are three main categories of contraception. They are the barrier methods, intrauterine, and the hormonal methods (“Contraception”). They vary from a pill, patch, shot, an implant and a condom to name a few. The most common type of contraception for women is the birth control pill. This pill includes estrogen and progestin to stop the release of the egg and thin the lining of the uterus. If the contraception device is used correctly, only about 3 in every 1,000 women will beco...

    Read More

  • Abortion

    3810 Words  | 8 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Abortion Opinion Essay

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abortion by definition means the way of ending pregnancy by removing fetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently. Abortion is an extremely debatable issue because while some people are completely against it, others believe that a woman should have the right to choose. Abortion decision is like killing own child or killing an innocent human life before coming out from uterus. I will explain how a human life is being destroyed, the process in which they destroy the fetus, and how to avoid this situation all together I believe that abortion is morally impermissible.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Abortion

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Mifeprestone RU-486: The Abortion Pill

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Being pro-choice advocates a womans right to control her own body, especially her right to an induced abortion (The Free Dictionary). Every person has the right to do what they wish to their own bodies. Before taking the pill, the patient must sign a patient agreement; agreeing that they have been informed of all risks, side effects, emergency contact information, instructions, and promising to return for the second and third follow-up visits. Since the patient has read and signed the patient agreement, they’re aware of what they’re doing to themselves. Different women have different reasons as to why they want an abortion. Having an abortion, either the medical or surgical way, a woman has the rights to do ...

    Read More

  • Abortion Is Morally Permissible

    2044 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Contributions Of Leonardo Da Vinci And The Renaissance Man

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    He influenced many aspects of the Renaissance such as science and culture, but he is most known for his contributions to art during this time. The work of Leonardo da Vinci was always very precise and keen to details. The chapter “Innovations and Explorations,” of the book Western Civilizations accurately explains the artist's techniques when he was working to forge his many works. For example, in Leonardo’s early adulthood, he was hired in Florence to work for the Medici family as an artist. His work was brilliant, but his timing was lacking. Cole and Symes state, “Leonardo had a weakness: he worked slowly, and he had difficulty finishing anything” (Cole and Symes, 320). Due to this, many of da Vinci’s works began to deteriorate before he could even finish them. Though this may often be seen as a negative quality of da Vinci’s work, his dedication to light and perspective in his paintings changed the way artists painted. He inspired many other artists of his time to use these same techniques in their artwork. The use of perspective and lighting is evident in all of da Vinci’s paintings such as The Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. If Leonardo would have worked more swiftly, he would have never made such a great contribution to the way artists worked then and even still

    Read More

More about Abortion

Open Document