Should abortion be legal? This debate is a strong issue in the U.S. Many people are for it, and many are against it. However, it seems people have extreme viewpoints on the issue. It is either all or nothing. The moderate position on abortion is it should be legal only under certain circumstances. According to the essay "Three positions on abortion" by Thomas Shannon and Nicholas Kockler, the moderate position would limit a consideration on the health of the fetus, risks to the life of mother, rape and incest. It also considered as moral position, or a compromise between the pro-choice movement and pro-life movement. The moderate position accepts both of the pro-choice and pro-life. In Shannon and Kocklers' essay says "This position sees both the fetus and the woman as having rights and entitlements and recognizes that attempts to resolve such conflicts of rights will entail suffering and pain"(82). This means the fetus has a right to life and the mother has a right to absolute control over her body.
I personally disagree with the moderate position on abortion, because the whole discussion is academic. Neither of the two groups is looking for compromise. Otherwise, either legalize abortion or illegalize it. The moderate position accepts the pro-life movement based on the right of the fetus to life. It argues that the fetus is not part of the body of the woman who is carrying it. According to Dr. Zahalsky " a developing embryo from the moment of conception is a genetically distinct entity and is not part of the body of the woman who is carrying it. It is easy to prove that an embryo is genetically distinct from the biologic mother. It is also easy to prove that the embryo itself is not “par...
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...the woman's right to make a decision on her own body. This is the fundamental issue of this debate. Although some pro-life argue that the fetus also has a right to life, I mentioned earlier that abortion is a process to remove the fetus from the mother, not to kill the fetus to terminate the pregnancy. Once the fetus has removed form the mother, he/she is an entity life. The fetus's right is based on him/herself, but not the mother. The mother could have both mental and physical harms to give a birth under some circumstances, such as rape, incest or health related problems. I also explained that the mother has more obligations to her family and society than the value of the fetus. If the mother dies during the birth of baby, then the loss is more than the value of the new life. Form the consequential view, it is not worth that sacrifice the mother to save the fetus.
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
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
The conservative argument asserts that every person has a right to life. The foetus has a right to life. No doubt the mother has a right to decide what happens in and to her body. But surely a person’s right to life is stronger than the mother’s right to decide what shall happen to her body, and so outweigh it. So the foetus may not be killed and an abortion may not be performed (Thomson, 1971)
Opinions, views and emotions run high and passion is their fuel. Pro-Choice activists declare it is a woman’s right to choose what she does with her own body. The biology versus medical definitions proclaim that an embryo is not yet a human life; as conception begins two to three weeks after implantation occurs, a heartbeat is heard, and a the embryo can sustain life outside of the womb. The laws vary from state to state and in our home state of Texas political parties clash so hard the state shakes with a jolt felt across the country. Arguments weigh in from all over the globe against abortion and none more prevalent that of churches all over the world. For Pro-Life activists, there is no middle ground; human life begins at the moment of conception.
The idea of whether abortion should be illegal or allowed is a controversial one since everyone seems to have different ideologies. Judith Thomson, who is in support of pro-choice argues in her article “A Defense of Abortion” main idea towards abortion is stating women should have the right to choose because they have the moral right to decide whether they have to hold life in their body. This idea is presented from her first analogy using the violinist who has a failing kidney and will perish if he does not have someone give him blood immediately. They take you without your permission and plug you into him. She connects this to the idea of the fetus by saying everyone has the right to life and if the fetus is considered a person then it would be wrong to kill an innocent human being, but then says that if the child is harming you then you should not wait until you are dead, he body is the home of the women so she should be allowed to defend herself against
The reelection of President George W. Bush holds potentially significant consequences for women's rights, particularly a women's right to choose. Abortion, a hot button topic of main stream society, was first made legal in the United States with the Supreme Court's landmark case of Roe v. Wade in late 1973. The Court's current configuration favors abortion and a woman's right to choose by a five-to-four vote. But many political and Court analysts believe that these next four years will give President Bush the opportunity to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court, a President and administration that Senator Hillary Clinton says, view "Roe v. Wade [as] the biggest abomination of The Constitution in our history ." A champion of the pro-life cause, President Bush will most likely fill any open spots on the Supreme Court with conservative justices holding an anti-abortion stance, thus putting Roe v. Wade at risk of being overturned and giving individual states control over abortion laws. These next four years could very well be a turning point for women's right in America. Although pro-life groups see abortion as a murder, it is my conviction that abortion rights should be preserved because it is a woman's right to have self-governance of her own body, life begins at birth not conception, and it protects the health of the mother or fetus giving the child the opportunity to live a fulfilling life.
...ther’s sovereignty over her body outweigh the right of an unborn child to live. The answers to these questions are very diverse as a result of the diversity of the American society. With the issue of abortion, one’s attitude toward it is going to be based on many things such as religious background and personal morals. There is no black and white answer to the abortion issue. Luckily we live in a country where we are able to decide for ourselves whether something is morally right or wrong. Thus, ultimately, the choice is ours. As with the many other ethical issues which we are faced with in our society, it is hard to come to a concrete answer until we are personally faced with that issue. All we can do is make an effort to know all of the aspects which are involved so that we may be able to make a sound decision if we were faced with this problem in our own lives.
One of the most debatable topics even in today’s society is the right to abortion. Some people believe that life starts at conception and that even an unborn child deserves the same legal protections as an adult. Pro-life advocates argue that ending its life is similar to murder (POLS210, n.d.). Mean while, others also known as Pro-Choice believe it begins at birth and that with laws that restrict abortion it gets in the way with the right of a woman to make a decision of what is in her own best interest (U.S. History, n.d.).
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.
According to Judith Thomson in her book “A Defense of Abortion”, a human embryo is a person who has a right to life. But, just because the human fetus has the right to life does not mean that the mother will be forced to carry it (Thomson, 48). Naturally, abortion may be seen as the deliberate termination of a pregnancy before the fetal viability. Though people have understood this, the topic of abortion has remained a controversial issue in the world. Individuals are divided into “Pro-choice” and “Pro-life” debaters depending on their opinion on the morality of the action. "Pro-life," the non-consequentialist side, is the belief that abortion is wrong, generally because it equates to killing. "Pro-choice," the consequentialist view, however,
found that almost fifty per cent of all women will have an abortion by the time they reach
There are many different views of abortion. The Libertarian view states that a fetus is not a human until it is socially responsive after birth. A person with a conservative view believes that abortion is justified if the mother’s life is in danger. The potentiality view says abortion should not be allowed because the unborn fetus is an “it” because it is not a person, therefore abortion should be allowed. The evolving value view says that the moral standing evolves toward the end. A person with the moderate view says that abortion is based on circumstances, such as rape. A person with the ensoulment view believes abortion is wrong because it goes against their religious views.
The people that are opposed with abortion are called “pro-life” the ones who are in favor of it are called “anti-life”. A counter-argument is that people who support abortion claim that it's a woman's body and she has the right to do anything with her body. ( rebuttal ) Pro-life say it's murder to the child but there are the moderate views. These people believe that abortion can be justified, but they’re some ethical concerns like the status of the fetus, the right of a woman and her fetus and even if restricting abortion will minimize the loss of the baby's life. Anti-life believe that life begins the moment an egg is fertilized by a sperm, also that this form of life has the same rights like a person. On the contrary, moderate people claim that the embryo or the fetus is not considered a person until time of birth said by Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection . These two claims controverse each other since we don’t know when an embryo or fetus should be considered a life or not since each side has their points. The only reason why abortion was allowed in the past was because it could kill the mother thus an abortion would happen. In the 1800’s, abortion would also happen if a women was raped or incest which gave a good point to get an abortion. There is still another ethical issue of when a woman has the right to choose what she does with her body and the fetus right to continue to
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.
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.