Abortion as Murder or a Woman's Right
Abortion; is it murder or a woman’s right? Is an embryo a life or is it just a glob of tissue? When does an embryo become a valuable human life? Is it when conception takes place or when it gains human appearance? Is it when it feels its mothers touch and receives her love? Is it not a human until it can survive on its own outside of the womb? These are a lot of questions that are asked when the topic of abortion arises. Some believe that it is a women’s choice to deal with her body as she wishes; others believe that it is simply murder. Some have an opinion that may change at one point or another in life. And then there are others that have an opinion and will die with that same opinion. Whatever your beliefs or opinions may be, I hope that would understand both sides of this subject.
Three out of ten pregnancies end in abortion. This equals one and a half million babies per year. There are many reasons why a woman would choose to abort her unborn baby. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute Study, the one that is heard most often is convenience, at 76%. Other reasons include the following: fear of poverty, avoiding single parenthood, not ready for responsibility, wanting to hide sexual activity, too young, no desire for more children, fetus has health problems, father of the fetus has no desire for the child, the woman, herself, has health problems, or the fetus is a product of rape/ incest. According to this study, only 13% of all abortions are directly related to health concerns for the fetus; of these, only 8% were told by a physician that the fetus would indeed have health problems, the rest feared the fetus would have health problems due to their own alcohol/ drug use. The other 87% are merely for the woman’s convenience.
First and foremost conception must take place. One sperm and one egg meet to produce an embryo, each containing twenty-three chromosomes, which combine to make forty-six. Although the chromosomes come from the embryo parents, when joined together, they make a new “unique” human being.
Abortion should be a restricted medical procedure, suggests Donald Marquis, Journal of Medical Ethics.
He concluded three out of every four women said the reason for an abortion was because a child would get in the way of education or professional goals. Seventy-three out of one hundred women said the reason for an abortion was because they were financially unstable, and nearly one out of every two said it was because they did not want to be a single parent, or because she was having problems with her spouse. One out of every three said they were not ready to have a child. Younger women sought abortion because they are just starting their life and they are not prepared to transition to motherhood, while older women did not have the time to be responsible for their upcoming child (Finer 110).
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
The most common conflicts that cause a woman to get an abortion are based on their own personal responsibilities. Sixteen percent of women, who get abortions, believe that their life would be changed too much to acquire a child. Twenty-one percent of expectant mothers feel that they are not ready for the responsibility to care for an adolescent. Few as twelve percent have complications with relationships or are unmarried. One perecent have been raped and/or incested. Twenty-one percent have financial disputes. Eight percent currently bare children and have all they wish for. Three percent have discovered that the baby in the womb has health issues. Four perecent of the abortions are other reasons. Lastly, the abortion pill used to minimize the fetus, does not work, therefore the woman receives an
Twenty-one percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion (“Induced ABortion in the United States). Abortion is murdering defenseless babies who would‘ve otherwise had a happy life with a couple that is unable to have their own child. Is killing an innocent person ever moral?
Three Works Cited Many people believe abortion is only a moral issue, but it is also a constitutional issue. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. This right is guaranteed by the ninth amendment, which contains the right to privacy. The ninth amendment states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This right guarantees the right to women, if they so choose, to have an abortion, up to the end of the first trimester.
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
Discussing the topic of abortion brings in many different views of the situation; others argue that mothers should indeed be able to have abortions while others argue that they shouldn’t. By definition; abortion is a medical procedure that causes the fetus to die. Now you tell me, do you think that killing an innocent child is something you really want to do? Life is about making choices and at times, those choices will be hard to make but in this situation, killing an unborn child is extremely
According to a chart in book 2, 76%of women get abortions because of life-style concerns. Other reasons are ?Can?t afford baby now?, ?Problems in relationship?, ?Unready for responsibility?, ?Embarrassed about sex?, ?Not mature enough?, ?Enough children all ready?, ?Partner wants it?, ?Health of fetus?, ?Health of woman?, ?Parents want it?, and ?Rape or incest?. These are reason that women get an abortion or abortions.
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.”
With so many women choosing to have abortions, it would be expected that it would not be so greatly frowned up, yet society is still having problems with its acceptance. Every woman has the fundamental right to decide for herself, free from government interference, whether or not to have an abortion. Today, more than ever, American families do not want the government to trample on their right to privacy by mandating how they must decide on the most intimate, personal matters. That is why, even though Americans may differ on what circumstances for terminating a crisis pregnancy are consistent with their own personal moral views, on the fundamental question of who should make this personal decision, the majority of Americans agree that each woman must have the right to make this private choice for herself. Anti-choice proposals to ban abortions for “sex-selection” or “birth-control” are smokescreens designed to shift the focus of the debate away from this issue and trivialize the seriousness with which millions of women make this highly personal decision. Any government restriction on the reasons for which women may obtain legal abortions violates the core of this right and could force all women to publicly justify their reasons for seeking abortion.
The merger of two germinal cells, one being a sperm cell and the other being an egg cell, is complete within twelve hours, at which time the egg is fertilized and becomes a zygote containing forty six chromosomes required to create a new human life. It is during this remarkable process when conception occurs. Conception confirms life and makes that undeveloped human one of a kind (Rorvik & Shettles, 1983, p. 16). Many researchers, as well as scientists, identify the first moments of life as the instant when a sperm cell unites with an ovum, o...
A male makes one thousand new sperm per second, that is two trillion over a lifetime and they all are one of a kind, very unique. A woman has all her eggs from birth. The process starts out as meiosis, this is where 30,000 genes are then there are forty six chromosomes. Twenty three comes from your mother and twenty three come from your father, they only come together in meiosis in pairs, but they are not the same. Chromosomes make an exact copy of themselves then they condense making an X shape, chromosomes get a partner then embrace. The chromosomes cling close together in big chunks, the cell then divides pulling the pair apart with twenty three chromosomes. The cell alone is incomplete, but holds many promises. Every cell holds di...
Abortion has been one of the most talked about topics in society just about anywhere from television, magazines, whether or not it should be the right or wrong thing to do. Abortion is a very sensitive issue to discuss, because of its nature. Many people have said that abortion is a very bad thing to do and it should not even be choice whether or not to abort a living fetus. People think that abortion is committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. However, others feel that a woman should have a voice and have the right to choose to keep the child or not and that it is not murder until the baby is born. Majority of individuals who believe that abortion is bad say that the fetus is human who is partly being formed and to have an abortion is considered to be murder. For the people who think an abortion is ok, say that it’s not considered murder unless the child is born. I believe that abortion should be seen in which the stage the fetus is in. if the fetus is in an early stage of pregnancy it is not considered murder, but if the fetus has already began to develop into a larger fetus then it is indeed considered to be murder. There are times when abortion can be accepted, if the mother is having complications due to pregnancy. For example if the mother is enduring complications in her pregnancy that can harm her, because of the child in that case it is ok to perform an abortion to help save the mother’s life. It is also very important to understand this type of situation. The mother has the right to have an abortion and it is her decision because a mother knows best about her health conditions.
The majority of women choose to have an abortion because it is a last resort, and not just some form of extreme contraception. Getting contraception in many states is very restricted, in some instance, the only way to get proper contraception, away from condoms, a female require a doctor’s prescription, (Guttmacher Institute). In most cases, pregnancy among American women or women in general is unintended.
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.