Term Paper on "All Sides and Issues of Abortion"

Term Paper 7 pages (3243 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Abortion

The topic of abortion is one of the most controversial and one of the most emotional dilemmas confronted by modern societies. The concept of abortion refers to terminating pregnancy which is intentional with an objective other than to give birth to a live born infant or to remove a dead fetus. (Definitions and associated Formulas) The common public often considers abortion as any non-natural mode to bring about the loss of a pregnancy. The physicians and clinicians indicate such kind of abortion to the 'therapeutic abortion' or 'elective abortion'. Physicians also indicate miscarriages as 'threatened' 'spontaneous' or 'incomplete' abortions. (Abortion: Definition) The issue that matters most is whether it is ethical to allow the termination of a child while it is inside the womb of the mother. There are debates as to at what stage that the fetus in the womb is to be considered as a child. The conflict arises between the view points of strict religious which is called pro-life - that considered abortion is never to be allowed and that of pro-choice that stress upon the mother's discretion to opt as the fundamental concern. (Devanny, 2000)

Thesis Statement: I shall argue that it should be the woman's right to choose on whether or not she shall have an abortion.

Women should not have the right to choose

As per the supporters of the pro-life argument, abortion is ethically not right. Women resort to abortions for their own purposes or according to their likes. They consider that women who opt for abortion should realize that they are killing an unborn child. They think, that human-liberties should be duly regarded, but it is never the fact that the person is in right to make a decision with no regard to the rights and wishes of others. They advocate that all other liberties, inclusive of the right of the mothers to choose, definitely come out from a prior right to life; if you have no right to any life, then what is the way in which one ought to exercise a right to an autonomous one. The woman may normally have a rational right to regulate her own body, but this does not bestow on her the entirely isolated right to make a decision about whether another human being should live or die. (Devanny, 2000)

According to pro-life supporters, abortion is considered to be wrong since it involves murder of a human life. Human life starts at conception. The fetus really cannot be considered an inherent part of the mother, but it is an isolated and different human being. Hence, abortion is equivalent to homicide of a person. With the development of the central nervous system, the baby is able to experience intense pain at the time it is aborted. Abortion is similar to mass murder- genocide - which is another Nazi Holocaust. Six million abortions are equal to the six million Jews being killed; a life is always considered to be a life. In Nazi Germany all the killings were initiated with abortion. Sexual right was the matter of concern, and it is necessary to be acknowledged as to where it led. (Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro & Con)

Moreover, pro-life supporters advocate that since unborn children cannot express their right to life; their lives are quite defenseless and therefore must be safeguarded. They advocate that it is indisputable that the fetus, at whatever stage of development, will inexorably develop the traits to which one indicates. The unborn child is expected to have every capability and every opportunity that a mother has, when sufficient facility is being provided. While these are of varying situations and such medical exigencies are awful, it is in no manner common that abortion is to be conducted. The mother against the child dilemma is one that challenges the available way out, and aborting to preserve one of the lives begins a dangerous model that it is tolerable to kill a person so as to save another. This is considered as a transparent and revolting incident of treating a human being as a means to an end. When an awful crime has been perpetrated, the unborn child cannot be said to be at fault. Depriving some one of life, as a result of the situations of their conception is as unjust an incident that is unimaginable. (Devanny, 2000)

The right of the unborn to live outweighs any right of a woman to regulate her own body. Abortion should, therefore, cannot be allowed even for rape since it is not right to punish a child for the fault of the father. Moreover, pregnancy seldom occurs from rape. Women can receive instant medical care to avoid pregnancy. Like adoption, there are alternatives to abortion and in such cases, abortion is never regarded as the best remedy and also not ethical to be so. There is an absence of adoptable babies as a result of the legalization of the abortion and many willing parents are made to wait for babies. Further many women succumb to death from legal more than ever when they had illegal abortion. Abortion is not considered medically safer as that of natural pregnancy. Abortion largely gave rise to incidences of miscarriage for future pregnancies. Most of the unwanted pregnancies may convert into wanted children in future. Women commit great blunders resorting to abortions and they have to be repentant for it later. Ultimately, the Pro-life is pro-family. Pro-abortionists are considered to be anti-family by them, as the abortion condemns the American family. The legalized abortion is the symbol of the moral degeneration that is devastating America. It is therefore, highly essential to enact laws to forbid this trend. Thus pro-life supporters advocate that abortion should not be legal in the U.S. And it must be condemned and the right to life must be safeguarded. (Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro & Con)

Women should have the right to choose:

do not agree to the above arguments put forth by the pro-life supporters and advocate strongly that women have enough right to choose whether to abort or not. The right of choosing implies regarding and safeguarding the right of every woman to make private, personal selections with respect to pregnancy, child rearing and abortion. (Abortion: It's every Woman's Right to Choose) The conclusion whether or not to adopt abortion is one of the most problematic and complicated decisions a woman will ever resort to. It is not which decision she makes, but instead that she is free to make the decision that is right for her. It is up to the woman to conclude how she should make that decision, not the government. (Choice: Defending a Fundamental American Freedom) Thus women are required to have enough rights over their own bodies, the choice they have to bear the child during pregnancy or give birth to child. (Devanny, 2000)

To plead to the right to life of the child is cyclical-as to whether a fetus has right or not, or can actually be known as a 'child', is exactly what is at concern. It is agreeable to everyone that children have also rights and should not be killed. However, no body thinks the fetuses of two to even twenty weeks as children. (Devanny, 2000) The stage of the embryo in the initial trimester is the basic concern that cannot be set aside. The embryo is really pre-human; only the mystical conceptions of religious dogmas consider this clump of cells to be the constituents of person. The potentiality and actuality should not be confused. An embryo is only a prospective human being. It is in the process of development into an infant provided the women choose for it. However, what it in reality is during the initial trimester is only a cluster of comparatively undifferentiated cells that prevails as a part of the body of woman. If we think a while as to what it is instead of what it will become, we must recognize that the embryo below three months is something far more primordial than a frog or a fish. It is absurd to think of it as an infant. (Peikoff, 2003)

If we are required to agree to the equation of the prospective with the real and consider the embryo as an 'unborn child' with the same analogy we could conveniently call any adult an 'undead corpse' and bury him when he is alive or vivisect him for teaching medical students. That minute development, a simple mass of protoplasm, prevails as a portion of the body of woman. It is not an isolated existence, biologically formed organism, and let alone person. That which is considered to live within another human beings body should not have any right to claim against its host. The right has been bestowed only to the individuals and not to combination or parts of an individual. 'Independent' does not imply self-supporting - a child who relies on its parents for food, shelter, and clothing have right since it is a… READ MORE

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