A Modern Controversy: Abortion Is Immoral

In 1971 Jane Roe attempted to have an abortion, but was opposed by Henry Wade, the District Attorney of Dallas who was determined to enforce the Texas law that made abortion, unless medically necessary, illegal. The conflict only grew in strength and publicity until it landed at the Supreme Court in the now legendary case of Roe v. Wade. When the legal battle was over, women were granted the right to abortion in the second trimester, a right that continues to cause conflict 40 years later. The case ran from 1971-1973 and it got a heated debate started across the United States.

A Texas law that made abortion a crime except when in the case of saving the mothers life was overruled by the United States Supreme Court on January 22, 1973 . In 1970, abortion was illegal for women who live in many of the states of the U.S. until a woman by the name of Norma McCorvey also known as Jane Roe decided it was time to make a change. McCorvey

There are many common pregnancy alternatives, but most often the resulting decision is abortion because it is effortless. Abortion is endings a women’s pregnancy by removing or forcing a fetus or embryo from the mother’s womb before it is able to survive on its own. Not all abortions are purposely done some are spontaneous like when a women that has a miscarriage. Rather abortion is done purposely or naturally it is a worldwide complication as to it being wrong or right. Abortion is an ethical issue that will be analyzed according to a personal worldview and Christian worldview. Ethical thinking will be examined by value-based decisions that address abortion from the perspective of a Christian worldview and comparing it to a personal assumption by addressing ethical dilemma, core beliefs, resolution, evaluation, and comparison.

An ethical dilemma is a debate between two moral principles, where two sides can dispute about what is wrong or what is right. However, there is no real answer to an ethical dilemma. Is it a “simple” matter of what one believes in? The best answer would be, in ethics, it is not always simple. Ethics have a propensity to engage in moral reasoning, performing critical examination of different beliefs, in order to determine whether they should be accepted or rejected. Abortion is considered an ethical dilemma. It is examined by two different groups, which have two different perspectives; Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice.

In this essay, the morality of the abortion of a fetus will be discussed in a drama involving a married couple named Deb and Derek (Smolkin, Bourgeois & Findler, 2010). For clarification purposes, we must first define the topic of this discussion; abortion is defined as the act in which a female voluntarily terminates her pregnancy where this act is legally permitted (Warren, 1973). Deb who is 16 weeks pregnant discovers that the fetus she is carrying will most likely be born mentally challenged (Smolkin et al., 2010). As the drama unfolds, the couple ponders the negative impact this child will have on their business, marriage as well as the quality of life that their child will experience if it is carried to term (Smolkin

The purpose of this essay is to set out an argument that abortion is wrong. Some claim that only in “rare” instances, such as rape or within a few days of contraception, abortion is acceptable. I will agree that there are certain circumstances that abortion is more “acceptable” than other times, albeit however few and far between these instances arise. Instances that make abortion more “okay” are rape, and once it is discovered that the mother's life is in danger if she were to carry the baby the full term of the pregnancy. The basis for my argument comes from reading two opposing essays on abortion , in regards to whether it is “right” or wrong, “A defense of Abortion” by Judith

Abortion and the morality of it has been a hot topic for years in the United States although it has been carried out for centuries in different cultures. Abortion is a medical procedure deliberately terminating a pregnancy. Abortions usually happen within the first 28 weeks of pregnancy and are considered an outpatient procedure. The first abortion laws were passed by Britain in 1803 and by 1880 most abortions in the U.S. were illegal, except for those that were performed to save the life of a woman. This exception to the rule gives insight into the battle that exists today and the ethical debate of abortion.

An 18 year old girl gets pregnant and can’t decide whether to keep the baby or have an abortion. Her parents are very religious and do not believe in sex before marriage therefore would not take to kindly to their daughter being pregnant.

The reason I would define the term human this way is as follows. If you have two groups of objects which are similar but separate you define these two groups by the defining characteristics. Take for example mammals and birds both are warm-blooded some of each can fly. All birds lay eggs and one species of mammal does as well. A defining characteristic though is that every mammal has hair and no bird does. The same thing goes the other way, every bird has feathers no mammal does. What characteristic then separates humans from non-human animals? The characteristic that makes sense to me and that has moral significance is clearly our ability to love, to put the needs of others before ourselves, and do it regardless of the personnel cost. Without this ability we would not even be having a debate on the morality of abortion. Thus I am arguing that the human ability to love and have a moral compass is what gives us our inherent value.

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before birth, resulting in, or accompanied by the death of the fetus. ("Abortion," Encarta 98). In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, dramatically changed the legal landscape of American abortion law. The result of the ruling required abortion to be legal for any woman; regardless of her age and for any reason during the first seven months of pregnancy, and for almost any reason after that. ("Status of Abortion in America"). In the Roe v. Wade case, Roe (Norma McCorvey), had claimed she was gang raped and attempted to have an abortion in Texas. ("Roe and Doe"). After hearing the case, the Supreme Court ruled that an American’s right to privacy included the right of a woman whether or not to have children, and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state interference, at least in the first trimester of pregnancy. ("Celebrating 25 Years of Reproductive Choice"). The moral issue of abortion—whether or not it is murder—has been debated since it was legalized in 1973. Roe v. Wade has been one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century. ("Roe No More"). More than two decades since the Supreme Court first upheld a woman’s right to abortion, the debate over the morality and legality of induced abortion continues in the United States. ("Abortion," Encarta 98). Abortion is one of the most divisive and emotional issues facing United States policy makers today. ("Economics of

The issue of abortion is very ambiguous. It doesn't just have a demographic meaning, but it has both political and social significance, and the most important are has an ethical aspect to it. Despite that this issue is “as old as Earth” it’s still very accurate nowadays and the topic of many debates. This is explained by the fact that the issue touches many levels: moral, socio-political, religious and scientific. There are 1.1 million U.S. abortions each year, this means that nearly 1 out of 4 (22%) of pregnancies end in abortion.

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before the embryo or fetus is able to live outside the uterus. In complete abortion, the tissues surrounding the embryo or fetus are also expelled. For most of the 20th century, abortion was illegal in the United States. In the 1960's, some states began to allow abortions to be performed under various circumstances. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roe v. Wade that the right of privacy covered a woman's right to end an unwanted pregnancy in its first trimester. Jane Roe, a 21-year-old pregnant woman, represented all women who wanted abortions but could not get them legally and safely. Henry Wade was the Texas Attorney General who defended the law that made abortions illegal. The states govern

Abortion has always been a controversial topic in the United States for decades. Abortion is like taking the life of someone without their permission so it is technically “murder”. There is no such thing as an unwanted child, millions of families in the United States are always willing to adopt. On the other hand, there are circumstances where a woman can barely care and sustain herself so chances are that she will not be able to take care of her child. Or when a rape occurs, having an abortion is not as bad as when a woman has sex without protection and knows she has the chance to get pregnant.

Our society is filled with numerous ethical dilemmas. We are consistently bombarded with ethical issues daily. At times, these ethical dilemmas are virtually impossible to unravel. I believe the topic of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial issues in today’s society. It is also the one people are most passionate about as it continues to be scrutinized by two groups, holding fast to different perspectives; Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice.

One of the most frequently debated topics in bioethics is the morality of abortion, or the ending of a pregnancy without physically giving birth to an infant. Often times abortions are categorized into either spontaneous, a natural miscarriage; induced or intentional, which is premeditated and for any reason; or therapeutic, which albeit intentional, its sole purpose is to save the mother’s life. It seems however that moral conflicts on issue mainly arise when discussing induced abortions. In general, people universally agree it is morally wrong to kill an innocent person and in some people’s eyes induced abortions are the intentional killings of innocent persons, thus making them immoral. However not all individuals view fetuses as persons and consequentially argue it is not morally wrong to kill them.