Abortion - Is It Moral or Immoral

The acceptance and practice of abortions has greatly increased in America, with nearly 53 million legal abortions being performed from 1973 to 2011. To put this into perspective, that’s nearly 77 times the number of homicides and nonnegligent manslaughters from 1972 to 2007. ("Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics”). As of abortion rates in 2008, three in ten American women will have an abortion before the age of 45 (“Abortion ProCon.org”). Abortion has especially grown in acceptance among the younger generation, with 75% of women who have abortions being under the age of 30. Another shocking fact about abortion is that 9.3% of women who had abortions in 2011 had already had three or more abortions previously. In fact, a child is killed by an abortion in America every 26 seconds (“Online For Life”). While abortions can be dangerous for the mother, the mortality rate is only about 0.6 out of 100,000, which is about fourteen times smaller than the mortality rate of childbirth. So what do activists have to say about abortion?

Joe Silk, an Oklahoma State Senator, has made plans to introduce a new bill that will likely stir up quite a bit of controversy. The goal of the bill, named Senate Bill 1118, is to classify an abortion as first degree murder. The bill states that no woman should perform or attempt to perform an abortion after conception. The bill then goes on to define abortion, which it classifies as being prescribed an instrument, medicine, or any other substance that is to be used to purposefully kill an unborn child.

Many opponents argue that life begins at the moment of fertilization. They believe that embryos have the potential to become humans, and to use them in research is killing an unborn child. On the other hand, there are numerous people who are unsure as to what state of development constitutes life. They believe that since these embryos would be destroyed eventually and because they have the potential to save millions of lives, embryonic

"Not a person" is a decidedly unscientific argument: it has nothing to do with science and everything to do with someone's own moral or political philosophy, though that someone may not readily admit it. Here is a good time to recite the scientific proofs, and maybe make a philosophical point of your own: We're either persons or property; and even the staunchest abortion defender will be reluctant to call a human child a piece of property.The "classic" arguments from the other side are collapsing under the weight of science. "No one knows when life begins" and "It's a blob of tissue" are frankly on the wane, especially in the context of surgical abortion, which is how the vast majority of abortions are done today. Many say that life begins as soon as conception occurs. At that time though there is just a egg and a sperm, the fetus is nowhere near fully developed and is a zygote. By contrast, while a mere collection of human cells may carry on the activities of cellular life, it will not exhibit coordinated interactions directed towards a higher level of organization. Thus, the scientific evidence is quite plain: at the moment of fusion of human sperm and egg, a new entity comes into existence which is distinctly human, alive, and an individual organism - a living, and fully human, being. Others may suggest "humanness" depends on something

Speaking of life, much debate occurred over whether or not an embryo should be considered a human. Patrick Lee, and Robert P. George, two of these individuals, Lee, a professor, and George, a politician, have often collaborated on many articles about stem cell research, and have gone on record by agreeing that embryos are in fact human from conception(33-41). The two argue that, from conception, an embryo immediately strives toward purposeful development. They then go into the science behind this claim. For our purposes, we won’t go into the science behind said development, because there is too much information

•I believe a embryo is one of us as it has a heart beat and is apart of the women who carries it.

For centuries, philosophers, scientists, and theologians have argued the subject, and currently are still not in agreement in regards to which phase of fetal development should be associated with the right to life. Most, if not all, are in agreement that adult humans possess the right to life. Those who are pro-choice believe that the right to life is not secured by an egg fertilized through conception. Evidently, the right to life is obtained somewhere between conception and adulthood. The obvious question though, is when is this right acquired; when does a fetus become a person?

Concrete detail It is most commonly believed that life begins at conception and therefore that embryo should have full human rights and or the status of a human being.

Adversaries of research on embryonic cells, including numerous religious and hostile to fetus removal bunches, fight that developing lives are people with similar rights, and along these lines qualified for similar insurances against mishandle, as any other individual. They trust life begins now of origination, when a sperm prepares an egg, since an unmistakable life form has appeared. Therefore, the demolition of a developing life is the decimation of a human life.

Nevertheless some websites like clearlyexplained.com have made statements “that a human embryo only becomes a human being after fourteen days or implantation in the womb (3).” The Ramsey Colloquium, a group of theologians, philosophers and scholars had this to say about embryo research,

It is imperative that the definition of an embryo be understood. An embryo is defined to be the multicellular diploid eukaryote developed, after approximately 24 hours, from the zygote that formed at fertilization until approximately two months later when cells begin differentiating and the embryo is then called a fetus. When the sperm fertilizes the egg, in the process of fertilization, a zygote is formed and takes approximately 24 hours to develop into the multicellular mass called the embryo; from there the embryo grows and differentiates to later become the fetus (Chung). This raises the question when is a human a human? Many argue that a human is defined to be a being with higher cognitive functions and the ability to sustain life; however the traditional Lutheran view debated is that human life begins at the moment of

Is abortion ethical? There are certain situations where it could be, such as not being able to carry the baby to term due to health concerns, emotional, personal concerns, and financial stability. However, there are certainly many situations where abortion is not ethical due to immature and careless reason between to sexual partners having sex. I believe Abortion can be ethical depending on the circumstances one is in.

The question of abortion has always considered as matter of freedom of choice for individual women; some women think that abortion is immoral because they regard it as an act of murder and not just women but people with morals and high values regardless of the causes or the impacts that led to abortion. According to popular argument, abortion is morally permissible in certain circumstances of pregnancies result from rape, life-threatening pregnancies, and contraception failure or malfunction. How is immoral defined, is defined as not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics. Someone immoral, though, knows the difference and does bad stuff no matter the situation, like having an abortion even though you have moral conscious about the act but you still do it.

Now the differences between a normal human adult and an embryo at conception, as we will see, are insufficient standards for personhood for various reasons.

According to multiple sources, having the highest level of knowledge, and knowing the physical and mental side effects of abortion is beyond necessary for mothers. Many women suffer from mental instabilities long after their decision to abort. In the article “The Mental Effects of Abortion,” it states from the narrator when speaking about her friend that “She told me that not one day had passed that she did not think about her baby and regret her decision. My heart ached for my friend, as she was clearly tormented by her decision.” By reading many articles and biographies, they never fail to remind me why I strongly support, and can defend the Pro-Life Movement. The Pro-Life Movement is a social and political movement in the United States opposing on moral or sectarian grounds elective abortion and usually supporting its legal prohibition or restriction. Additionally, there is an endless amount of physical and mental side effects of abortion, but there is not enough cures for the pain that endures forever.