Essay on Abortion and Religion

When touching the subject of abortion, one must consider that there are two sides battling for control. That is right, abortion has literally turned into a war zone where even the unlikely of individuals do the unthinkable. Each side has their motives and methods for contradicting the other. For instance, there are cases and events that support both sides of this issue.

Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.

Women may have an abortion for a variety of reasons, but in general they choose abortion because a pregnancy at that time is in some way wrong for them. “Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before it is mature enough to live on its own” (Kuechler 1996). When this happens spontaneously we call it a miscarriage. Induced abortion is brought about deliberately by a medical procedure that ends pregnancy. Legal abortion, carried out by trained medical practitioners, is one of the most common and safest surgical procedures. “About 1.5 million American women choose to have induced abortions each year. Less than 1% of all abortion patients experience a major complication associated with the procedure” (Kuechler 1996).

The issue of abortion is one of the most sensitive and controversial issues faced by modern societies. This issue leads to topics of whether abortion is right or wrong, if it is the actual killing of a person, and what actually defines the moral status of a fetus. In this paper, I will be arguing against Bonnie Steinbock, who believes that abortions are morally acceptable. So I will be supporting the view that abortions are not morally acceptable.

Abortion is the voluntary act taken by a woman to terminate a pregnancy. It results in the death of a fetus or embryo. Pro-Choice groups advocate freedom of choice and often use scientific examples and facts to support their argument. The contrasting view to the Pro-Choices is that of the Pro-Life or ‘Right to life’ group. They believe that all life is sacred and to kill any form of human life is immoral. There is also a moderator between the two, they hold the view that only in certain cases is it acceptable, for example rape.

perspective of man is that he was created by a divine Creator with a specific

The father of the foetus to be aborted has no right to be consulted or

     One of the toughest issues to debate in our world today is abortion. Abortion is the induced termination of pregnancy before the fetus can survive. Nowadays, abortion affects all people, not just the mother and the baby. There are moral, ethical, health-related, political, and religious aspects that affect how people feel towards abortion. By looking at religion and its views, one can see just how hard it would be to argue in the pro-choice position of this debate.

Just because abortion is legal in all fifty states it is not morally right because a fetus is technically still a person, killing is against the law, and it goes against God’s will for us to have the right to live. In 1973, the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade changed the course of American history. The outcome of this case made abortion, “the termination of a pregnancy resulting in the death of the fetus,” legal in all fifty states (Abortion Facts). Abortion has become one of the most controversial topics in our nation, and is becoming a substantial issue (Sproul 47). Every abortion takes the life of a child, the most innocent of human beings. Not only does an abortion kill the fetus, but the procedure itself is very gruesome and can cause pain to the child or the mother (Abortion facts). On average, there are around 700,000 abortions per year in the United

or not to have the child she is carrying. The Bible does not say much

Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth and is morally wrong. An abortion results in the death of an embryo or a fetus. Abortion destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children and is illegal in many countries. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. Abortion is very simply wrong. Everyone is raised knowing the difference between right and wrong. Murder is wrong, so why is not abortion? People argue that it is not murder if the child is unborn. Abortion is murder since the fetus being destroyed is living, breathing and moving. Why is it that if an infant is destroyed a month before the birth, there is no problem,

In examining religious opinions on abortion, one must find common ground on which to form a foundation of comparison. With most of the religions to date, that common ground lies on the argument of whether or not a fetus is an actual person. Some religions protest by saying a fetus isn't a conscious being -- therefore there is no loss in doing away with it. But for those religions that do believe there is a life -- or any spiritual being -- in a fetus, it is clearly a crime to have an abortion.

no time limit if there is a high risk to her life or if the foetus has

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created

It is interesting to notice not only does God give us a glimpse of His nature, but He also gives man a purpose within this creation. Dominion over all living things, now that’s a big responsibility. Firstly, let’s look at what God means by making “man in our image.” Does that mean we look like God? Did Adam act like God? It is commonly understood that the image God spoken of here is more about His character and how we are created like God, but not as gods. The ways we are like God are in our intellect, moral, and social aspects.