Barcalow's Argument Against Abortion

The woman carrying the baby should be granted the right to choose whether she is capable of raising a child, rather than a group of male politicians. The average pregnancy alone causes stretch marks, stress, sickness, a 25-40 pound weight gain, a cost of $30,000 on average, and approximately 10 months, from conception, spent nurturing and trying to care for the unborn child. Other than simply not wanting a child, there are many reasons as to why a woman may want to terminate her pregnancy: pregnancy endangers the woman carrying the child, victim of incest or rape, and the possibility the child may be at risk of having AIDS, drug abuse, or malnutrition. The feminist movement has supported the “prochoice” campaign, believing women own the rights to their own body and should have the power to end or continue a pregnancy. A popular counterargument would be that terminating a pregnancy is “murdering a child.” Sure, it's a potential person, although if that is the only counterargument the use of contraception must also be considered—both abortion and contraception, birth control and condoms alike, are technically destroying a possible life. Although the embryo is growing, the fertilized egg has no nervous system and no consciousness. No conscience is being destroyed before the months of consciousness and nervous system

When it comes to abortion, everyone has a slightly different view. Whether one believes that no one, or everyone, should be allowed to get an abortion, the same question comes into play: Is abortion ethical? In addition, when does a human life actually start? Without concrete facts, we can only do so much with those questions, which is why this is such a controversial topic. We need to consider all the facts and information available. For example, whether or not a fetus feels pain, how old the fetus is, and what condition the pregnant woman is in. The main argument comes down to pro-life versus pro-choice. After doing extensive research, I have come to agree with the side of pro-choice, meaning that

Each person, man or woman has a right to their own body. A woman has a right to dictate what happens to her own body and the right of self-preservation. Judith Jarvis Thomson stated that “Some [anti-abortionists] won’t even make an exception for a case in which continuation of the pregnancy is likely to shorten the mother’s life; they regard abortion as impermissible even to save the mother’s life” (Thomson, 2013, p. 298). These anti-abortionists renounce abortion even if it threatens the life of the woman, they see more value in the fetus than the woman.

Abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time. However many People agree to disagree on whether abortion is a legal or illegal matter. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy through removal of the embryo or fetus. I support abortion for the following reasons. Birth control failure, unable to support or care for a child, to prevent a child with birth defects or medical conditions, and a pregnancy in resulting from rape or incest. A woman should have the right to do what she pleases with her own body. For example, say a woman is pregnant with no desire of keeping the child and there was no clinic to help her remove the fetus. She’s most likely going to obtain matters into her own hands and figure a way to abort the fetus herself. Why put women in that situation when they have highly trained doctors who can remove the fetus using the proper tools with no harm done to the mother?

My second argument against abortion is due to the physical health issues having an abortion can cause for women. There are minor complications such as: minor infections, bleeding, fevers, abdominal pain, gastro disturbances, and vomiting that can occur as a result of having an abortion. Approximately 10% of women undergoing induced abortion suffer from immediate complications, of which one-fifth (2%) were considered major. Major complications that occur include: major infections, excessive bleeding, embolism, perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury and endotoxic shock. Aside from the potential dangers of the abortion methods in general, abortion increases a woman’s chances of having miscarriages in later pregnancies; this is especially true for younger girls who have had an abortion. Also, repeated abortions increase the level of danger (Thiroux and Krasemann). I personally know several women who have had an abortion at some point. I conducted a very short interview with three individuals asking them the following questions:

There has been much controversy regarding the social, ethical, and medical predicament that abortion provokes. Abortion is the procedure of ending a pregnancy with the early removal of a fetus. There is no right or wrong when it comes to abortion; values contribute a great amount to an individual’s opinion. This process has led to numerous debates among individuals who believe that it is up to a woman to decide what to do with her body and the individuals who hold that women do not have the right to take away a life. Although it may seem as if the beliefs of pro-life and pro-choice advocates are on opposite sides of a spectrum, the two sides can come to an agreement about how to at least lessen the number of abortions occurring.

What this choice is, is the choice to have a legal abortion. Everyday people fight to maintain legal abortion. One reason they fight is to protect women’s rights. Women’s rights are rights that promote a position of legal and social equality of women with men. Having a legal abortion is precisely promoting that. It is allowing women the right to being in charge of their own body just like men have the right to be in charge of theirs. While some may see this as a selfish and even barbaric choice, this choice is essential to women’s lives. It is not a matter of forcing an abortion onto women or saying that the choice of having an abortion is not a big deal because it is a colossally complex and painstaking matter. It is a matter of permitting the option to be there if necessary. It is allowing women to make the decision for themselves, to have a say in what they do with their body. For, in the end, it is their body, and it is their

People who oppose abortion who believe women have abortions for their own convenience belittle the trauma women go through when making this decision. Motherhood cannot be undervalued. It is a lifelong responsibility. The baby has never asked to be born so the responsibility lies with the women carrying it, to provide it with a decent life. If for whatever reason the baby is not welcome, the woman has the right to terminate the

Another argument in favor of abortions is the issue of freedom. If a woman chooses to end her pregnancy, she should have the freedom to do so. Taking away this freedom would be taking away a basic right. A fetus is part of a woman’s body and it would be illogical to restrict a woman’s choice to go through with the procedure. Moreover, the government and prolife activists should not try to regulate the practices of abortion; the fact of the matter is that an abortion is

If the fetus’ right to life outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in and to her body, then an abortion may not be performed.

This author has chosen to discuss the ethical issues of abortion. This is a highly debated topic that will exist amongst women. It is happening at high rates. “In 2013, 664,435 legal induced abortions

Abortion is tremendously unethical, just like murder is highly immoral. Many religions oppose the idea of abortion; Christianity considers abortion to be a sin under all circumstances; Hinduism considers abortion to be a form of violence. In addition, when the woman decides to have a sexual intercourse with a man without any proper use of contraception, she knows that pregnancy will result. If the mother did not want the baby in the first place or if she could not take on the responsibility of the baby, then she should not get pregnant just to later on kill the unborn innocent child in her womb. Abortion can not only harm the baby, but can also cause physical and psychological damage

Does a women’s right to choose to have an abortion outweigh a baby’s right to be born? The controversy at hand is whether the rights of a women outweigh the rights of a baby, and whether a mother should be given the rights to pursue a procedure like an abortion. To clarify an abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy in which a doctor uses a vacuum and suction to suck out a fetus from the uterus. The issue is whether the fetus who has the potential to be a rational, productive human being has the unequivocal rights of any other human being and whether he or she should be protected from, in every sense of the word, murder. The argument made by abortionfacts.com a nonprofit Christian pro-life education organization, is that

Abortion is a deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. There are series of legal, moral and ethical issues which may arise about abortion. Most arguments about abortion are often focused on political insinuations and the legal aspect of such actions. Some frequently asked questions’ regarding the issue is if the practice should be outlawed and regarded as murder or should women have the right to practice it. For example, prior to becoming pregnant, some women feel that they would be able to choose the abortion option without trouble. However, even with reasons why having an abortion would be the best option, some women feel that this decision would not be right for them. On the other hand, some women have a strong belief that abortion is unethical prior to becoming pregnant.

Abortion is a highly-debated topic of whether it is ethical for a woman to decide to have one. Abortion is any of various surgical methods for deliberately terminating a pregnancy. When we speak of abortion today, we mean induced abortion performed by trained doctors, not including miscarriage (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2015). Some current methods of abortion are morning-after pill, mifepristone, uterine or vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage, saline solution, prostaglandin drugs, hysterotomy, and partial birth abortion. Abortion involves questions about rights, happiness, and well-being, as well as the status and value of human life. The people who think it is ethical to have an abortion stand on the Pro-choice side and the people who think it is unethical stand on the Pro-life side. The liberal view of abortion supports abortions and the conservative view opposes abortion. There are many legal, religious, and medical conflicts that are included in the debate over abortion. The arguments made from both sides help us better understand whether a woman should have an abortion.