Abortion has and continues to be a controversial topic. Most would argue that every woman should have the right to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason, because her body and the fetus are one entity. Since termination of a pregnancy or abortion is the status quo within society, most would agree with this consensus. I, however, without properly acknowledging the rights of all the parties involved with abortion (the fetus and father), I do not believe it should be used so freely within society.
Since the historic case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion has been the accepted standard within society. With this historic judgment, women within this country are legally able to obtain an abortion up to a certain point during their pregnancy.
…show more content…
Pro- choice activists believe that women should have the right to chose whether to carry out a pregnacy because their body is one with the fetus and they should be able to choose whether to keep or terminate a pregnancy. The main issue of debate is whether or not an embryo is considered a person and if that embryo should have any right and I believe that they should.
“Although Fetuses have never been given any recognition whatever as bureau of persons. It has never been counted as a member of the population. Legally is can not own, bequeath, or inherit property. It can not be sued, married, or adopted. It has no legal relationships and therefore can not be considered a person” (Kissling, 2004, p.1). However, dramatic scientific breakthroughs in medical technology have revolutionized physician’s ablities regarding fetuses which may enable a fetus to be considered a person (Lenow, 2007, p.1). Medical advances allow for surgery to be performed in utero, with these advances, new legal implications arise. “If the fetus can be treated, then should it be considered a patient separate from its mother? If so does it possess all the rights of the post-birth patients?” (Lenow, 2007, p. 2). As a society it seems that we do not consider a fetus to be a person until it is viable. “Viablilty is a concepty widely used to identify a reasonable potential for subsequent survival if the fetus were to be removed
Pro-choice describes political and ethical views that a woman should have the control over her fertility and the choice to continue or terminate her pregnancy. Pro-choice activists argue that an embryo has no rights as it is only a potential and not an actual person and its rights should not override those of the mother’s until after it is born. The right to choose to have an abortion is personal and essential to women’s lives and without this right, women cannot exercise their rights and liberties guaranteed to them by the Constitution. Without the right to choose an abortion the 14th amendment’s guarantee of liberty has little meaning for women. Another point made could include that a man can withdraw from a relationship when he finds out that his spouse is pregnant, it is only fair that women be given the same choice.
There is a vast number of ethical theories, whether or not you believe in those theories is a matter of opinion and personal belief. For this reason, people can take the general concept of a theory and explain it in a way that aligns with their beliefs. Personally, I feel as though there is some truth in most, if not all, ethical theories. Though, there is one theory in particular I have taken a liking to; and this theory is egoism. Egoism, in the most general terms, is a theory in which a person is motivated by their own self-interest to further their wants or goals. This theory can be interpreted in a number of ways, one of them is that it is considered selfish. Egoism, is not necessarily selfish in that it may be in your own self-interest to do something for others. To help further explain my understanding of egoism, I’d like to bring up the topic of abortion. The debate over abortion has been going on for a while. As time goes by, my opinions on the topic have changed, especially when I learn about the different arguments each side makes. I will take some arguments from both sides to help explain egoism. Through my explanation on my understanding of egoism, I will ultimately express my views on this social issue as well. Though it is important to keep in mind that my main goal is to explain each side of the debate through the views of an egoist and whether or not each side is morally sound.
Before researching on abortion issues, I never imagined it to be such controversial and debatable case because the problem arises from the very early stages of analyzing what administrative ethics would answer. I became overwhelmed to start because my mind became blurred on legality and ethics of abortion as early as defining administrative ethics: “well-based standards of right and wrong prescribing what public administrators ought to do in terms of duty to public service, principles, virtues, and benefits to society”. Ethics triangle is grounded on duties in the center with principles, virtues, and benefits to society augmenting it. Duties of public administrator involves those ‘obligations taken on while assuming a position’. They might
Abortion has been a highly debated topic for many years. Until 1973, when abortion was legalized in the U.S., women were obtaining very dangerous abortions that often killed them in the process. Although abortion is legal now, members of society still do not agree on whether it is “right.” There are pros and cons of abortion, which can be examined by the three theoretical perspectives; Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Postmodern Theory. This essay explains what the three theoretical perspectives are and how they view the social issue of abortion.
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.
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
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.
Since Roe v Wade, there have been major advancements in the maternal-fetal world of medicine. Advanced technology and science have shown us that there is “life” to a fetus before the last trimester, leading to many regulations and laws to prohibit abortion for the life the fetus. Discussed in this paper are the policies, court cases, and executive decisions affecting legal abortion in the US and the ethical implications that debate them.
While few pro-choice arguments exist, all of them are easily broken down when looked at logically. For example, most supporters of abortion will argue that pregnancy caused by rape is a reason for abortion. Although this has some truth in it, the number of women who get pregnant from rape in America is insignificant therefore abortion does not need to be legalized for all women. Also, adoption is a more humane option, and this choice prevents the cruel murder of a baby. Those who are pro-choice will also try to argue that abortion is a right given to them by the Supreme Court and the constitution. While the government did give women the right to end their pregnancy, an unborn child is a human being in the eyes of the
Proponents of punishing pregnant women, who put their fetuses at risk, have highlighted some pertinent legal and ethical issues. One is that a viable fetus (fetus after 27 weeks gestation) has certain rights and privileges. They are of the opinion that as soon as the fetus is viable and can survive independently from it mother, it becomes a
Abortion is a controversial topic in today's society due to reasons of religion, morality, science, and ethics people perceive. Currently there are two sides to the argument such as pro choice and pro life which push if abortion should be illegal or not. Pro choice supporters believe that individuals have unlimited autonomy with to their own reproductive systems, as long as they don't breach the autonomy
The topic of abortion can be a very touchy subject for most. A lot of people hold religious perspectives about life and death, which can make the topic of abortion personal, and sensitive. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade says that no state has the right to outlaw or regulate abortions before the second trimester. In most cases, there are usually two sides arguing their case on abortion, pro-life and pro-choice.
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.
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.
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.