Is The Morality Of Abortions?

There is one remarkable legal battle that changed the American abortion laws to what they are now, Roe v. Wade. It took place in 1973 in Texas. Roe, Norma McCorvey, was an anonymous plaintiff against the State. The ruling, abortion is legal. It gives the mother the right of whether or not to terminated her pregnancy. However, that does not give the woman the right to terminate her pregnancy for any reason during all nine months. ?The court said that the woman may have an abortion until fetal viability, the time at which it first becomes realistically possible for a fetus to live outside the woman?s body. At that point the state?s interest

In Judith Jarvis Thomson’s philosophy paper, A Defense of Abortion, she argues that abortion is permissible because an individual’s right over their own body outweighs a fetus’s right to life. In this paper I will focus on whether or not abortion is always permissible. First, I will present Thomson’s argument which says that abortion is sometimes permissible. I will do so by describing her “famous violinist” thought experiment. Next, I will object to Thomson’s claim and expand the scope of her argument by arguing that abortion is in fact, always permissible. I will do so by presenting a new thought experiment. Finally, I will conclude in saying that Thomson is correct and abortion is in fact only sometimes permissible.

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.

Abortion is defined as “The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.” (Oxford Dictionary). Nearly three out of ten women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45-years-old (Planned Parenthood). Abortion is morally permissible because an abortion prevents a woman and the potential child’s suffering. Abortion is moral because it is a fundamental right of competent adults to make their own decisions on the course of their medical treatment, can alleviate further suffering in immoral cases, such as rape and is protected by rule of law.

When the beginning of life actually occurs is clearly not a topic to be taken lightly in today’s modern world. Majority of the population’s answers to this question are based on each individuals opinion and is supported by what they believe. In general, there are two sides of the argument. One is that life begins at the time of conception. The other belief is that life doesn’t begin until the drawing of the first breath. The true dilemma here is not the accurate pinpointing of life’s beginning, but the questions that accompany this topic and each individuals desire to do the right thing, the moral thing. While one point of view allows for abortion the other does not. The issue raises many questions of morality. Is abortion moral? When does it become murder? When is it permissible? (Life of the mother at stake / A product of rape). Should it be the mother’s choice? Many arguments for both sides pull from scripture and scientific articulations.

Regardless of the opinions surrounding abortion, a majority of people are familiar with the Supreme court cases of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. These two cases have played a tremendous role in regard to the abortion debate. In 1973, the Roe v. Wade case was ruled in favour of Roe and stated the stringent criminalization of abortion in Texas was deemed unconstitutional under the fourteenth amendment. The law violated the right of privacy, which implied the privacy of a woman’s decision to an abortion. Although the courts agreed with Roe, they also recognized the rights to an abortion are not absolute. Limitations to the right was based on the trimesters of pregnancy with the first trimester protecting the woman’s choice and the third trimester being acceptable for states to regulate or even ban abortions outside of therapeutic reasons.

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, 1973, Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision stated that the current state laws, banning abortion all together, violated a woman's Due Process Clause, which

Abortion has always been considered a controversial issue in America. When it comes to abortion there are and there will continue to be many different views about the moral acceptance and the social political sides of abortion. Therefore when the Roe vs. Wade decision was announced on January 22, 1973, it was received with a lot of controversy from the public. The Roe vs. Wade case is known to be the case that legalized abortion in the U.S. Before the Roe vs. Wade case, abortion was looked at as morally wrong and it was considered a crime that could cause a woman to spend time in prison. When Roe vs. Wade case ruling, made the court accepted for the first time that the constitutional right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy” (Summary of Roe v. Wade, 1973). A woman’s life was changed with the ruling because now a pregnant woman who did not wish to have her child was allowed to terminate her pregnancy without the fear of being arrested if they were ever caught or the fear of risking their life going through with an illegal abortion.

Roe v. Wade was a decision made by United States Supreme Court regarding abortion in 1973. It was, and still is, one of the most controversial decisions the Supreme Court has ever made. Abortion is defined “the ending of pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus”. The appellant was a single, pregnant woman from Texas who wished to get an abortion. Prior to the court’s decision, abortion was illegal under Texas state law except in cases where the abortion would save the pregnant woman’s life. The appellee was Henry Wade, a lawyer defending the Texas state law. The court ruled on the side of Roe, with a 7-2 decision. The Supreme Court “ruled that the Texas statute violated Jane Roe's constitutional right to privacy”, and argued that the “Constitution's First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments protect an

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S. Ct. 705, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147 (1973). Roe V. Wade was a case that “divided the country into those who believed in an unborn child 's right to life and those who believed in a woman 's right to choose”(Kayla Webley). In 1970 a single Texas mother of two at the time by the name of Norma McCorvey (alias Jane Roe) was pregnant with her third child. She decided she did not want the weight of raising another kid, but in Texas at the time abortions were not allowed unless it was used to save the pregnant mothers life. They felt as if you were taking the life of an innocent child that isn’t going to have that chance at life. January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court ruling 7-2 under t fourteenth amendment was that it is a constitutional right to privacy, and is a woman’s right to make the decision if she wants an abortion or not. By the time the courts came to a decision Roe had already had her child and gave it up for adoption.

Wade. The issue in Roe v. Wade is whether a Texas law that bans abortion (except when it is a medical necessity for the mother) violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court states that the Fourteenth and Ninth Amendment “are broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy” (406). However, this right is not absolute, as the state has a legitimate interest in regulating abortion after the first trimester (3 months) (406). In its ruling, the Court concludes that the statute violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it “makes no distinction between abortions performed early in the pregnancy and those performed later, and it limits to a single reason, “saving” the mother’s life, the legal justification for the procedure”

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

Faye Wattleton, the longest reigning president of the largest abortion provider in the world - Planned Parenthood- argued as far back as 1997 that everyone already knows that abortion kills. She proclaims the following in an interview with Ms. Magazine:

All around the world, unborn babies are being killed everyday. Abortion has become one of the most common operations in the US today. People that are “pro-choice” believe that it is acceptable for a woman to have the choice to abort her baby or not. They say that it is the legal right of a woman. They believe that a baby is not yet alive until it has been born. It is argued that a woman should be able to do what is best for her future, health, and body. On the other side of the spectrum lies people that are “pro-life”. They believe that human life begins at the time of conception and that killing what is unborn is murder. They defend this with arguments from science, as well as scripture. Pro-choice believes in abortion because it will benefit the majority of women and possibly families. They are looking out for themselves and their best interests. It is Utilitarianism as well as egoism. They believe it is morally acceptable to end the life of the unborn. It will provide the majority with an unwanted pregnancy and a way out of a tough situation. Pro-life is against abortion because of a religious authority and because it will benefit a majority (unborn babies). They believe it is morally unacceptable to end the life of the unborn.