Abortion has been a very controversial issue in the United States for the past several decades. Many people think that is it morally wrong. To say that something is morally wrong is an opinion. Since everyone’s opinions are different on this topic there have been many court cases and protests against abortion. However there are a lot of people out there that believe that abortion is a rightful decision. My personal opinion on the abortion controversy is that every woman should have the choice on whether or not they are ready or are capable of raising a baby. Although there are many different choices one can make with regard to whether or not they are ready to raise a child, like adoption, it is still ultimately the woman’s decision on what they want to do. Carrying a child is a very stressful and sometimes painful process. There are a lot of financial decisions, health decisions, and future decisions that have to be carefully thought out before becoming a parent. Parenthood is a life-altering step one must take in life, and abortion is one way that a women can postpone or avoid changing their life in a very extreme way.
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
Abortion is a controversial topic and in 1973 (PBS.org), the United States court case of Roe v. Wade resulted in an unconstitutional ruling of abortions as illegal except when a mother life was in jeopardy. This case politically polarized citizens of the country, influenced debates and resulted in violence (PBS.org). The polarization of public opinions among citizens concerning abortions can be related to many factors. Some factors that can polarize citizens’ public opinions towards abortion include laws, politics, religion, and gender.
The way one perceives the fetus has great impact on whether you believe abortion is morally acceptable. Pro-life activists are currently fighting for fetal rights because they believe that terminating a pregnancy is the same as slaughtering a baby and that they are already a person from the start of conception, but there is no scientific consensus as to when a fetus is considered “a person” or when their rights are viable. There are also those that believe a fetus is a person when their central nervous system is developed. This is because when the central nervous system is intact, a baby will feel extreme pain when abortion takes place. Abortions frequently occur within the first eight to thirteen weeks and the fetus will not feel pain unless aborted after twenty weeks. This will continue to be a matter of religious or philosophical opinion. Sperm and eggs represent a potential human being, but virtually all sperm and eggs are wasted. Nature even spontaneously aborts two-thirds of human conceptions. If fetal rights were to be embodied in law, women’s bodies, rights, and health would subordinate due to the protection of said embryos. The legal consequences of such a law would be catastrophic. The best way to protect the fetus is to promote the health and well-being of
Abortion has been one of the most popular and argumentative topics that has still yet to be settled. Ultimately the question we can ask when trying to solve this issue is whether or not pregnant women should have the right to kill an unborn baby. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before birth takes place and is a moral wrong. Can we as a society call ourselves human if we allow the deaths of unborn babies to take place? Those who take the side of pro-choice or as also known as pro-abortion often use statements concerning life, humanity, human rights and freedom to support their claims. I believe abortion should be illegal because we as a society must protect the human lives that are in danger whether or not they are in their first
How would you feel, if I told you that your mother wanted to have an abortion when you were a fetus just because she didn’t want to raise you, didn’t have the time for you, or the money. Or didn’t want the responsibility that came with having a child. What if I told you that half of the women that get pregnant in the U.S. today have abortions, and their main reason is most likely because it might interfere with their work, education, or relationships. Which is selfish. If you think about it, they think that the the baby inside them means nothing. They don’t deserve to live a happy life or a life at all. Also they think it’s their body, but it’s not it’s the baby's body too. This controversial topic has been an a highly debated argument for many years, whether it’s ethical to kill your unborn child or or not! Also the fact that the rate is growing tremendously. Abortions first started in the 1820s. At that time women knew that they were and are killing their fetus or embryo. Some women are not ready to become parents to take the responsibly. Personally, I think that having an abortion is morally wrong because you are killing an unborn fetus or embryo, while it is barely starting to develop.
Before discussing the Roe vs. Wade case, let’s first begin by presenting a brief history reflection of abortion in the United States. The history of abortion dates all the way back to the 1820’s-1830. In 1821 Connecticut passes the first law that would restrict abortion; numerous states followed Connecticut’s law and began to implement
Abortion has been a complex social issue in the United States ever since restrictive abortion laws began to appear in the 1820s. By 1965, abortions had been outlawed in the U.S., although they continued illegally; about one million abortions per year were estimated to have occurred in the 1960s. (Krannich 366) Ultimately, in the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women had the right to privacy and could make an individual choice on whether or not to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Yishai 213)
While the history component is important in understanding the future of abortion in the United States, an examination of the varying ideological arguments is paramount as well.
According to Webster Dictionary, abortion is “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus”. There are two sides when it comes to abortion: pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life supporters are usually religious individuals, individuals who believe it is a kind of murder, and/or people who believe in the sanctity of life. Pro-choice supporters are normally individuals who believe a woman has the right to her own body, it is not a form of murder, and some individuals believe that there are limits. The main point of disagreement between both of these sides is whether an embryo/ fetus is a human so should it be legal or illegal and is it immoral?
Traister wrote of speaking out for those unable to have access to the proper resources to bring another life into the world saying, “should some medical, economic, or emotional circumstance,” change the “fate” of her baby then “[her] rights, [her] health, [her] consciousness, and [her] obligations to others” take precedence over that of the “unborn human inside [her].” Traister continued by mentioning that the discussion surrounding the topic of abortion has become distorted with the issue passing total privilege to the fetus and giving no cause for concern over the mental, physical or otherwise well-being of the adult woman. Traister illustrates this by stating “the ‘personhood’ of the
Throughout the history of the world there is nearly four thousand years of abortion history, which we find that from the earliest times this issue has been less about abortion and more about life - its value and its sanctity. Abortion and contraception were lawful at the time of this country 's founding, and then criminalized, state by state, in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. For the century after that, no woman could have an abortion unless a doctor declared that it was necessary to save her life (Abortion and the "Woman Question": Forty Years of Debate).
When discussing women and health, one can’t talk about the subject without eventually approaching the inevitable topic of women’s right to have an abortion. The right for a woman to have a safe abortion is a controversial topic for many who view abortion as a killing of a child. Meanwhile others, citing the science, argue that it is a woman’s choice to choose
Abortion is a highly sensitive and controversial subject within the United States that has been an issue of changing opinion for over 200 years. This right has already been resolved to be provided by the Constitution by the Supreme Court. A ban on abortion can possibly violate the separation of church and state, with the reason that those who wish to ban it, are often religious in nature. I strongly believe that the federal government should not ban abortion or have the option to decide what a woman can or cannot do with her own body.
Before we begin that debate, we’ll start off with a simple definition for abortion: “the intentional termination of a pregnancy that destroys or kills the embryo or fetus (Barcalow, p.223).” Not until a couple of decades ago, abortions were considered a crime. However, there was one special case where abortions were within the law – if it were necessary to save the mother’s life (Barcalow p.223). If we were truly interested in