Should Abortion Be Permissible?

Abortion is immoral. The statement "a woman has a right to her body" has two weak points. First, unlike her

The debate about the legality of abortion involves debating the legal status of the fetus. If the fetus is a person, anti-choice activists argue, then abortion is murder and should be illegal. Even if the fetus is a person, though, abortion may have justified as necessary to women’s body self-govern but that wouldn’t mean that abortion is automatically ethical. Perhaps the state can’t force women to carry pregnancies to term, but it could argue that it is the most ethical choice.

Much of the ethical debate stemming from this topic lies with the issue of personhood. Personhood is a concept that defines what is it is that makes a person a “person”. There is no established criteria for this concept and it can vary depending on one’s belief. Patil, Dode & Ahirrao (2014), argue that the concept of personhood is the bridge that connects the fetus with the right to life. If one considers the fetus a person then ethically abortion is wrong. If the fetus is not a person then abortion is ethically acceptable. The issue on personhood mirrors the subjectivity of abortion debate.

There is a debate concerning abortion. The issue is whether it is morally permissible or impermissible. Those who choose the latter position are known as pro-life. Their argument stems from the premise that a fetus is a human being – a person from the moment of conception. Philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson opposes that statement.

Among all the issues that have been fought for or against in the United States, abortion may be one of the most popular issues that Americans are passionate about. Abortion is defined as the removal of the embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. Thousands of abortions take place every single day, and yet public opinion remains at a standstill as to whether or not abortion is ethical. Everyone holds different opinions on abortion. The proponents believe that it is the women’s private right to determine the future of the baby in her body. On the other hand, the opponents think a woman does not have the right to decide whether the person that she gives birth should live or die. They believe that life begins at conception. In fact, a person’s stance on the issue is often determined by how he views the fetus: a part of the mother’s body or as a human being. I am an opponent, and I believe abortion is murder. Also, abortion should not be legal because it harms women’s health, affects intimate relationship, and women do not have the right to decide the baby’s right to live or die.

Abortion, to some it is the murder of an innocent fetus with a heartbeat. To others it is considered an option to be freed from the responsibilities of parenthood. We all have different views that can be controversial to the opinions of others. Yet, there are proven facts and cases where making abortion illegal is the best decision. Propaganda for Prolife is everywhere, but is there enough to show the world how wrong abortion is? I believe there is not, yet there are some very emotional advertisements that can change your whole perspective. Abortion should be considered illegal because it is considered murder and can have severe consequences for woman, and there are other options to chose instead of abortion.

Another argument pro-choice advocates make is the rights of the mother, that she has the right to end her fetus’s life for whatever reason she deems necessary. This is only moral if we believe that the fetus has no worth. We can agree that most people think that a fetus has infinite worth if the mother wants to

Judith J. Thomson’s argument is unique, because it doesn’t argue the fact that a fetus is not a person. It does the exact opposite as it promotes the idea that a fetus is in fact alive. However, the argument she points out that the fetus like a person is not entitled “to the continued use of the mother’s ‘resources’.” (Landau) Just like most who are pro-choice don’t recognize the unborn child is a person; those who are pro-life also forget that the mother is also a person, and has the same and if not more rights then the unborn child who is sharing her body.

Some argue that the unborn fetus has a right to its mother's body if that woman voluntarily indulges in intercourse (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). They argue that when the women engages in sexual intercourse she is fully aware of the consequences and the possibility that she might conceive a child. For this they say she is responsible for that life that is living inside her. This argument gives the unborn person a right to the mother's body and gives the mother a responsibility for the life because it is dependent on her (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). It should be noted however, that a fetus conceived through rape could not use this defence due to the fact that the sexual intercourse was not voluntary. Judith Jarvis Thomson in her article A Defense of Abortion has noted that pro-life activists have been so concerned with establishing the independence of the fetus that that have missed the fact that they could argue that the fetus is dependent on the mother and through this she has a special responsibility to it.

The abortion debate deals with the rights and wrongs of intentionally termination a pregnancy before normal childbirth, killing the fetus in the process.

The Morality of Abortion. A very controversial issue in modern politics is a mother’s right to abort pregnancy. One side, pro-life, include those “who are morally opposed to abortion, believe it is akin to murder, and hold that it should be made illegal”; the other side, pro-choice, includes those “who believe that a mother has a moral and legal right to choose to abort her pregnancy” (Hock, 2016, p. 339). I have debated the morality of abortion since I was old enough to comprehend what exactly it was. I have gone from one side to the other, sometimes believing that the fetus deserves a chance at life and other times realizing the effects it may have on the mother. My reasoning for supporting pro-life is based on fetal development so early in the pregnancy. By only the tenth week of

The right that a woman has to make choices concerning her own body is the basis for several prochoice arguments concerning abortion. While prolife advocates will tie their arguments to the moral status of the fetus we will look at some cases where the fetus’s right to life are not the focus of the abortion argument.

A common debate in the world today involves abortion, the deliberate end of human pregnancy, and whether or not it should be legalized. “Every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day” (“Abortions Worldwide this Year”). On one side of the argument, people are not disturbed by this grotesque number, and on the other side there are people outraged and simply appalled. Although people attempt to deem abortion acceptable in society because of circumstances like the mother not being able to support the child or in instances of rape, it is still morally wrong.

Almost all abortions occur during the first trimester when the fetus cannot live outside of the mother’s body. People who are pro-choice believe that “at birth, a baby is a human life. At conception, it 's something, perhaps, but it 's not really a human life (McDowell).” In other words when the baby has a heart beat it is not a human life. Or when the baby is kicking inside the mother’s womb it is not a human life. The child is not a human life until it is outside of the mother’s body. In the case of rape or incest, forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would possibly cause further psychological harm to the victim (Lowen). More often than not the woman who was sexually assaulted is too afraid to speak up against her attacker.

If you had an unexpected pregnancy, what would you do about it? For many people out there, abortion would be the most obvious option. The sad thing is there are many other solutions to an unwanted pregnancy besides killing the baby that most people will not consider. Each year there are more and more abortions happening and it is becoming a huge problem. One particular age group that it is very common in is teenagers who are in the church. Abortions in teen pregnancies is just one of the many problems in the world, and while many people would not condone these acts, there are some organizations like Heartbeat International that are fighting against it.