According to Wikipedia, abortion is the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why the pregnancy was lost. Abortion is a very contentious issue and the attitude towards it has always been and is still very controversial. It has caused uncounted deaths and several violent confrontations between the supporters of the two separate parties. Pro-life supporters advocate that everyone has the right to life, even “Fetus,” and Pro-choice supporters argue that the right to abortion is absolute. In “Abortion, No more Apologies,” Katha Pollitt states abortion as a normal part of a woman’s reproductive life, one that should be …show more content…
Pollitt also insisted that woman should not have anyone’s permission to make healthcare decisions. Contraception is one of these decisions that woman should be making with her doctor. She referred to the example of “Trust Woman,” a popular motto in the pro-choice movement. The movement gave the absolute right and freedom for every woman in the abortion issue. It also supported women to make their own decisions, “no one else can make a better decision” (p.15). Women seeking to terminate a pregnancy understand what’s going on. They don’t need a patronizing reminder from politicians, or difficult rules imposed by doctors, or even ethics from church or family. They only need to trust themselves and take the right decision according to their life, health, and body. Pollitt has even gone further with defending abortion as a constitutional right. The Supreme Court has ruled on it, in 1973, in Roe v. Wade case, which affirms the legality of a woman’s right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment. Why is it then, that women who seek an abortion, are treated like criminals? Laws prohibiting abortion prevent women from making the personal choices that enable them to live the lifestyle they want, reducing their ability to contribute effectively to the society. Moreover, the ideal abortion law, according to Pollitt, is a blank piece of paper. She approaches the
It is worth mentioning in the first place that the continuing debate over the abortion problem has always been based on two main opposing views. Nagan (1971) terms these viewpoints as “the fetus oriented view and the female perspective” (p. 288). To his mind, defining the status of the fetus as a human being or only as a potential human being best indicates polarity
One of the first moral issues addressed by both sides of the abortion debate concerns a pregnant woman’s so-called natural “right” to make “reproductive choices.” (“The Rights of Pregnant Women”) Anti-abortion advocacy groups claim that “the only way to actually protect the mother’s rights will be by enforcing laws that secure her child’s right to life,” (“Argument 2”) whereas pro-abortion groups contend that these laws “create a dangerous precedent for wide-ranging government intrusion into the lives of all women.” (“The Rights”) With two fundamentally contrasting viewpoints at odds with each other, it is apparent that one of the core issues concurrent with abortion is a woman’s rights versus the rights of her unborn fetus.
As stated above, abortion is the termination of a fetus. In other words, the fetus dies, whether by the mother's choice or by accident (such as a miscarriage or stillbirth.) Medically, all terminations of pregnancy not resulting in a live birth are defined as abortions. Each year throughout the world, 45million abortions are performed. Compare this to 128.6 million births per year and you get approximately 35% of fetuses each year that never get a chance to live. When discussing abortion, one aspect to
Abortion continues to make a profound impact on public policies and remains one of the most controversial debate of our time. Though abortion continues to be a debate, it was not always a problematic one. Abortion has been present throughout history dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Greek and Roman. Before abortion became a crime in the 19th century, abortion was a womans choice. “Before abortion became the object of law, it was a subject of everyday life” (Roe v Wade BOOK p. 11). From early civilizations to today, abortion was and may still serve as a form of birth control. It has been observed that through abortion those of upper class avoided “unwanted childbearing and the lower classes used it to limit family size when 1 or more child
Morality and Duties: There are many reasons women choose to seek an abortion but “one of the most common reasons is that they do not have room in their life just then to be a mother, [and] they know if they continue the pregnancy they will not be able to give it up” (p. 312). Little strongly believes that this is a “perfectly sensible, and often wise,” decision (p. 312). Before morally judging a woman based on her decision, one must learn to “appreciate the different moral contours involved with entering, existing in and exiting a relationship” (p. 312). A woman’s morals cannot be judged given she “may have good reason to decline,” gestation — for example a woman can argue that her reason is “more [of] a refusal to create than a decision to destroy” (p. 30). It must be recognized that “ [being] asked
Abortion is the deliberate termination of a woman’s pregnancy before they deliver birth, in which it results the death of the fetus. Abortion has been one of the most heated debates in America for years. There are two sides of abortion, those who believe that it is a woman's constitutional right to decide, and others such as myself, who believe that abortion is unethical, and it is murder when destroying a child’s life.
Abortion is a highly debated topic over pro-life or pro-choice being right or wrong. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. It is a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of a fetus.
Choice, what is choice? Choice is the right, power, or opportunity to choose. Everybody in society has a choice and these choices have many outcomes. A woman’s right to choose to have an abortion or not, is her fundamental right. If society outlaws abortion, society is interfering with the woman’s right to make decisions related to her own body. Many theorists believe that sexuality is what divides women from men and makes women less valuable than men; keeping this concept in mind it can be said that gender plays an immense role in social inequality. In one of Thomas Jefferson’s speeches, he explains how we should never put at risk our rights because our freedom can be next. (lp. org 2007) Roe.V .Wade is believed to have been the
Every year, as many as a million lives are aborted; lives that could potentially have been your neighbor, your friend, or even your son or daughter. Abortion is the surgical process of killing a baby by various means; and has been in effect since the Supreme Court ruling on Roe V. Wade in 1973 which legalized it nationwide. It was, at first, endorsed as being a woman’s right, but has more recently been viewed by most as the murder of an innocent child. Besides this shift in views, abortion has caused diverse effects on our culture and nation, as well as the death of upwards of 56 million children according to Life News. Our society has been deeply impacted by the effects of abortion and the loss of millions of innocent lives, and Christian
The right of a women to control her reproductive decision is highly debated in the US because of the idea that abortions, to some people, are considered murder. A woman’s ability to make reproductive choices is a fundamental right protected by the
She urged the society to stop blaming women for making such decisions, “We don’t think that women have the right to self, they are supposed to live for others” (p.17). She also discussed the true social benefits of abortion rights and forced her readers to think about real life consequences of pregnancies under different circumstances. What about pregnancies resulting from rape or incest? What about the choice that a mom possesses over bringing a fetus with profound abnormalities? Pollitt does not wish for any rules or exceptions to be imposed; no blame or shame or moral judgment she only demands the freedom of choice for every woman.
Abortion refers to the termination of pregnancy at any stage that does not affect birth; medically, according to Oxford Dictionary abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a foetus or embryo by natural causes before it is able to survive independently. Abortion is a controversial topic that causes many arguments because of the different opinions that persons have. Abortion has two main proponents, persons that are for abortion and those that are against abortion. Those that are for abortions think that woman have the right to do anything with their body but those that are against abortion sticks to what the Bible says about taking a life of
Discussing abortion and how motherhood is a, “no choice, of one-size-fits-all biological fate.”(pg.198) Pollitt argues that women are allowed not have to raise every child the conceive, that women can go out and get jobs in the “male dominated” society we live it and not even have a family. Women are not destined to raise children and stay at home, and while society looks down on people who get abortions, for whatever reasons those women had upon making that decision, or women who choose to go to work instead of staying at home with their child does not make them unfit woman, Pollitt states that they are not any less of a mother or women in making those decisions and that it is there reproductive right. “We need to see abortion as an urgent
Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before birth, resulting in the death of the embryo or fetus. Abortion is an issue in which most people have an opinion on. Whether it is pro-life or pro-choice, most opinions do reflect the individual and their personal opinions in life. As will be discussed further on, there is a great dividend in the population concerning their sides in this matter.
Abortion is defined as “The removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end the pregnancy” (dictionary.com). However, if only the debate over the abortion issue was as easy as the definition listed above. However, similar to most things in life, a statement or opinion is never right nor wrong, but simply left open for clarification. Those who are against abortion believe that abortion is the murder of innocent human beings who aren’t given a chance at life and the ability to function as a normal individual. However, those who are for abortion believe that it is a women’s right to choose what she does to not only her baby but