The Hijacking Of Science And The Abortion Debate

The topic of abortion is heavily debated. One of the major controversies surrounding abortion is whether or not the embryo is a human life and able to receive the same rights as any other human. Is the embryo mentally developed enough to be considered as a human life? It is medically proven that after conception, the human brain takes many months to develop, so the “personhood” of a fetus cannot begin until about the seventh month.

The issue of abortion is one of the most controversial topics of our time, but recently the amount of public interest has grown exponentially. A number of bills regarding this policy issue such as Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 and Child Interstate Notification Act have both greatly influenced the public’s opinion of abortion. Although, the issue of abortion hasn’t always been like this; according to Timeline of Abortion Laws and Events, an article from the Chicago Tribune, “The earliest anti-abortion laws were intended to protect women from untrained abortionists.” (Timeline) Since the 1973 passing of the Supreme Court Case, Roe V Wade, women have been able to obtain the abortion procedure in all 50 states, 46 of which were

While it may have a heartbeat, and is a potential human being, a fetus does not have any consciousness. Don Smith, who is pro abortion, goes into detail about this claim: “What makes a person inherently precious, I think, is (dormant or active) consciousness: thoughts, feelings, memories, hopes, and awareness. Since consciousness depends on the development of the nervous system, and since it takes many months for the nervous system to mature, we can conclude that consciousness emerges gradually. Consequently, the inherent preciousness emerges gradually too. Granted, a sleeping or comatose person has no consciousness either. But a sleeping or comatose person's consciousness is dormant: if they wake up, they have memories, etc. For a fertilized egg, there is no consciousness and also no history of consciousness (unless you believe in reincarnation). Even though all the DNA is there, the fact that there's no higher brain activity strongly suggests that there's no consciousness. Nor does the later presence of a heartbeat and of primitive neural activity imply consciousness or preciousness. What's needed is higher brain activity and the consequent self-awareness” (Smith). Smith has a valid point in saying that consciousness is the difference between a living, breathing human being and a fetus. A fetus can't recall memories – they don't have any feelings, hopes, aspirations or fears. So, if a

While reading the "Justices Back Ban" I figured the issue was the Supreme Court turned around course on premature birth on Wednesday, maintaining the government Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-to-4 choice that guarantees

Roe vs. Wade case was a ground-breaking landmark case because it gave a woman the right to choose. Since then landmark cases and legislation restricted a woman from having an abortion. The rights of the unborn are the reason why a woman's rights to have an abortion are being eroded. In addition, violent events have occurred because a woman has a right to have an abortion. Clearly, this topic has affected the political, health, social, and religious, aspects of our society. Currently, women are choosing not to have an abortion. The sentiment is so strong that a Harris poll showed that 72% of Americans say abortion should be illegal after the first 3 months of pregnancy. To make this point, abortion rates are down in the states where the abortion

The decision of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States, had a very evident and profound impact on the social and political climates of the United States. Before the case, it had seemed that abortion was a settled issue in America: a majority of people opposed the practice, and a majority of states had abortion bans. However, by the 1960’s, political factions and campaigns were rising up and stirring the waters of reproductive rights. Abortion had changed during the courses of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, morphing from a private practice of the people into a great political divide. Abortion was actually easily accessible during the Nineteenth Century, but the rise of religious fundamentalism compelled citizens to become involved in either the protection of the fetus or the defense of reproductive rights. Roe v. Wade had been either labeled as the legal settling of the abortion issue or the igniter of change in regards to abortion. The decision not only affected the minds of the people, but the decision had also set a legal precedent that affected more than thirty Supreme Court cases that later dealt with abortion (Planned Parenthood).

Ever since the case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion has been one of the most contentious issues in our society. In some cases people think abortion is murder, in others, it’s reasonable for some cases. Then there are people who use it just to take advantage of it. The legal stance of abortion is a hot topic in today’s society.

The decision in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States, had a very evident and profound impact on the social and political climates of the United States. Before the case, it had seemed that abortion was a settled issue in America: a majority of people opposed the practice, and a majority of states had abortion bans. However, by the 1960’s, political factions and campaigns were rising up and stirring the waters of reproductive rights. Abortion had changed during the courses of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, morphing from a private practice of the people into a great political divide. Abortion was actually easily accessible during the Nineteenth Century, but the rise of religious fundamentalism compelled citizens to become involved in either the protection of the fetus or the defense of reproductive rights. Roe v. Wade has been either labeled as the legal settling of the abortion issue or the igniter of change in regards to abortion. The decision not only affected the minds of the people, but the decision had also set a legal precedent that affected more than thirty Supreme Court cases that later dealt with abortion (Planned Parenthood).

One important topic debated by many pro-choice and pro-lifers, is: at what point does a fetus become human? This is one of the determining factors of the controversy surrounding abortion. Pro-life activists claim that life begins at conception, stressing the idea that a human embryo is self-developing. And since it cannot become anything other than human, it is a living human. Albeit a fetus may technically of human origin, it does not have the ability to conduct a conscious thought. At that point, the biological qualities of an embryo are equivalent to a sesame seed, or an egg. Can we really say that every time we eat an egg, it is like eating an unborn child? According to pro-lifers, yes, and they are technically correct. An egg is a completely fertilized, undeveloped infant. Yet the average American eats them on a weekly basis. How can that be justified by the pro-life campaign? It cannot. For one to truly LOSE a life, one must be aware he or she is alive. Thought and emotion are

It is a woman’s right to make decisions about her body. If she is the one that undergoes the stress that comes with childbirth, then it should be her right to ,and her right alone to decide whether or not she wants to go through it or not. Not doing so would violate her right to freedom of choice, as well as lead to unsafe abortions that could harm the mother (Nair, 2010). Another question is how could you kill a fetus or embryo when it is the same as a human being? Which begs the question, if the fetus is alive, then so are the eggs and sperm? How do you make the distinction?

I agree completely that the fetus, or the human embryo, is in fact a living being. Moreover, human embryo is the “same” as human beings except, the difference between these two is that the embryo is not a full human person because the fetus is not fully developed yet. Every new life, whether it be animal or human, begins at conception. With this being said, no matter what the circumstances of conception, no matter how far along in the pregnancy, abortion, in my opinion, always ends the life of an individual human being.

Of all the legal, ethical, and moral issues we Americans continuously fight for or against, abortion may very well be the issue that Americans are most passionate about. The abortion issue is in the forefront of political races. Most recently the “no taxpayer funding for abortion act”, has abortion advocates reeling. Even though abortion has been legal in every state in the United States since the monumental Supreme Court decision, “Roe v Wade”, on January 22, 1973; there are fewer physicians willing to perform abortions today than in 2008. (Kraft) At the heart of the ethical dilemma for many in the medical profession is the viability of the fetus. And just to make this whole dilemma more confusing, according to the United States

Scientist, Doctors, the Bible (History), Senate and Pro-choice / Planned Parenthood all agree that an embryo is a person from the moment of

A woman has a right to her own body is an idea more and more women are realizing, but that idea ignores the unborn child's right to his or her own body. Never, in modern times, has the state granted to one citizen the right to have another killed in order to solve their personal, social, or economic problems. The embryo is its own being that should have it's own rights to protect it. The zygote is a unique genetic being.

In the Collins Dictionary of medicine, Youngson describes a fetus as , “ The developing individual form about the eighth or tenth week of life in the womb until the time of birth. The fetus has all the recognizable external characteristics of a human being.” As mentioned, a fetus is similar like a human who breathes and grows with the time, people do not have the right to take that life away. People are judgmental and closed-minded very often so they conclude, if a life does not appear human then it is not human so they decide to take the life of that fetus who can change the world someday. The Harvard Medical School exactly defines abortion as it “..is the removal of pregnancy tissue..”, if a woman is worried about