The Moral And Legal Status Of Abortion

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.

There are numerous ethical issues that can develop in labor and delivery whether this issue influences the mother, baby, or both. In healthcare, it is an obligation for the provider to give ideal care, treatment, and prevent harm to patients while making ethical choices. Here and there, these choices aren 't highly contrasting and providers must outweigh benefits versus harm in order to give the best care possible for mother and baby. One case of an ethical issues that emerges in obstetrics is late abortion in raped victim women.

There are many common pregnancy alternatives, but most often the resulting decision is abortion because it is effortless. Abortion is endings a women’s pregnancy by removing or forcing a fetus or embryo from the mother’s womb before it is able to survive on its own. Not all abortions are purposely done some are spontaneous like when a women that has a miscarriage. Rather abortion is done purposely or naturally it is a worldwide complication as to it being wrong or right. Abortion is an ethical issue that will be analyzed according to a personal worldview and Christian worldview. Ethical thinking will be examined by value-based decisions that address abortion from the perspective of a Christian worldview and comparing it to a personal assumption by addressing ethical dilemma, core beliefs, resolution, evaluation, and comparison.

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

Abortion and the morality of it has been a hot topic for years in the United States although it has been carried out for centuries in different cultures. Abortion is a medical procedure deliberately terminating a pregnancy. Abortions usually happen within the first 28 weeks of pregnancy and are considered an outpatient procedure. The first abortion laws were passed by Britain in 1803 and by 1880 most abortions in the U.S. were illegal, except for those that were performed to save the life of a woman. This exception to the rule gives insight into the battle that exists today and the ethical debate of abortion.

The first issue often debated concerning abortion is the status of the fetus, and at what point in human development does a fetus become a person. This question can only be answered by understanding and defining what it is to be a person or personhood. Mary Anne Warren responses to this topic in “On The Moral and Legal State of Abortion and Postscript Infanticide” where Warren believes that a

The history of 'abortion ' in the United States is more complex than most people imagine. Abortion and issues surrounding abortion are involved in intense political and public debate in the United States, law varies from state to state with regards to state legislature of abortion. 'Until 1973, the control of abortion, was almost entirely in the hands of the government of the state. ' (Vile. M. J. C, 1999, P203) The focal legal debate surrounding the issue of abortion is whether a foetus has a basic legal right to live, which turns on to the question on when a foetus is potentially a person (when it becomes 'viable ') and therefore should be ultimately protected from this point. 'Pollitt identifies that to have the legal right to have an abortion, was a transformative event for women’s liberation: it saved women from death and injury; and enabled them to commit to education and work. It also changed how women saw themselves; as mothers by choice not by fate.’ (Kennedy. S, 2014, P56) This essay will critically discuss the role and variety of actors involved in the discussion of abortion in the United States, and the impact they have politically, socially and economically, by critically exploring relevant theory.

The issue of abortion has always been rising throughout the years. Is it power to the fetus or to the women? The famous Roe v. Wade trial, which was supposed to settle the idea and was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that was supposed to decide the issue of abortion. It was ruled in 1973, that the right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion, but that the right to privacy must be balanced between the woman’s and the state’s interests in regulating abortions: which is to protect prenatal life and protecting the woman’s health. Roe v. Wade reshaped the nation’s politics and divided the country into pro-choice and pro-life sides, while at the same time, it also created hostile states toward abortion clinics and creates the challenge of getting an abortion more difficult.

Abortion has impacted society and statics show that the split is almost even, however the pro-choice is the majority. The important cause of this controversy is the point at which a fetus is considered human is debated. It is far-fetched that an answer for this questionable ethical and moral issue can be found. With 47% of U.S. adults describing their views as "pro-choice" and 46% as "pro-life," which continues showing a pattern seen since 2010 (“Abortion”). While 80% of women in the United States are pro-choice, only 60% of men join them in their support of the legal right to an abortion (Urao.) A compromise is impossible with stakes so high.

This paper will explore the opinions of older and younger American adults regarding abortion. Abortion has long been a topic of strong debate and gray areas. There are many laws put into place stipulating aspects of the legality of abortion. It is often assumed that those of the younger generation identify as pro-choice, meaning they agree with the legality of abortion. On the other end of the spectrum, it is speculated that older adults lean more toward being pro-life, meaning they do not agree with the legality of abortion. I predict that older adults (40 years of age and older) will identify as pro-life more than younger adults (18-25). I will analyze previous research that has been done, as well as interpret surveys conducted by myself.

The important ways of looking at the issue of abortion are most easily categorized into five major points, legal precedence, birth control issues, human rights, religion and when life begins. Based on both empirical and moral claims, a wide spectrum of views supporting either more or less legal restriction on abortions has emerged in America. While advocacy groups define the issue through its constitutionality and its moral views represented by their constituents, politicians define the issue by party lines, generally with liberals as “pro-choice” and conservatives as “pro-life.” The media defines the issue morally, presenting to the nation the views of various “pro-life” and “pro-choice” organizations with little empirical evidence from both sides. The various positions that can be taken on this issue can be divided by empirical and moral assumptions to more clearly analyze the particulars of this heated topic. However, the issue focuses in on the basic question; should there be more or less laws governing abortion?

Abortion “is one of the most divisive moral and political issues” in this day and age (Wicclair & Gosman, 2005). There are many emotions tied to abortion, which makes it even more complicated to discuss. Multitudes of people ponder if abortion is right or wrong, and whether it should be considered permissible or not. One societal problem related to abortion concerns the fact that it tests ethical and moral values even though it is legal. Abortion continues to question the values of the United States, since it is a legitimate process now, but can be remedied by education, adoption, and overturning a law that has made abortion so easily available.

“On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”, an essay written by Mary Anne Warren, defend abortion in any stage of a woman’s pregnancy (pg 468). Warren argues that the potential to become a human being is not the same as being human and deserving the same right to life (pg. 468-472). This essay asserts that in order to be human, one must possess five particular traits (pg. 470). These trait are consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, the ability to communicate, and awareness of oneself (pg. 470). Warren claims that since a fetus has not yet acquired all of the traits, then that fetus is not human and therefore does not have the right to life (pg. 470).

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.

In the early 1980s, there was a massive increase in the crime rate in the United States. Eminent criminologists attributed the surge to “superpredators”: young and aggressive people who did not respect the law and committed serious crimes with no remorse. Those same criminologists believed the United States was heading for chaos because of the rise of superpredators. Then, unexpectedly, the crime rate drastically fell to its lowest in decades. By the early 2000s, the murder rate was the lowest that it had been in 30 years. Nobody knew precisely as to why there was a sudden dip in crime, and experts hypothesized several reasons for the cause. Some of the possibilities included innovative policing strategies, improved economic conditions, changes in drug markets, population aging, stricter gun control laws, harsher jail terms, an increase in police officers, capital punishment, and gun buybacks. However, there was a cause that many people completely overlooked: Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion. Dramatic effects will often have distant and subtle reasons that, if people were to take a more in-depth look at them, could discern the appropriate causes and prevent a disaster from occurring or maintain good habits. The causality to the rapid and sudden decline in crime rates in the United States resulted due to economic means. However, the Roe v. Wade debates played a significant role in the diminishing crime rates as legalizing abortions would lead to fewer criminals.