One of the most important philosophical issues ever concerns the definition of a person and who is able to feel. Abortion, which is a deliberate termination of pregnancy, is one of the most important practical applications of that issue. Life on Earth is threatened with destruction from overpopulation and the poverty that overpopulation causes. Fortunately, abortion can prevent overpopulation. The question about whether abortion should be done is primarily the question about whether the embryo or fetus is a person. In most cases, the embryo weighs less than 100grams: less than 10% of human brain. Abortion should be legal since it is useful and since humans become conscious after birth, not before.
Values for Human Society
People are
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If an embryo that does not feel is terminated, then the conscious object, a person, is never created. Not creating a person is not immoral: When people are not having sex, they are not creating a person. If the society has an optimum population, the net benefit (benefit minus harm) of an extra person will on average be zero.
Practical Effects of Abortion
The world has a problem of overpopulation, not under-population. The environmental problems occur largely because too many people exist and strain the natural resources. Thus, not creating an extra person is on average good for the society. (If creating a person would on average be good, then more people should be created, and the population size is too small, not too large.) In abortion, when a mother chooses not to create a person, the person is unwanted and thus probably should not be created.
Much of the poverty found throughout the world is caused by having too many children. Abortion prevents that and thus reduces poverty. Poverty contributes to crime. Therefore, abortion reduces crime. Unfortunately, the government in the USA does not support abortion for poor people.
A serious defect in an embryo gives additional reasons for its termination. For example, Down syndrome is a severe congenital disorder that "is a major cause of mental retardation, worldwide." (Cozic 138) Fortunately, fetal testing (with abortion) can prevent it. If the couple with a defective embryo is
Should abortion be allowed in the United States? If so, then under what circumstances? Abortion has been one of the most heatedly debated topics in the U.S. for more than a century. This paper explores the history and international use of abortion, as well as the empirical and moral claims made by both sides of the issue. We will also examine the key positions taken on abortion and look at those affected by it. Based on extensive research and analysis, this paper will recommend that the government increase abortion funding and availability.
Abortion has been and still is one of the most controversial topics in American culture. The reason for the controversy is the different viewpoints of this very personal matter. Some believe that abortion is the same as murder. Others believe it’s a personal choice which only they have the right to make. Due to the nature of the procedure and the concerns associated with ending a pregnancy, abortion will continue to top the list of “touchy” subjects in American politics and culture. As a pro-choice advocate, it is important for the right to have an abortion to be established and protected.
The topic of abortion has been a highly debated and highly controversial issue before America was even founded. There are many aspects of the debate and many angles that can be taken. In order to understand, and to form an opinion on the topic of abortion a person must be informed about the History of abortion, the methods of abortion performed today, the potential side affects of abortion, and the two different and equally debatable sides that are taken today. These are all very important issues to be informed about
Women may have an abortion for a variety of reasons, but in general they choose abortion because a pregnancy at that time is in some way wrong for them. “Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before it is mature enough to live on its own” (Kuechler 1996). When this happens spontaneously we call it a miscarriage. Induced abortion is brought about deliberately by a medical procedure that ends pregnancy. Legal abortion, carried out by trained medical practitioners, is one of the most common and safest surgical procedures. “About 1.5 million American women choose to have induced abortions each year. Less than 1% of all abortion patients experience a major complication associated with the procedure” (Kuechler 1996).
Through every choice in life, there is a decision that must follow. Abortion is a woman’s individual choice; therefore, must be a legal part in todays society. Individual rights have an outstanding role in the controversial topic, on whether abortion should become legal in the United States . The individual rights for abortion show rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. As well, women should be able to have the choice to choose to have an abortion for several important reasons. The right to make these decisions should lie in the hands of the “mother” to make decisions concerning their own to make decisions concerning their own bodies. In addition, women should be given the choice to have an abortion if they are too young
The abortion controversy has been debated for years. The presidential election this year has become very involved with this topic. On one side, John F. Kerry, along with third party candidate Ralph Nader, the pro-choice supporters, sees individual choice as central to the debate: If a woman cannot choose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, a condition which affects her body and possibly her entire life, then she has lost one of her most basic human rights. However, George Bush feels the complete opposite. He thinks having an abortion is unethical and unjust. I agree with Kerry. The government has no right to interfere with a mother’s decision and trying to deny abortion to any woman is denying that mother’s civil
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.
Abortion can have several effects on the society. Some may be noticeable, and others less. Abortion increases the amount of unintended pregnancies and deaths, and can affect the economy due to low birth rates (Dailard, 2001). Legalizing abortion reduces the consequences of having a child which increases the amount of sexual activity (Dailard, 2001). This results in the large number of children being conceived than there would have been if abortion wasn’t as available (Dailard, 2001). Some women who have unintended pregnancies will seek out an abortion regardless of its legal situation, even if it can put their lives in danger (Dailard 2001). In many countries where abortion is illegal, women tend to get abortions at a very high rate (Dailard, 2001). It is estimated there are around six-hundred-thousand pregnancy related deaths, and out of those, there were seventy-eight-thousand that are caused by complications due to unsafe abortions (Dailard, 2001). As the death rates increase, the birthrates decrease. As shown in a study in New Zealand, in some developing countries, abortion is leading to lower birthrates (“Impact of Abortion on Society”). Those lower birthrates can lead to a decrease in sales (“Impact of Abortion on Society”). In the twenty-two years leading up to 1999, there were over two-hundred thousand abortions, which led to the fewer sales of children items (“Impact of Abortion on Society”). As abortion has not severely effected society
As the world is being overpopulated in the view of some people, there has been a chance that the on-going generation has made plans throughout their life that doesn not involve marriage, children, or even any types of dating/ love. However, humans being humans and as curious and desirous as they are, they are still wanting to behave as humans and using their right to procreate without an eternal purpose. There has been an issue involving the argument of abortion and planned parenthood, if those two topics concerning the population growth/ decay and the personal rights of people who have a choice to procreate using their bodies.
As we think about this idea that is spreading throughout the world, most of us won’t think that there are any positive sides or benefits of taking human’s life away. Besides the bad sides of it, there are various costs that are not even coming because of abortion if we look in term of human life and well-being. A lot of people go for it because of the costs that they will have after the baby is born. In the process, you free society from the long-term engenderment and influence of a starkly unique human being (The Cost of Life, 2004).An issue that it might cause is the decrementation of the number of population (The Cost and Consequences of Abortion, 2009). There is nothing big that can make people to make their steps to this.
Another reason women may look to abortion as a solution is if the fetus faces abnormalities or
Abortion is always argued with different cases and play a main role in medical ethics (blackwell.,p291).It is evidently reasonable for some to argue that in moral situation, abortion is a murder and it should be illegal, while others may claim that abortion is woman’s right when concerning on autonomy ( The abortion debate in Australia). Opponents of making abortion legal claim that abortion is a kind of murder on extend of moral situation. It is always regarded as a sin to kill a person who is no aggressor in most moral communities (new ethics 1). Fetus is a biologically human as it is not just a part of the mothers, such as a lung or a kidney. On the contrary, it is obvious that fetus is human due to he or she has genetic code of human and human parents as well (abortion myth p5). Moreover, it has potentiality to be a person with primary moral worth (text book p210-211). As Gillion (new ethics) pointed out, every person has his right to life, especially he is not an aggressor. This point is also been pointed by (Rebecca and john,Blackwell p204), “embryos has a right to life” .The fetus is innocent and
Abortion may be one of the most ongoing disagreements throughout time, some may consider this act as wrong such as specified in this quote by Mother Teresa: “The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.” Abortion not only murders an unborn child, causes guilt for the mother’s decision to end her pregnancy and may cause problems to the mother’s health; abortion is irreversible that child will not have life. Some women having an abortion can suffer from damage to the uterus, internal bleeding including having pieces of the baby left inside her body causing difficulties. By means of ending the pregnancy, the mother may
Abortion The topic of Abortion is one of the most controversial of our times. It has caused countless deaths and several violent confrontations between the two separate parties of opinion. The fight between pro-life and pro-choice supporters has been long and brutal. This is because, despite what several people may believe, abortion is neither right nor wrong. It is a matter of personal opinion and it varies from person to person. In this way, each side can say with certainty that the other side is wrong. Therefore, the question remains; should abortion be legal? Though some may disagree on this point, the fact that legalizing abortion is the only option that will protect the lives of American citizens. This is all because of the
Today, 76 percent of the world's people live in countries where induced abortion is legal, at least for health reasons, and 39 percent reside in nations where abortion is available upon request. The procedure is legal in nearly every developed country, and although a majority of developing countries prohibit abortion, 67 percent of the residents of the developing world live in countries where it is permitted at least for health reasons. The other 33 percent-more than one billion people, most of living in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the more strongly fundamentalist Islamic nations-have little of no access to legal induced abortion.