Abortion A Complex Issue Essay Research

Abortion A Complex Issue Essay, Research Paper

Abortion is a complex question of rights, of the mother and the baby, as well as the

many legal and moral issues that appear to be unresolvable. For many centuries the abortion issue has troubled people because it is a complex issue of “life” and who determines when life begins or ends. Strong opinions exist and are expressed by the “radical” pro-life people and the “radical” pro-life people who represent the two extreme views of abortion. The majority of Americans fall in between the two extremes. The only way to protect everyone s rights is to find a balance between the two “radical” extremes. There are several major points concerning abortion and this paper will attempt to outline the most important ones and draw a conclusion from these arguments on the morality of abortion.

Personhood is when the newborn baby is considered alive. Many people believe that once you have decided Medical science has tried to delineate when life begins, however it has raised more questions than it has answered. Extreme pro-choice people believe that the baby is not a life until it is born while more moderate pro-choice proponets argue that the fetus is alive at the 20 to 24 week point, or point of “viability”. Within the pro-choice group there are disagreements on when life actually begins and for this reason it is up to the individual to make that decision about her baby and her body. Pro-life people argue thaFrom a purely medical standpoint life begins when the fetus can survive outside the uterus or 24 weeks. Viability

Pro-life people argue that because every person is a gift from God and life begins at conception. If you kill that life at any point after conception than you are committing murder. They believe that every person is created in God s own image and is not the property or act of either parent, but a creation of God. If the mother decides to terminate that potential life she is committing murder. From a biblical perspective, one of the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith is “Thou shalt not kill”, a command that came directly from God. Therefore, it is a sin against God to go against him and have an abortion, thus killing that life. It is also a legal crime to commit murder, hence, it is the government s responsibility to protect the unborn s rights and make it against the law to have an abortion, except when the mother s life is in danger.

The goal of pro-life people is to overturn Roe vs. Wade, and pass federal legislation, in the form of a constitutional amendment, that would make abortion illegal and a punishable offense for a woman to receive an abortion for any reason, other than when her life is in danger. Pro-life supporters believe the doctor who performed the abortion should be charged with murder. Some believe that if abortion is illegal, it will reduce promiscuity among unmarried girls and women because of the fear of getting an illegal abortion and the increased shame of knowingly doing something that is against the law.

There are some people that consider themselves pro-life even though they believe that a woman has a right to a legal abortion if she had been raped or a victim of incest. Some in pro-life also approve and encourage the use of birth control. A dispute exists among the pro-life views, for example, the Catholic Church teaches that unnatural birth control should not be used. They teach that it interferes with God s plan of abstinence until marriage and families should have as many children as God wants them to raise. The pro-life advocates believe that civil law should reflect God s law and the unborn right s are to be protected above the mother s rights because of its defenselessness.

Pro-choice people, on the other hand, believe in the inalienable rights of the mother. There are many factions within the pro-choice issue but the common thread they all share is they do believe abortion should be legal until the fetus is alive. There are many ways to define when life starts, we can decide from a religious standpoint, as in the case of the pro-life argument, or from a medical standpoint, which is what many pro-choice people do. People in ancient times decided that abortion was not an illegal act if performed before “quickening”, the first recognizable movement of the fetus in utero, appearing usually from the 16th to the 18th week of pregnancy-. However, as medical science has advanced it can positively be determined that a fetus develops brain waves at 8 weeks, which is the medical definition of life. Also around 8 weeks the face begins to form with rudimentary eyes, ears, mouth and tooth buds. The fetus also is developing spinal chord, nervous system developing gastrointestinal system, and lungs. Some pro-choice people believe that life starts at 8 weeks because the fetus has the most basic beginnings of organs needed to sustain life, and if you allow the mother to terminate the pregnancy then you are allowing her to kill that potential human being. For this reason they believe that after 8 weeks abortion should be illegal and if this were the case 90% of all abortions would be eliminated. The problem with this is however, is most women do not even know they are pregnant until at least 6-8 weeks. This is the result of irregular menstruation cycles, mistaking spotting for a light cycle, or considering a missed cycle as a precursor to menopause.