Abortion – Is a Woman’s Right to Choose More Important Than a Child’s Right to Live?

Is a woman’s right to choose more important than a child’s right to live? When it come to abortion, there will always be two groups of people: one who believes that abortion is the killing of a human being, and the other who believes that every women has the right to determine and control what happens to her own body. Abortion can occur naturally, often known as miscarriage, if the body feels it must get rid of any badness, but the baby must still be removed from the womb, the same as if it were an abortion. Abortions became legal in 1967.

Many abortions before that were carried out in unhygienic conditions by unqualified abortionist. These were known as ‘back street abortionists’. Due to this many women died of infection and suffered great pain. Women had to do this because it was socially wrong to have children out of marriage and could lead to girls being disowned by family and their community. A law was passed for doctors to carry out abortions without fear of being arrested. This was to stop the deaths of women and to help them cope and for them not to live in fear. The main reasons for abortion are: A girl becomes pregnant at an early age. This is considered a reason to terminate pregnancy because the girl will have a future ahead of her and been pregnant will stop her from doing lots of things such as going out with her friends and will shorten childhood. The community would also frown upon it and this could cause problems for the family. ·Peer pressure. Often a young girl is forced to have an abortion by parents or guardians. This could be because they don’t want anyone to find out or they think she is to young to become a mother. ·Financial hardship.

If a woman doesn’t have the funds to support a baby she might decide to get rid of it to save herself from stress and debt. ·Baby conceived due to rape or incest. A woman may want to terminate this pregnancy because if she goes ahead with it, it will be a dreadful reminder of what happened to her and what horrific circumstances in which she conceived. ·The baby shows signs that it is going to be handicapped. Knowing this might make the women choose to have an abortion if she thought she couldn’t cope or it might weaken her relationship with her partner. Medical abortions are usually preformed later on in pregnancy, Drugs are given.

If the child is old enough to be born alive it is sometimes given a lethal injection beforehand so that it will die in the womb. There is also the morning after pill which only works for up to 72 hours after conception. Surgical abortions can be carried out in several ways: ·Vacuum aspiration. The baby is sucked out and down a powerful ‘vacuum cleaner’ ·Dilation and curettage. The baby is scraped out of the womb. ·Dilation and Evacuation. Forceps are used to crush the unborn baby and is removed from the womb in bits. The biblical teachings on abortion that could be used in a discussion are:

Genesis: ‘God gave life and only God should take it away’. By saying this we claim that only God has the right and is worthy enough to take life and give it. Jeremiah: ‘We are precious and special’. By aborting young humans is not treating them for the precious things that they are but destroying their existence. Psalm: ‘Before you were born, I knew you’. If this teaching was used in discussion we are saying that God knows us before we are born so killing a child in the womb is just as bad as killing one outside of the womb as both of them have equal rights in Gods eyes.

Commandment: ‘you shall not kill’. Killing a child in the womb is just as bad as killing one outside of the womb. Respect life. The bible doest say ‘respect life unless the child is handicapped’ because we are all equal in Gods eyes. Whatever the circumstances of conception, all human life is sacred. Commandment: ‘Love one another’. Abortion is not a loving act. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. – Mother Teresa.

The Church teachings on abortion that could be used in a discussion are: Pope John Paul the 2nd: Abortion is an unspeakable crime. If the head of the Catholic Church condemns it then shouldn’t all Catholics? The countries that allow abortion are the poorest of the poor- Mother Teresa. This doesn’t mean poor as in lack of money but poor in spiritual and morally poor. Catechism of the Catholic Church: ‘from its conception the child has its right to life. Abortion is a criminal practise’. Catechism of the Catholic Church:’ the embryo must be defended cared for and healed like every other human being.

If a woman is pregnant and is killed and the baby doest survive, the murderer can be charged for 2 murders. One murder takes place in every abortion. The baby’s heart starts beating between 18 to 25 days of conception. In one-month time, the baby’s eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop. In 40 days, the baby’s brain waves can be detected, its lips are present and fingernails are formed. By 12 weeks, the baby can experience pain; it now has the spinal cord and nerves. The sweetest thing happens on the 17th week, the baby can now have dreams.

Now wouldn’t it be a cruel decision to kill this baby? Roman Catholics might out their beliefs about abortion into action by condemning the sin but not the sinner. We should give the sinner a chance to ask for forgiveness and forgive them. We should also talk to women who are thinking of having abortions, who are confused about their pregnancy and show them that there are other choices available to them, which don’t include killing the baby such as: ·Fostering. Short-term care for the child until the mother decides what she wants to do and sorts her self out.

Fostering could be a useful as the woman still has the choice to keep the baby and has time to explore her emotions and decide what she wants to do. ·Adoption. Permanent handing over of a child. It will be looked after and cared for by someone else. If the mother decides she doesn’t want the baby she wont have to live with the guilt of killing it, she will have peace of mind knowing that it is being loved and looked after by someone who wants a baby. ·Other family members or parents look after the child.

This is a possible choice for the new mother, as she would still get to see the baby regularly. It is also useful if the mother is a young schoolgirl or is still in education, as people would think it isn’t her baby therefore she will be able to continue living as a child. On the other hand, every mother has emotional attachments to her newborn baby and seeing the baby regularly might confuse her about how she feels and whether she wants anything to do with the baby. ·Life. Life is a non-denominational group who offer shelter and a safe accommodation for new mothers and their babies.

Here they have the company and support of women in a similar situation. LIFE gives the women time to plan their future and is a place of peace so the women can think about what they want to do. LIFE tries to save abortions from happening but if that is what the woman really wants then LIFE can offer counselling afterwards to ensure the women is ok mentally and physically, to go back to her normal lifestyle. “Abortion is never justified” Some would say abortion is justified in some circumstances such as conception due to rape.

Having a baby from this horrific ordeal can be traumatising for the woman and is going to be a constant reminder of what happened to her and deciding to abort the baby might lessen the emotional impact. On the other hand it isn’t the baby’s fault that it was conceived and the woman shouldn’t be selfish and destroy an unborn child’s life because it isn’t the babies fault that the woman was raped and so the women should try to bring something good out of a terrible situation but by aborting the baby she is making it worse and also, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Other situations such as disabilities for example the parents may have found out that the child could have mental problems. This may cause stress to the parents and they may not be able to cope with the stress and responsibilities of a less able child because they need more time and care than children without disabilities. All life is sacred said Jesus.

This means that no matter what they look like on the inside or out, we are all made in Gods image and likeness and we do not decide what is good enough for God. God is the giver of life and only he can take it away and he would not take someone’s life for the reason that they are different. In my opinion, I do not agree with abortions but I can understand why women have them. Abortion is the killing of an unborn child, which is murder, and murder is wrong.