Is Abortion Wrong or is it Right?
Abortion is defined as: “the termination of pregnancy and expulsion of
an embryo or of a fetus that is incapable of survival.” However, if only the
debate over the abortion issue was as simple as the definition provided
above. Much like every aspect of human life, a statement is neither right
nor wrong, but simply left open for interpretation. There is no black and
white in life, only gray areas. Some issues tend to provide us more gray
areas than others. Abortion is a prime example of that. Those who refute
abortion claim that it is the murder of a helpless baby who has not yet had
the chance to live and function as a human being. However, the debate
opposite it is just as fervent: it is a woman’s right to choose what happens
to her body, and if she decides that she is not capable of bringing a child
into this world, than she shouldn’t be forced to out of nature. Where do we
draw the line between humane and inhumane, necessitated death and murder?
When does a woman’s right over her internal reproductive organs become that
of the government’s? Is abortion wrong or is it right? Are rape, incest,and
potential fatality to the mother exceptions when abortion is “okay”? Are
there truly any at all? So many questions are raised by such a fervent
debate, that we must look at both sides of the issue to better understand it
in a general, but yet thorough approach.
As expected, there are many people that are opposed to abortion. These
people are better referred to as “pro-life advocates”, or essentially, they
advocate the life of the baby over the woman’s right to choose. Groups such
as Human Life International (HLI), The Christian Coalition, and many others
support the right of human life. There are several reasons why people who
are pro-life do not support abortion. A main argument is that one is killing
an unborn baby, murdering an unsuspecting life, in their decision to have an
abortion. They are trying to “play God” by killing someone. However, they
also feel that abortion is a dangerous procedure, and puts the mother at
risk as well. Pro-life advocates feel that there are other options other
than abortion. Adoption, for instance, provides an alternative to abortion.
Adoption would provide the baby with, (hopefully), a warm, loving home.
There are many people that are willing to take in children; people that
can’t have children of their own. Pro-life advocates who are opposed to any
and all killing would definitely support finding a home for a baby as
opposed to terminating it. Many pro-life advocates feel like, ‘you choose to
have sex, and now you must face the consequences of your actions.’ The
aspect of “playing God” has surfaced in recent years. Pro-life advocates
feel that a mother deciding to terminate her pregnancy is deciding something
that God normally would. For example, if God wanted a woman to lose her
child, he would have her miscarry. There are many different aspects of
pro-life that can be interpreted in even more ways.
The second side to the debate, of course, is pro-choice. A pro-choice
advocate is someone who feels that the woman’s right to choose should come
before anything, even human life. The main argument of “pro-choice”
advocates is naturally that women should have the right to choose what
happens to their own bodies. They use the Roe vs. Wade case of 1973 to
support their arguments. Roe vs. Wade has provided a fundamental basis for
nearly all of the laws regarding abortion that exist today. It ruled that
“the right of privacy… is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision
whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (Roe. v. Wade, 1973). However,
aside from the obvious issue of whether or not it is a woman’s right to
choose, pro-choice advocates also bring into play the idea of a mother’s
physical safety. In cases where the mother may be put in grave danger if she
were forced to give birth to a child, some people feel abortion should be
implicated. There are other instances where people feel that abortion is
justified. Rape and incest. It seems unfair to most pro-choice advocates,
and many women in general, that a woman be forced to have a baby that was
conceived out of rape or incest. It seems that every time the mother were to
look upon her child, he or she would be a constant reminder of the horrible
act that brought about that child’s creation into this world. Also, incest
can raise issues of mental retardation and handicaps. However, among all
these issues, the right to choose remains the main focus of pro-choice
advocates.
In recent years, the abortion debate has grown to encompass other aspects of
“early-termination” pregnancy procedures. Partial-birth abortions, abortions
in the third trimester, and the recent “day-after” or RU-486 pill, now add a
new aspect to the abortion issue. Partial-birth abortions and abortions in
the third trimester are exceedingly controversial, because they involve the
termination and/or expulsion of an actual fetus from the womb, where as many
early-prenatal abortions involve the expulsion of an embryo. It wouldn’t
appear that one might be more controversial than the other, but in some
countries, and for a time in America, partial-birth abortions meant that the
baby was breached halfway from the womb, and then its neck was broken,
killing it instantly. It has since been outlawed in the United States as a
result of the numerous outraged pro-life, and even some pro-choice members
who found it to be totally and utterly inhumane. The RU-486 pill is no more
controversial than any other aspect of abortion, except tends to raise the
aspect of “playing God” with many pro-life advocates. The RU-486 pill sends
messages telling the brain that the woman that was inseminated was already
pregnant, and thus the ovum that had been created, is expelled, because the
body believes it is already impregnated. These procedures raise many of the
same issues as abortion itself.
However one feels about abortion can be very influenced depending on where
one might choose to read about it. Sites like Planned Parenthood will give a
more objective, unbiased, approach, where as a site like Human Rights
International would be extremely biased. I hope that my paper has provided
an objective, broad, overview of the abortion debate, and encompassed every
portion of the spectrum. And although the abortion debate is filled with
gray areas, the interpretation that one chooses to understand those gray
areas with is what will ultimately answer their own personal questions about
the morality (or immorality) of abortion.
WORKS CITED:
Human Life International (Online)
<http://www.humanlifeinternational.org/>
Encarta Encyclopedia (Online)
“Social and Ethical Issues”
<http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761553899>
Planned Parenthood (Online)
<http://www.plannedparenthood.org/>
Facts on File (Online)
World News Digest “Key Issue: Abortion”
<http://www.2facts.com/Ancillaries/index/z00002.asp>
United States Conservative Party (Online)
<http://www.usconservatives.about.com/cs/abortionstats/>
Is Abortion Wrong or is it Right? abortion argumentative persuasive
