Introduction
Abortion is a controversial topic because it deals with the question of human life and death. There are no contemporary ethical issues so emotionally charged and inviting of public, political, legal and moral controversy as those involving matters of life and death. Abortion is one such ethical issue and one that has the capacity not only to cause extreme and damaging divisions among people, but violence as well. abortion is defined differently by those who do support it and those who do not. This is significant, in that it again raises questions concerning the supposed value neutrality of so-called ‘objective’ moral definitions and concepts, and the extent to which these can be ethically loaded (Stetson 34). Thesis Abortion is morally wrong and is not permissible because it kills a human being and violates its rights and freedoms.
Impact of Abortion of Women’s Health
Pro-life advocates are as one in their beliefs about the origin of life, while pro-choice people disagree on the point of origin and are also inclined to dismiss the question as not vital to their own position. Pro-lifers march in step with each other on the bottom-line view that human life begins at conception. Primarily, the question of abortion affects women and their health. The decision to make an abortion involves emotional and psychological trauma, but it some cases it can be the only possible solution to family problems.
Abortion is not morally wrong because it helps a woman and family to make their choice and control their destiny. “If we want poor women to make choices which might benefit the larger community then society needs to make choices which benefit poor communities” (Colker 49). Critics state that abortion is a traumatic event causing emotional suffering. Thus, pregnancy and child birth is mare traumatic causing physical changes and psychological stress.
A woman should have a right to choose her destiny and avoid health risks. Very often, illnesses and psychological disorders are the main causes of abortion. Some women have to choose between personal health and unborn child. Another popular argument raised in defense of abortion under a moderate’s banner is that a woman is under no moral obligation to bring a pregnancy to term, particularly in instances where the pregnancy has been forced upon her (as in the case of rape), or where the pregnancy has not resulted from a voluntary and informed choice (as in cases involving the intellectually impaired, the ignorant and uneducated, or, quite simply, contraceptive failure). “A woman who has not chosen to engage in sexual intercourse is not likely to have the opportunity to choose to use contraception (and certainly will not be able to persuade her partner to use contraception)” (Colker 68).
Spiritual Considerations
Spiritual considerations are important for religious families believing in God’s providence and destiny. The pro-life perspective conceives of the individual woman as an extended figure. A woman is part of a set of mutually beneficial obligations that individuals have to each other (Stetson 23). The joys and pains of childbirth are well documented. Viewing pregnancy as the fulfillment of beneficial obligations requires a stress on joy instead of pain. The Good Samaritan role–roughly, rendering assistance beyond that which duty requires–stresses the painful character of pregnancy. In both roles, however, the individual woman is an extended figure. The private figure of pro-choice gives way to the individual who merges self-interest with the interests of others (Stetson 99).
According to the conservative position, abortion is an absolute moral wrong, and thus something which should never be permitted under any circumstances — not even in self-defense, such as cases where a continued pregnancy would almost certainly result in the mother’s death. A common concern among conservative anti-abortionists is that, if abortion is permitted, then respect for the sanctity of human life will be diminished, making it easier for human life to be taken in other circumstances.
Arguments typically raised against abortion here are almost always based on the sanctity-of-life doctrine (Stetson 92). Whether human beings do in fact have a natural right to life, and whether fetuses are in fact human beings, are matters of on-going philosophical controversy.
There were numerous difficulties involved in formulating and applying precise criteria of personhood. An entity does not need to have all five attributes described, and that it is possible that attributes given in criteria are sufficient for personhood, and might even qualify as necessary criteria for personhood. Given these criteria, all that needs to be claimed to demonstrate that an entity (including a fetus) is not a person is that any entity which fails to satisfy all of the five criteria listed is not a person.
Abortion is the only possible way to control population growth and avoid the army of poor and unemployed. These facts show that abortion is the only possible decision for many women to avoid undesired pregnancy or health risks caused by pregnancy. Many poor families and single mothers cannot afford a second or a third child unable to support a new born. Abortion should be considered an immoral act, but it is the only possible decision to save happiness of a family and women’s health.
Cases when Abortion can be Justified
Abortion may still be justified on carefully defined grounds, namely: self-defense (for example, where the life or health of the mother would be at risk if the pregnancy was allowed to continue); or unavoidability (for example, where abortion cannot be avoided, such as in the case of pregnancy or accidental injury). Abortions performed on lesser grounds are unjustified (Kramlich 783). Thus, in the case of life-threatening pregnancy, at least, a woman’s right to life overrides that of the fetus.
If women are not permitted to have abortions, the community might find itself deprived of the beneficial contributions that a woman freed of the burdens of child rearing would otherwise be free to make (Kramlich 783). There are also cases in which others stand to benefit from the pregnant woman’s bearing a child, and that this too might contribute to the community’s benefit. The bottom line of this position is that abortion is morally permitted in some situations, and might even be ‘morally required’ in others, and it is not morally permitted in some other types of situations.
Against this, it might still be claimed that the inconveniences and other psychological, physical or social ills caused by an unwanted pregnancy are still not enough to justify killing the fetus and violating its right to life. The demand not to kill the fetus becomes even more persuasive when it is considered that there are alternatives available for helping to prevent or alleviate the ills of unwanted pregnancies.
In sum, abortion is like no other issue in its capacity to enlarge our moral and political perspectives. From personal standpoint, abortion is immoral. At the center of abortion disputes is this question: Many extended and poor family are not supported by the government and women have to make abortion to avoid financial burden and poverty. Abortion should be permitted in a variety of exceptional circumstances, when for example the woman’s life is in danger, on the grounds that even the highest moral rules have limits. From public standpoint, abortion does not benefit the society because it violates human rights and freedoms granted by the constitution and values by religion and cultural traditions.
Works Cited
Colker, Ruth. Abortion & Dialogue: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and American Law.
Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN. Publication Year: 2002.
Kramlich, M. The Abortion Debate Thirty Years Later: From Choice to Coercion. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 31 (2004), 783.
Stetson, D.M. Abortion Politics, Women’s Movements, and the Democratic State: A Comparative Study of State Feminism. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Draft
Abortion is one such ethical issue and one that has the capacity not only to cause extreme and damaging divisions among people, but violence as well. abortion is defined differently by those who do support it and those who do not. This is significant, in that it again raises questions concerning the supposed value neutrality of so-called ‘objective’ moral definitions and concepts, and the extent to which these can be ethically loaded (Stetson 34). Thesis Abortion is morally wrong and is not permissible because it kills a human being and violates its rights and freedoms.
Abortion is a controversial topic because it deals with the question of human life and death. There are no contemporary ethical issues so emotionally charged and inviting of public, political, legal and moral controversy as those involving matters of life and death. Pregnancy and child birth is mare traumatic causing physical changes and psychological stress. A woman should have a right to choose her destiny and avoid health risks.
Very often, illnesses and psychological disorders are the main causes of abortion. Some women have to choose between personal health and unborn child. Another popular argument raised in defense of abortion under a moderate’s banner is that a woman is under no moral obligation to bring a pregnancy to term, particularly in instances where the pregnancy has been forced upon her (as in the case of rape), or where the pregnancy has not resulted from a voluntary and informed choice (as in cases involving the intellectually impaired, the ignorant and uneducated, or, quite simply, contraceptive failure). “A woman who has not chosen to engage in sexual intercourse is not likely to have the opportunity to choose to use contraception (and certainly will not be able to persuade her partner to use contraception)” (Colker 68).
Spiritual considerations are important for religious families believing in God’s providence and destiny. The pro-life perspective conceives of the individual woman as an extended figure. A woman is part of a set of mutually beneficial obligations that individuals have to each other (Stetson 23). The joys and pains of childbirth are well documented. Viewing pregnancy as the fulfillment of beneficial obligations requires a stress on joy instead of pain.
The Good Samaritan role–roughly, rendering assistance beyond that which duty requires–stresses the painful character of pregnancy. In both roles, however, the individual woman is an extended figure. The private figure of pro-choice gives way to the individual who merges self-interest with the interests of others (Stetson 99). Abortion is not morally wrong because it helps a woman and family to make their choice and control their destiny. “If we want poor women to make choices which might benefit the larger community then society needs to make choices which benefit poor communities” (Colker 49). Critics state that abortion is a traumatic event causing emotional suffering.
Primarily, the question of abortion affects women and their health. The decision to make an abortion involves emotional and psychological trauma, but it some cases it can be the only possible solution to family problems. According to the conservative position, abortion is an absolute moral wrong, and thus something which should never be permitted under any circumstances — not even in self-defense, such as cases where a continued pregnancy would almost certainly result in the mother’s death. A common concern among conservative anti-abortionists is that, if abortion is permitted, then respect for the sanctity of human life will be diminished, making it easier for human life to be taken in other circumstances. Arguments typically raised against abortion here are almost always based on the sanctity-of-life doctrine (Stetson 92).
There were numerous difficulties involved in formulating and applying precise criteria of personhood. An entity does not need to have all five attributes described, and that it is possible that attributes given in criteria are sufficient for personhood, and might even qualify as necessary criteria for personhood. Given these criteria, all that needs to be claimed to demonstrate that an entity (including a fetus) is not a person is that any entity which fails to satisfy all of the five criteria listed is not a person.
Abortion is the only possible way to control population growth and avoid the army of poor and unemployed. These facts show that abortion is the only possible decision for many women to avoid undesired pregnancy or health risks caused by pregnancy. Many poor families and single mothers cannot afford a second or a third child unable to support a new born. Abortion should be considered an immoral act, but it is the only possible decision to save happiness of a family and women’s health.
Abortion may still be justified on carefully defined grounds, namely: self-defense (for example, where the life or health of the mother would be at risk if the pregnancy was allowed to continue); or unavoidability (for example, where abortion cannot be avoided, such as in the case of pregnancy or accidental injury). Abortions performed on lesser grounds are unjustified (Kramlich 783). Thus, in the case of life-threatening pregnancy, at least, a woman’s right to life overrides that of the fetus. If women are not permitted to have abortions, the community might find itself deprived of the beneficial contributions that a woman freed of the burdens of child rearing would otherwise be free to make (Kramlich 783).
There are also cases in which others stand to benefit from the pregnant woman’s bearing a child, and that this too might contribute to the community’s benefit. The bottom line of this position is that abortion is morally permitted in some situations, and might even be ‘morally required’ in others, and it is not morally permitted in some other types of situations. Against this, it might still be claimed that the inconveniences and other psychological, physical or social ills caused by an unwanted pregnancy are still not enough to justify killing the fetus and violating its right to life. Whether human beings do in fact have a natural right to life, and whether fetuses are in fact human beings, are matters of on-going philosophical controversy.
Conclusion
In sum, abortion is like no other issue in its capacity to enlarge our moral and political perspectives. I suppose that abortion is immoral. Many extended and poor family are not supported by the government and women have to make abortion to avoid financial burden and poverty. Abortion should be permitted in a variety of exceptional circumstances, when for example the woman’s life is in danger, on the grounds that even the highest moral rules have limits.