Common Pro-Life Vs. Common Pro-Choice

Common pro-life vs. common pro-choice

In the following paragraphs, I will give arguments on abortion. I will present elements from the pro-life side and from the pro-choice side. I will then give an assessment and an opinion on the issue.

Christianity arose in the Greco-Roman world in which abortion was abundant due to the fact that infants did not have legal status until accepted by their families. However, the Biblical view apposed this and assumed that God's power was working in the mother's womb bringing the child to human life; thus apposing abortion. Jesus called these infants "powerless little children" who, as members of God's kingdom, should be give a special respect. Later, theologians looked closer at abortion but condemned it at every stage of fetal development. The Sacred Congregation issued the "Declaration on Procured Abortion" in 1974 that was the most authoritative statement on abortion. A few of things it stated was that the first right of humans is their life and it must be protected. The right to life in an infant should be respected in the just the same way it is in a mature person. Also, a life is begun at the time of its conception. There are also three principles that the church takes on abortion: 1) The most sacred right of every human is the right to life; 2) It is the duty of society to uphold and protect basic human rights and to have special care for the innocent and weak; 3) The social approval of abortion will encourage disrespect for the sanctity of human life.

The matter of abortion, of course, has another side to it as well. That is the pro-life side which is fiercely debated in this society. There are many people out there that support abortion for a number of reasons. However those who do, generally base this on a few of the following principles: 1) The principle of integrity; a woman's right to privacy, to control her own body, and to be protected from violations of her physical and conscientious integrity; 2) The developing child has no rights, that it is within the province of the mother, the state or simple majorities to decide which humans are to have protectable status in law and which are not; 3) The choice for abortion is a matter of choosing the "lesser of evils." It is thought to be preferable to bearing a defective child, or an "unwanted child".

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