Morality of Abortion

Morality of Abortion

For the past couple of decades, the issue of abortion has been the most heated topic debated in the United States. When considering this topic, one must look at three things: ethics, emotions and the law; for all of these are important to this issue. Like any debate, there are two sides to this issue: pro-choice and pro-life. The people who are pro- abortion say that the mother is the ultimate person to decide to abort a pregnancy and that the government should not get involved. On the other hand, a person against abortion would state that from the time of conception, the embryo/fetus is considered a human being. By aborting one is committing murder and taking away that human being's life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as stated in the United States Constitution. When investigating the topic of abortion many questions come up. Can abortion be morally justified? What about in the case of therapeutic abortion or rape?

Eighteen days after conception, the fetus contains its own heartbeat. After three months the fetus has already developed all the organs and all the systems in their body needed. They are able to move around and do many other things. When I look at these facts and think about abortion, it seems evident that this is murder. In my opinion abortion is immoral, but on the other hand there are specific conditions and circumstances where abortion can be morally justified. Every year there are about 1.2 million abortions and out of those only 1-2% are because of therapeutic abortion or the cause of rape. That 1-2% is the group that I believe are justified in aborting their pregnancy, because I believe in the protection of life the mother who is already a fully developed human being should be saved first, and in the case of a rape victim why should they suffer even greater consequences of such a violent act to begin with?

Most abortions take place because of failure in the contraceptive or just because the woman suddenly decides she does not want to have a baby for whatever various reasons. I feel that if a woman, or a couple, is/are ready to have sexual intercourse, they should also be capable of bearing the potential responsibilities that come along with Ð''negative consequences.' Granted this seems to lay a greater burden on the woman's shoulders (if the case is of wedlock), but as humans we are physically created this way-hence there must be some kind of natural innate or divine law in progress. In my own opinion it probably shows that those outside the bounds of marriage should not treat sex recreationally. A counter argument to that could be that several couples as well are not responsible enough, do not have the maturity/financial means/family support, etc that are necessary to raise a happy healthy child, so they try to be Ð''safe' when engaging in sexual activities but end up pregnant and cannot Ð''handle' a child so they have an abortion. Some would believe that abortion is a better alternative than to give the child an improper upbringing. I can understand the logic behind such a statement, a concern for quality of life, but I still do not feel that it justifies ending a human life. I believe that if one thinks they are responsible enough to have sex they should be ready to face the consequences and the burden of raising a child, regardless of if it means missing several great opportunities that life had in store for you. Choosing to abort the pregnancy is taking the easy, cowardice and immoral way out.

These people generally have many various and viable options rather than aborting the pregnancy and killing the unborn child; a common one is to pursue adoption. Instead of stealing the chance of life from the child, who may have the potential to become someone very substantial or influential, they give it a chance to live and prosper. The opposing side may argue that by choosing to keep the baby, the mother will have to spend a lot of money and there are many people who cannot afford a pregnancy. But if one decides to give the baby up for adoption, many agencies will provide for any necessary care for the baby. They will pay for all the expenses that the pregnancy may incur.

When looking at the case of therapeutics abortion, it is quite different. Many times when a woman is pregnant, some complications arise and there can be a threat to both the growing fetus and the mother. Sometime nature has its own way of stopping the pregnancy which can avoid danger to the mother. This is called a miscarriage and this stops the fetus from growing. But there are also many times that this does not happen. There have been many instances when the life of the mother is in danger during a pregnancy. Without aborting the pregnancy the mother would die and I believe that in this instance abortion can be morally justified. During these complications the growing babies have a higher chance of death so instead of having both, the mother and the child, die; by aborting the pregnancy,