Introduction and Background
Abortion is a term that is used to define the premature termination of pregnancy. According to James E White, abortion refers to the intentional termination of the pregnancy before its conception (James 82). However, a pregnancy may fail to reach its conception stage due to natural causes. Thus the woman is termed as having a miscarriage. Miscarriages are acts of nature and beyond the human control. Due to advancement in medical technology cases of miscarriages have significantly reduced. Correspondingly, abortion does not necessarily cause the death of the fetus, but detaches it from its life support hence reducing the chances of survival. Statistical evidence reveals that the number of abortions procured in the USA has escalated since the legitimization of fetus removal taking after the Roe VS Wade case in 1973.
Despite the legalization, abortion remains a controversial issue eliciting different opinions (James 85). The debate touches on human rights and moral ethics of the society. James categorizes various views as either; conservative, liberal or moderate issues. Conservative opinions are stern and prohibit application of abortion. On the other hand, liberals advocate for a total legalization of abortion while the moderates believe in the partial legalization of abortion (James 89). The paper thus explores various arguments and opinions on the topic, and it also examines the main factors that necessitate abortion. However, the paper emphasizes on whether abortion is a moral or immoral act.
Reasons for Abortion
A study carried out in 2004 among the women population revealed that half of the women seeking abortion are young girls between the ages of 14-25. Additionally, the researchers demonstrated that the rates of abortion were higher in the single women category than among the married population. Correspondingly, the rates of abortion in the USA exceed the level in other western industrialized countries, For instance, Canada. Abortion cases in Canada have drastically reduced following the abolishment of penal code 251. The bylaw was abolished due to unreasonable application of the clause that allowed therapeutic abortion, procured when a pregnant woman's health was at risk due to the pregnancy. Application of this law was unfair to the women who had no access to hospitals that had therapy committee structure. Therefore the bill fully legalized abortion.
Apart from medical and health concerns, women seek abortion services due to the social stigma that arises from having children out of wedlock. A perfect example is a teenage pregnancy, for instance, a girl child of 15 years faces social criticism when pregnant. Additionally, the moral, social fabric would not allow the child to carry the pregnancy to maturity due to incapacitation caused by age and financial status. Financial incomes also determine the tendencies of individuals to procure an abortion. The cost of rearing a child may exceed the financial status of a potential mother. Therefore the woman would be forced to carry out an abortion in order to ensure the well-being of the other children. The scenario is prevalent in both single and the married individuals.
Moreover, motherhood is a demanding occupation. Therefore, women decide to end pregnancies in order to avoid the stress associated with children. Having children may impair people in both professional careers and social life, for instance, a working mother may lose her job due to maternity leaves that are viewed as unproductive by the employer. Correspondingly, students are forced to terminate their education so as to take care of the baby owing to the fact that children are born dependent on the parents, abortion is thus a way out from the unplanned responsibilities bestowed on the parents.
According to research findings, 30% of pregnancies occurring in the USA are unplanned or unintended. There is also a minimal number of unplanned pregnancies that reach maturity, with 40% of the unintended pregnancies being aborted every year. One should note that unplanned pregnancies occur to both the single and married individuals. The largest number of unplanned pregnancies occur due to rape or incest. In the case of rape, one seeks abortion as a way of atoning for a wrong done to them. While numerous theories argue that carrying out an abortion is equally wrong, one should consider the burden of raising a child who will serve as a constant reminder of an injustice carried out by the mother. In this case, abortion is admissible as a way of alleviating the consequences perpetrated on the mother.
On the other hand, incest constitutes of sexual intercourse among individuals who are related by blood. Abortion due to incest is highly generated by the fear of giving birth to an individual who is physically or mentally deformed. While science has not proofed the admissibility of this theory, various religions shun incest. The religious point of view is equally conservative when it comes to the administration of abortion. However, according to White an individual should have the liberty to decide on the course of a fetus developing in their body (James 92). A review of public opinion on the issue will enlighten its justification based on the reasons and stands taken by various groups in the society.
Development of a Fetus and Methods of abortion
On conception, the Ovum develops to a zygote which attaches itself to the walls of the Fallopian tube. In the zygote stage, the human development is not evident. However, through advanced technology, doctors can feel the heartbeat and radiation from brain cells. At the stage, two methods are utilized to terminate the Zygote development. The methods include; Suction Curettage and application of the saline solution. Suction curettage entails the sucking out of Zygote cells while application of saline solution leads to a dissolution of the zygote cells leading to a premature death.
As mentioned earlier, the fetus begins to form in two months, it moves in the womb. The fetus is highly viable after the 5-7 months as it can easily survive in external conditions. Abortion methods applied in this stage pose a great risk to the mother. One convectional truth about abortion is that it leads to dire consequences for both the mother and the child. When one undergoes through with the procedure, the unborn child lacks the inherent right to life, On the other hand, the mother suffers guilt conscious. With this fact in mind, it is thus important to divulge into various arguments that proposed for and against abortion in order to come up with a justifiable conclusion over the issue.
Public Opinions
A national poll conducted in 2002, revealed that a large number of the US population is in favor of complete legalization of abortion while the other part of the population favor a moderately legal abortion status. The issues surrounding abortion, thus raises the question of individual liberty on the admissibility of the procedure. In the case where conception occurs in legal marriages, both parents have the right to decide on whether to terminate the pregnancy. However, in single parenthood, only the mother has to decide on whether to carry the pregnancy to conception. The right to choose and the deity to entitle the privilege of making the decision has generated a number of theories and arguments that touch on the moral implications of abortion.
Moral Arguments on Abortion
The views are classified as either: Pro-life, pro-choice or the moderate view. Pro-life argues that abortion is wrong, or bad to some degree. The main claim of this point of view is that abortion entails the killing of an innocent person. However, an argument against the stand lies in the definition of a human being as a person of legal, moral status. Moral status involves an individual who is a member of a free society and actively contributes and cooperates in all matters concerning the development of the community. Therefore, the fetus can only be termed as a human being after a success procession from the womb of the mother to the world. The fetus is thus a potential human being seeking asylum in the body of another. As mentioned earlier, the potentiality of the fetus to develop into a human being is only determined five to seven months after conception, following this logic, it is thus morally acceptable to procure abortion at an early stage of two months. Pro- life views also support abortion in cases where carrying the pregnancy may cause harm to the health of the mother.
The pro-choice argues that abortion is permissible depending on the choice made by the mother that is the parent choices, whether to terminate or carry the fetus to maturity. The theory is based on believing that the fetus does not enjoy any moral status. The argument was largely pioneered by Judith J Thomson’s. In her article, ‘A Defense of Abortion’, Judith argues that the fetus does not qualify as a person, especially in its early stages of life (Thomson 60). She builds her agreement with the extreme view where abortion is not permissible even when the life of the mother is endangered. However, she is astute that taking the fetus as a person at the moment of zygote formation makes abortion impermissible as the fetus enjoys human rights and thus has the right to life. Therefore, Judith bases her argument on the moral status and uses an imaginative analogy to argue out her case.
In this case, she asks the reader to imagine a case where a popular violinist is suffering from acute kidney failure is attached to your body system. The scenario builds on the assumption that the reader is the only individual whose blood is compatible with that of the violinist. Therefore, the music society kidnaps the reader and uses his body system to enable the violinist to survive. Additionally, the hospital staff reveals to the reader that the medical staff would not have placed him in this situation. The reader is left to review the obligations he has. The question arises, would you request the doctors to unplug the violinist knowing that unplugging the individual would lead to his death? Thomson argues that antiabortionist would request you to stay in bed with the violinist since unplugging would give rise to the loss of life while all individuals have a right to live (Thomson 67). However, Thomson terms this notion as outrageous. She borrows from the rule of the jungle which dictates natural selection that the strong survive while the weak die. In this case, it is justifiable to let the violinist die. One major reason would be because the plugging was done without the reader’s consent. Therefore, application of this theory to the abortion case is taken in pregnancies occurring due to rape. Its inadmissibility in other pregnancies lies in the fact that not all pregnancies occur without the woman’s consent.
Thompson’s claims on abortion procured after a rape, are thus justified based on the theory of the violinist. However, she contradicts herself by divulging more into the issue and exploring the rule of positive and negative rights which justifies the mother’s obligation in letting the child live. According to Judith, the mother should have the liberty to decide on the fate of the child, however, in this case of positive and negative right, her argument drastically shifts from the constraints of morality to decency.
Additionally, the development of feminism is inhibited by social permissiveness to abortion. She argues that the body is a woman’s property, but its use is limited. The right to control one’s body only bounds on organ transplants, sterilization, but it is not enough to allow procuring of abortion (Noonan 45). Her argument is based on the continuity of human life, and she argues that pregnancy is the only way of life that allows entry of new human beings into the world; therefore a society that so much protects its citizens no matter their physical state should also seek to protect the dependent human fetus. She also explains that the fetus should not suffer the blunt penalty if it were conceived after rape.
According to Munson, abortion is morally wrong. In a society that seeks to find gender equality, free abortion has provided women with the privilege of selecting the children they wish to bring up (Munson and Ronald 111). The irony of the situation is that numerous women seek to abort the female genders. They are also astute that abortion only leads to more abortion. The arguments posed by Munson waters down most of the arguments given in favor of abortion. Physical deformity and mental disabilities are accepted handicaps in the society. Thus, women seeking abortion for fear of giving birth to physically deformed individuals are wrong in that the society accepts the presence of these people and thus accommodates them.
Admissibility of pregnancy on the basis of unplanned pregnancy is equally a fallacy. In a case where intercourse was through consent, numerous contraception methods would prevent the conception of an unwanted baby. Additionally, pregnancy due to rape should also not be subjected to abortion. Children conceived through rape are innocent and thus denying them the chances to life is subjecting them to a punishment for a crime they did not commit. Punishment for a crime one did not commit unjust, anything that portrays miscarriage of justice is not permitted in the society. Therefore, abortion is not permitted since it is unfair to the unborn child.
Additionally, the argument that a fetus is not a human being at some stage is far-fetched and wrong. The human birth process is a universal one that all human beings pass through the same continuous process before birth. Hence a fetus is a potential human being from the momentum of fertilization to the instance of birth, and thus there is no particular moment when a child should be aborted. Everyone was once a helpless fetus, how would you feel if the argument on abortion was about yourself in the most dependent state. It is thus wrong to deny another human a chance to survive just because they are in a state where they need the mother most.
However, the legal status does not alleviate the consequences arising from the procedure. In whatever way one looks at the intentional termination of pregnancies, it leads to uncouth repercussions on the mother’s conscious and to the loss of an infant. On the society, abortion denies the society a potential human being whose contribution to the society is unknown. Therefore, abortion is a vice that perpetrates prejudice against helpless, dependent fetus.
Despite the moral implications identified above, abortion is a necessary evil where a mother’s health is at risk. A mother may choose to have the baby aborted in order to protect her life and ensure continuity life through siring more children. Additionally, terminating the pregnancy when the mother’s life is at risk does not necessarily lead to the death of the fetus. Therefore, people should seek more advancement in medical technology to ensure that fetus whose mother’s health is complicated get to realize their potentiality as human beings.
In conclusion, abortion is wrong is it’s performed for any other reason other than protecting the life of the mother. Cases of unplanned pregnancies should be minimized with the proper use of contraception and abstinence. Despite the recognition of the state of individual liberty and privacy, control of one’s body when it comes to pregnancy should be limited since through pregnancy all human beings assume life. Therefore, allowing an individual decision on the type of human beings to give birth to, leads to unwarranted gender selection and bias over physically disabled individuals which are actual tantamount prejudice of the same people in the society. Therefore, one should critically consider before seeking an abortion for whatever the outcome there will be an equal and negative consequence.
Works Cited
Munson, Ronald. Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues in Medical Ethics. 4th ed. California:
Wadsworth Inc., 1992
Noonan, Jr. “An Almost Absolute Value in History.” Legal and Historical Perspectives (N.d.): 1-59. Print
Thomson, Judith J. “A Defense of Abortion.” Biomedical Ethics and the Law (1971): 57-62.Print
Tooley, Michael. In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide.” What is a person? 1988: 83-114.
White, James E. Contemporary Moral Problems. 8th ed. United States: Thomson Learning Inc.:
Wadsworth, 2006.
