Pros and Cons of Abortions, Research Paper Example

“Abortion is justified murder” (Sarah K., 2001, 1). This statement from the article in SNN Students Magazine sums up people’s sentiments regarding the issue all over the world. It is also the best expression of my point of view on abortion. Though I consider abortions as a first rated crime, I understand why it is still one of the most controversial social issues.   The debates appeal to fundamental questions about human existence, such as when life begins and what it is that makes us human. It is also about humans’ rights, particularly woman’s and child’s rights.

One of the reasons I am against abortion is that a fetus functions like a human since the first weeks of his life. People usually argue that abortion is not murder since the child is unborn. This opinion can be disproved by some facts about embryo. According to numerous researches the heart of the unborn baby begins to beat on the twenty first day after it was conceived and after only forty days electrical brain waves can possibly be recorded. Due to the improvement of medical technologies, a baby is able to survive outside the mother’s womb at twentieth week upon conception, and this time will be reduced. Thus, it proves that a fetus is a small baby, but inside the mother’s organism and he has rights for life.

Abortion is a murder of an innocent person. This statement concerns unborn child’s personality and women’s rights. Generally, there are two groups of debaters: Pro-life arguing for the rights of an unborn child versus Pro-choice, debating for the right of a woman to decide. The Pro-choices argue that a fetus is not a person, but the part of the woman’s body. They contend that a fetus lacks a right to live, because it lacks consciousness, reasoning, self motivation, the ability to communicate, and self-awareness (Warren, 1973). Nevertheless, in my point of view, fetus is an innocent  unborn person  and  “there is no morally relevant difference between deliberately killing a human being who has been born and deliberately killing a human being who is still inside his mother” (Foster, 1985, p.43).

Abortion should not be allowed, because it is morally wrong. Many famous psychologists share this opinion. For example, the support to my views can be found in articles of Don Marquis, a philosophy professor at the University of Kansas.  Marquis (1989) argues that, “abortion deprives the embryo of a valuable future and killing it is seriously wrong” (p.192).  Another considerable work on moral rights was done by Mary Ann Warren, a famous American writer and professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University.  Warren (1973) stressed the importance of a fetus as a potential person and pointed out that,”it is wrong to kill innocent human beings. The embryo is an innocent human being. Hence it is wrong to kill the embryo”(p. 457).  Warren (1973) also stated:

“We have seen that a fetus does not resemble a person in any way which can support the claim that it has even some of the same rights. But what about its potential, the fact that if nurtured and allowed to develop naturally it will very probably become a person? Doesn’t that alone give it at least some right to life? It is hard to deny that the fact that an entity is a potential person is a strong prima facie reason for not destroying it.” (p. 434)

Abortion is something that affects both heart and mind deeply. Not only does it concern human beings, but it also relates to God. That is why, besides moral and biological aspects, abortion is a religious question as well. Under my convictions abortion is not acceptable. Most of the world’s religions share this standpoint. For instance, in most cases, abortion is forbidden in Islam, Sikhism, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, Fundamentalist Protestant, and Roman Catholic denominations. However, there can be some exceptions depending on the circumstances around the pregnancy.

On the other hand, I admit, justified abortions can be acceptable under certain conditions. First of all, a woman has to make a choice if she was brutally raped and became pregnant or in cases of incest. Secondly, abortion can be justified if mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.  These issues is the platform for policies of 98 per cent of the countries in the world (the UN Global Review on Abortion Policies, 2004), that legalize abortion for cases of rape, maternal life and health, mental health and fetal defects. Otherwise, abortion upon request cannot be permitted.

Obviously, adoption can be an acceptable solution for the problem.  Adoptive family offers a future for a child, and a woman can feel good about it for the rest of her life. It also turns the dreams of the adoptive parents into life.  But every year the life of fifty million unborn children is aborted (the UN Global Review on Abortion Policies, 2004). Isn’t it better to save their lives and give them a family? I consider adoption as a more reasonable option than to end a baby’s life selfishly.

All the arguments about abortion can be actually summed up to one crucial question: Do we actually have the right to end life? My answer is “No”. Abortion is morally wrong. It is a murder, whether it is legalized or not. Abortion is killing an innocent person. Since our laws should provide equal protection to all living humans, abortion should be prohibited unless the mother is in danger of a death.

References

Foster, J. (1985, May 6). Personhood  And the Ethics of Abortion ( pp.  42-53). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

Marquis D. (1989). Why abortion is immoral. The Journal of Philosophy. 86(4), 183-202.

Sarah K. (2001).  Abortion: The rights of the unborn child. SNN Student Magazine, 7. Retrieved April 2, 2009,  from http://www.snn-rdr.ca/snn/jan01issue/abortion.html

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affiars, Population Division. (2004). Abortion Policies: A Global Review  [Brochure].  Retrieved  April 2, 2009, from http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/

Warren, M. A.(1973).  On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion ( pp. 456-463). Reprinted in Mappes and DeGrazia (2001).