Abortion is the process of removing fetus from a woman's uterus. It is the expulsion of an embryo that results in sudden death of the infant. Unlike a miscarriage which is the spontaneous expulsion of the fetus before the 20th week in gestation, abortion is an induced expulsion (Riddle, 1997).
The induction may be done by several means, including the use of drugs or surgical process through medical induction or crude induction, where the fetus is pierced with sharp object while still in the uterus (Thapa, 2006).Thus, induced expulsion of the infant from the uterus through any of these means at stage of gestation constitutes the act of abortion. Throughout the history of humankind, many methods have been devised to induce abortion and deprive the innocent from being born. Consequently, the world has witnessed the continuous increase in the number of abortions being done amidst the ranging debate on whether or not to legalize abortion.
In 2003, it was estimated that more than 42 million pregnancies were terminated through abortion, while the figure has nearly reached 60,000 in 2006 (Henshaw, 2008).The life of a pregnant woman is not, and should not, be the sole concern when talking about abortion. The life of the baby must also be considered. Life begins as early as conception.
Hence, as early as that time, the life must already be protected. This is the stand taken by most pro-lifers who support the battle against abortion. They argue that “human personhood” begins at the instant of conception. Since abortion, for its purpose constitutes, constitutes the termination of the life of the fetus, it follows that abortion is a form of murder (Robinson, 2007).Therefore, although it is necessary to protect the rights of the woman with regards to her option to resort to abortion, the life of the conceived child must also be accorded ample protection. This could only be done by making the process of abortion as illegal.
Hence, the following discusses various debates about abortion and other supporting facts why it should not be legalized. Moral and Ethical Arguments The moral argument against abortion is closely related to the human rights issue. The moral debate against taking life of other human beings started gaining pace with the call for the abolition of capital punishment.It is almost a universal concept that taking the life of another person from this earth is morally unacceptable.
For this reason, there is no society in the world where one is given the moral right to take the life of another member of the same society. Therefore, as abortion is tantamount to killing, it is against the moral obligation of respect of individual life. In fact, in many societies, the right of life of the unborn is also recognized and respected (Anderson, 2003). Is Abortion Wrong? Whether abortion is right or wrong is a question that runs in many people's minds when the issues on abortion surface.As a result of these issues, two major groups emerged—the anti-abortion group that is against it, and the pro-abortion group that supports it (Waller, 2008). The anti-abortion groups believe that abortion is equivalent to the murder of an innocent human being, and they fully condemn it.
They perceive a fetus like any living human being who should be given a chance to live. They claim that abortion is wrong because it takes away innocent life (Waller, 2008). On the other had, the pro-abortion groups support abortion. They argue that the fetus or the unborn baby is not human.
Thus, they do not see anything wrong with by terminating a pregnancy. They believe that a fetus is human only when it is born and when it can survive outside the womb (Waller, 2008). Anti abortion groups continuously campaign to fight for the right of the unborn to life. They believe that both the mother and the unborn child have equal rights to live.
Hence, they discourage the deliberate termination of a fetus'. However, many of them offer exemptions when the mother is at the point of losing her life due to pregnancy or when a woman gets pregnant as a result of rape.In contrast, advocates of abortion claim that the fetus has no inherent rights as it is not yet alive; the right to keep or abort the pregnancy rests solely on the mother (Waller, 2008). To condemn abortion, those who are against abortion view that it is morally wrong to kill an innocent life. On the other hand, to support abortion, the pro-abortion groups claim that abortion helps in preventing overpopulation. It can also save women from giving birth to unwanted children.
They believe that women should be given the right to choose whether to have it or not to have it (Waller, 2008).Abortion and Utilitarian Ethics Utilitarian ethics determines an action’s worth based on its end result. The philosophy of utilitarian ethics encourages that whatever decision one may take, one should do it for greater good. With regards to abortion, there is no argument in utilitarian ethics that suggests a definite stand.
Instead, it presents different arguments that lean towards anti-abortion. As far as the fetus is concerned, at conception, there is no a guarantee that after the fetus is born, it will lead a happy life.However, this does not give anybody the right to abort. If the mother thinks that she cannot give the child a happy life, she still has the option to have the child adopted. With regards to the concept of pain, utilitarians acknowledge the painful process of abortion especially when it is done during the late stages.
Thus, the mother can decide to have it during the early stages and use less painful procedure. Again, however, this is not enough to bestow anybody the right to have an abortion.The mother should consider the consequences of her action before she decides to do it. On the question of whether the mother or the fetus has more right to life, advocates of utilitarian ethics claim that it is the mother who is affected by the pregnancy. Thus, the same person will be affected by the birth of the child and the challenges of rearing a child. Then again, this does not entail that the mother has more rights than the child; both have the same right to live.
In the society, there are some intricate moral obligations for the world that we have to observe.As members of a working society, we are obliged to respect the life of their brothers and sisters. The moral duty of existence of any society is for society to perpetuate. Terminating the life of unborn children implies that we are failing to fulfill our moral duty. Moreover, if we continue to kill those who are supposed to form the society in the future, then society would surely meet its downfall. Medical Arguments Physiological Effects of Abortion Although abortion is usually portrayed as a simple medical procedure, there are some complications that are associated with the procedure.
Because most abortions are carried out by unqualified personnel, it increases the risk of complication. A crude method of abortion which is used by most women is also detrimental to the health of the mother and may even lead to her. Illegal abortion which is carried out in backstreet clinic has also many risks to the mother. It creates a leeway for much infection which many affect future conception of the mother. Those who have an abortion may also have a higher chance of having an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and development of pelvic inflammatory disease in the future (D’silva, 2007).Complications in the procedure of abortion may also cause serious physical problems like heavy and persistent bleeding which may be due to the damage on the cervix, infection of the uterus, or perforation of the uterus.
Other physiological effects include infertility which may be caused by the impairment of some neighboring organs during pregnancy (Payment, 2004). Studies also show that abortion is related to increased chances for breast, uterine, and cervical cancer.Research has specifically linked breast cancer to abortion, with statistics showing that many women who intentionally terminate their pregnancy are at a high risk of suffering from breast cancer later in life (D’silva, 2007). Psychological Effects of Abortion The psychological effects of abortion can be serious, and in most cases, these effects last for a long time. Abortion mainly affects the emotional well being of the woman.
Waller (2008) explains that the psychological impact of abortion may be experienced within two to four weeks after the procedure.The woman may experience abdominal pain, guilt, vomiting, cramping, loss of weight, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, sadness, anger, irritability, hopelessness, inability to concentrate, nausea, diarrhea and bleeding and spotting (Waller, 2008). Religious Arguments Most of our moral teachings which act as the fabric holding society together are drawn from our religious teachings. Religious beliefs provide an acceptable way of life that helps to achieve equity and respect of rights and freedoms for every person in the world. All the religions in the world uphold the right to life and respect for individual life.Taking another person’s life is against the teaching of most religions.
With regards to Christian belief, for example, there are teachings in the Holy Bible which calls for the respect of human life. The bible condemns the act of murder and regards it a grave sin against God and man. The Christian bible also calls for respect to life. Christian beliefs espouse the right to life of each person (Anderson, 2003). However, the Christian bible never mentioned abortion. Because ancient Israelites considered pregnancy to be a gift from God, there was no such thing as abortion as a medical procedure.
However, some parts of the Christian bible suggest that a fetus is considered a human being. For instance, in Psalm 139, God mentions to David that He has a relationship with him even before his birth (Anderson, 2003). Additional evidence in the Old Testament points to the concept that souls are transferred to a fetus immediately upon conception (Anderson, 2003). Scientific Arguments Science also plays a part in the abortion debate, and seems to lean towards the stand of anti-abortion groups. It has helped to solve one of the most controversial issues on he abortion debate which centers on the beginning of life of human beings.According to Anderson (2003), “at conception, an embryo is genetically distinct from the mother” (n.
p. ). Therefore, the fetus is a living being and not just an extension of the mother’s womb. The fetus also has a heartbeat. Anti-choice protesters state that the existence of a heartbeat equals life and an abortion puts an end to that life.
Furthermore, medical professionals state that the end of life occurs when there is an absence of brain wave activity. The brain wave activity in a fetus can be detected as early as 40 – 43 days after conception. The developing fetus also already possesses a set of fingerprints unique to himself.Thus, a fetus is not a piece of protoplasm; it has eyes, ears, nose and mouth. It can feel pain as it develops to become a fully functioning human being (Anderson, 2003).
The medical definition of life also states that the life of a human being starts from conception. It considers a one-month neonate as a human, although it appears as a bunch of cells. In fact, within the first three weeks of conception, the major organs of the human body are developed. Thus, the process of embryonic development is just to help in growth of the developed organs, and this process continues even after birth.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the complete development of a human starts at conception. It also implies that inducted expansion of fetus even some weeks after conception is tantamount to killing. It is the same as taking the life of a born child (Doem, 2008). Critical Thinking For those who oppose abortion, the reasons are many and varied. However, what remains to be their strongest argument is the fact that abortion is the killing of a child. There is no need to sugarcoat this, as many of the pro choice advocates insist upon doing.
Through abortion, the fetus is being terminated before even being given the chance at life (Anderson, 2003). The abortion debate has been marked by pictures and horror stories that show the inhuman side of the act. While most women are caught between the need to terminate the life of what is unwanted in the womb and the fear of undergoing through the terrible act of abortion, there are various issues that have not been fully explored and which support the feminism case against abortion. According to Serrin (2004), most women are pressured by the partner or by their peers to undergo that act even when they don’t have the will to do so.The horror of the act and the image that is rewritten in their mind remains forever in their life. Many of those who undergo abortion are haunted by the memory of what they went through.
Every time they see a child, they remember of what they lost. Even the strong-willed women who had an abortion were reported to be suffering from a lot of emotional upheavals (Serrin, 2004). There is no certainty as to how long the woman who had an abortion would stay depressed. There is even a possibility that the depression and guilty feeling brought about by abortion will never go away.The mental and emotional trauma caused by abortion is another reason why it is but proper to consider abortion as illegal (Serrin, 2004).
As carelessness with regards to sexual activity entails responsibility, the result of a faulty decision-making cannot be eradicated simply by deciding to have an abortion. In order to teach the public to become responsible in their sexuality activities, abortion should be made illegal. Legalizing abortion will only increase their irresponsibility towards sexual activity, as they will always choose abortion as the easy way out for every unplanned pregnancy.Conclusion As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of reasons why women consider going through the process of abortion. More often than not, most of these reasons are the same ones that justify the legality of abortion.
The more popular reasons are rape, unplanned pregnancy, and incest. However, one must bear in mind that regardless of the seriousness of such reasons, they cannot be considered as sufficient in order to validate the deliberate disregard of the unborn child’s right to life. There are many arguments that support the case against abortion.All these arguments are based on supportive evidences which should not be ignored. The right to live, the religious calls for the sanctity of human life, the scientific arguments and the medical arguments against abortion should all be given a fair hearing every time there is a debate on abortion. More importantly, it is a blatant disregard of the fundamental right of a child to live.
Regardless of how small this life is, it is still considered a life which must not only be protected, but also respected.
