Abortion is Genocide

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Abortion is one of the most controversial subjects in America. Despite the Supreme Court ruling that has allowed abortion, there is an ongoing debate over whether abortion is right. Some people that are pro-life say that abortion is like genocide, murder of millions that has been taking place legally in America since 1973. On the contrary, those that are pro-choice argue that abortion is not like genocide because it is not murder. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that no one be deprived of life or liberty. The question is, does abortion deprive potential babies from life or does prohibiting abortion deprive women of the freedom to control their pregnancies? Whether abortion is considered murder or not rests on when a zygote is officially considered a person. People form their opinions mainly on their social or religious background, because scientifically it is impossible to decide when the baby becomes a person. Dr. Lewis Thomas of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, along with over 1,300 scientists across the U.S., agreed that “the question of when human life begins… lies beyond the reaches of science.” (abortion controversy pg.2) Supporters of choice say that abortion is not murder because it is not killing a person, it is just a fetus or an embryo. Some radicals even call the fetus a “mass of tissue” or even a “parasite” (abortion controversy pg.24/25). Judith J. Thomson writes in her paper “A Defense of Abortion” that an acorn is not an oak tree; hence a fetus is not a human and abortion is not murder. (ethics of abortion pg.9) People that are against abortion argue that a fetus is a person. Some early feminists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady, believed ... ... middle of paper ... ...ll. That is hard to believe when you see a picture of an aborted fetus and it has all the physical human characteristics. Also, the fact that humanity is redefined reminds me of justification of murder in previous genocides by redefining what humans are. Supporters of African slavery in America (during time period) justified the brutal treatment of imported African slaves by saying they were not people, they were monkeys (let my people go). Another reason I feel abortion is not right is it is too similar to euthanasia. In theory, euthanasia, like abortion, could be efficient, practical, and even done humanely. In the same way, Nazis conveniently exterminated Jews. If abortion is legal now, what stops euthanasia from being legalized? In conclusion, I have found that most arguments for abortion are logical, but morally I view it the same way I view genocide.

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