Abortion: A Complex Issue

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Abortion is the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus with the purpose to end a pregnancy or any other method for concluding a pregnancy. It has been a controversial subject across the world. There are many different methods of abortion varying from the morning-after pill that prevents the blastocyst from embedding in the uterine wall, to the common uterine or vacuum aspiration, which removes contents in uterus by suction tube (Mackinnon Pg. 95). Labels are given to developing fetuses throughout development. The newly fertilized egg is known as a zygote, when the ball of cells reaches the uterus about ten days after fertilization it is referred to as a blastocyst. In between the second and eight weeks of gestation the organism is called an embryo, from then until birth it is called a fetus, which otherwise is known as young unborn (Mackinnon Pg. 94). If abortion is immoral it is often assumed it should be illegal and vice versa (Mackinnon Pg. 96). Abortion laws vary across many states and countries.

In this essay two different questions will be addressed. The first being whether a fetus is considered a person after birth and why it has this person making property. It is related to abortion because it is a subtopic that is frequently argued when it comes to deciding morality and immorality. The gradient view of personhood is important when answering this question because it could lead certain situations to be considered infanticide. I will also state my opinion on the gradient view. The second question that will be answered in this essay is concerning the hypothetical question of if the fetus had slipped out during Edelin’s procedure and been outside the womb, attached to an umbilical cord, whether or not it is illegal to ...

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...entioned as a joke in class, but reveals the possibility of unnecessary abortions.

Abortion is very controversial and has many subtopics that are argued as well. A common argument is judging abortion on the personhood of the fetus. People argue that a fetus does not have enough capacities to be considered a person, and abortion would not be wrong, but what about a person that has been in a persistent vegetative state for a long time? Since they do not have certain capacities that make you a “person,” does that make it okay for them to be killed? Making certain judgments on abortion can often be compared to other situations that better show the wrong in perspectives. Ethical perspectives vary from potentiality to the gradient view of personhood. No matter how correct a perspective sounds, there will always be critiques and problems found in each one.

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