Abortion And The Rights Of Abortion

1218 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical dilemmas with abortion

Abortion once only discussed in the privacy of your own homes, behind closed doors or in secrecy has been brought to the forefront and has become an open forum for government officials, pro-life and pro-choice organizations. The topic of abortion in America has become very high strung among various religious groups and pro-life organizations protesting against abortion, questioning the fourteenth amendment and the idea of personhood. The fourteenth amendment states that "...neither the U.S. nor any state shall deny a citizen life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness..." Yet, the most controversial issue of the abortion debate is whether or not the fetus is seen as a person. If the fetus is seen as a “person/citizen” then they are entitled to individual inalienable rights given to us and bound by the Constitution. Furthermore, if the court recognizes that the fetus is in fact a person/citizen then their inalienable constitutional rights have to be addressed. When deciphering between the legality abortion and the rights of the fetal citizen, what is the responsibility of the physicians and clinics to deter abortions; and should physicians be required to provide 4-D ultrasounds to their patients electing voluntary abortions? The answer to these questions are simple, abortion clinics and physicians need to be required to provide 4-D ultrasounds to patients electing voluntary termination to deter abortions. In this paper, I will define personhood, the fourteenth amendment and it relationship to abortion, as well as, the requirements of clinics and physicians offering abortion. Hopefully, by the end of this paper you will understand what personhood is and what it means personally to me, as well as understand the new age arm’s reach ... ... middle of paper ... ...rohibited.” Himma’s examples both touch base on the morality and ethics of abortion, as many anti-abortion and pro-life organizations are religious based or have some sort of religious affiliation. I have defined personhood and fourteenth amendment by providing examples and comparisons for the two. I have argued that, a fetus should be considered a person after conception, during the second trimester as the person begins to develop. We all have our own moral values and concepts however, when coupled with legal concepts a spark that ignites leading to plethora of governmental changes. We are all provided with the same membership as human beings and citizens of the United States. This membership includes various inalienable rights such as the freedom of speech, press, right to bear arms, and most importantly the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Show More
Related

  • A Case Against Warren and Abortion

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I argue that it is personhood, and not genetic humanity, which is the fundamental basis for membership in the moral community” (Warren 166). Warren’s primary argument for abortion’s permissibility is structured around her stance that fetuses are not persons. This argument relies heavily upon her six criteria for personhood: A being’s sentience, emotionality, reason, capacity for communication, self-awareness, and having moral agencies (Warren 171-172). While this list seems sound in considering an average, healthy adult’s personhood, it neither accounts for nor addresses the personhood of infants, mentally ill individuals, or the developmentally challenged. Sentience is one’s ability to consciously feel and perceive things around them. While it is true that all animals and humans born can feel and perceive things within their environment, consider a coma patient, an individual suspended in unconsciousness and unable to move their own body for indeterminate amounts of time. While controversial, this person, whom could be in the middle of an average life, does not suddenly become less of a person

    Read More

  • Essay Analysis: Abortion, Intimacy, and the Duty to Gestate by Margaret Olivia Little

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her essay “Abortion, Intimacy, and the Duty to Gestate,” Margaret Olivia Little examines whether it should be permissible for the state to force the intimacy of gestation on a woman against her consent. Little concludes that “mandating gestation against a woman’s consent is itself a harm - a liberty harm” (p. 303). She reaches this conclusion after examining the deficiencies in the current methods used to examine and evaluate the issues of abortion. Their focus on the definition of a “person” and the point in time when the fetus becomes a distinct person entitled to the benefits and protections of the law fails to capture “the subtleties and ambivalences that suffuse the issue” (p. 295). Public debate on the right to life and the right to choose has largely ignored the nature of the relationship between the mother and the fetus through the gestational period and a woman’s right to either accept or decline participation in this relationship.

    Read More

  • Mary Anne Warren's Belief on Abortion

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The criterion for personhood is widely accepted to consist of consciousness (ability to feel pain), reasoning, self-motivation, communication and self-awareness. When Mary Anne Warren states her ideas on this topic she says that it is not imperative that a person meet all of these requirements, the first two would be sufficient. We can be led to believe then that not all human beings will be considered persons. When we apply this criterion to the human beings around us, it’s obvious that most of us are part of the moral community. Although when this criterion is applied to fetuses, they are merely genetic human beings. Fetuses, because they are genetically human, are not included in the moral community and therefore it is not necessary to treat them as if they have moral rights. (Disputed Moral Issues, p.187). This idea is true because being in the moral community goes hand in hand w...

    Read More

  • Mary Anne Warren's On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion

    1467 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Anne Warren’s “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion” describes her justification that abortion is not a fundamentally wrong action for a mother to undertake. By forming a distinction between being genetically human and being a fully developed “person” and member of the “moral community” that encompasses humanity, Warren argues that it must be proven that fetuses are human beings in the morally relevant sense in order for their termination to be considered morally wrong. Warren’s rationale of defining moral personhood as showcasing a combination of five qualities such as “consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, capacity of communication, and self-awareness” forms the basis of her argument that a fetus displays none of these elements that would justify its classification as a person and member of the morally relevant community (Timmons 386).

    Read More

  • The Constitutional Issue of Abortion

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    Three Works Cited    Many people believe abortion is only a moral issue, but it is also a constitutional issue. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. This right is guaranteed by the ninth amendment, which contains the right to privacy. The ninth amendment states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This right guarantees the right to women, if they so choose, to have an abortion, up to the end of the first trimester.

    Read More

  • The Two Sides Of Abortion

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abortion may be one of the most controversial topics in America today. Abortion is defined as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus” (cite dictionary). There are really only two sides on people’s opinion on abortion; pro-life which means abortion should be outlawed and pro-choice which means a woman should be able to decide whether she wants to keep her baby. Thousands of protests and riots have begun due to the fact pro-life activists believe abortion should become illegal. Both sides bring valid points to support their decision that could sway any person’s thoughts. The Roe v. Wade law has allowed abortion to be legal in the U.S since 1973 (Chittom & Newton, 2015). The law “gives women total control over first trimester abortions and grants state legislative control over second and third trimester abortions” (Chittom & Newton, 2015). Ever since the law was put in place, millions of people have tried to overturn it and still

    Read More

  • Laws of Abortion: Legalized Abortion

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Laws of abortion have changed over the years. Many people argue about abortion, putting its legal status in a bind. Back in the early days, the 1800’s, the thought of abortion was absurd and it was illegal. People that support abortion are known as “pro-choice”, and believe that women have the right to decide if they want to terminate their pregnancy or not. Americans will have a brighter future if they encourage the legalization of abortion.

    Read More

  • Abortion, Public Policy, & Texas

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the course of the last century, abortion in the Western hemisphere has become a largely controversial topic that affects every human being. In the United States, at current rates, one in three women will have had an abortion by the time they reach the age of 45. The questions surrounding the laws are of moral, social, and medical dilemmas that rely upon the most fundamental principles of ethics and philosophy. At the center of the argument is the not so clear cut lines dictating what life is, or is not, and where a fetus finds itself amongst its meaning. In an effort to answer the question, lawmakers are establishing public policies dictating what a woman may or may not do with regard to her reproductive rights.

    Read More

  • Essay On Abortion Rights

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    What are rights? Rights are a freedom to express yourself, a freedom to worship as you wish, a right to prompt fair trial by jury, a right to vote in elections for public officials, a right to apply for a federal employment requiring a United States citizenship, a right to run for a elective office, and most of all a right to protest and fight for what you believe in. Is it fair to be told “ No you can’t do that” when you believe what your doing is the right thing to do. No its not fair! that is why i have picked abortion rights. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy so that it does not result in birth. I strongly believe that abortion is wrong no matter the circumstance, but everyone has a different opinion.

    Read More

  • abortion

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    I hope this paper has given you a better understanding of the different viewpoints there are on abortion. Rather it be R.M. Hare’s viewpoint that a fetus is not a person, or Judith Thomas’s viewpoint that abortion is permissible in certain circumstance. Or maybe you agree with me that the fetus is a baby and by having an abortion you are ultimately killing a human being. Either way it is your decision to make.

    Read More

  • Abortion Rights

    1770 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rights to an abortion has been diminishing greatly and it is continuing to weaken long after the Supreme Court ruling. In 1973 in the United States a Supreme Court cased known as Roe vs Wade addressed a women’s right to privacy. A woman who for protection purposes went by the name of Jane Roe wanted to have the decision to terminate her pregnancy without it being a matter of whether she was doing it for the purpose of saving her own life. This Supreme Court case although it was too late to help Jane Roe since she had already given birth allowed the women the constitutional right to privacy when it comes to an abortion.

    Read More

  • Abortion Should Be Legal

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the issue of abortion, we are able to relate it easily to several principles throughout the Constitution. Every human has the right to make decisions about their own body, and this includes a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. The Constitution doesn’t classify an unborn baby as a human. Which leads straight in to the 14th amendment, a right for personal privacy and not allowing the government and Constitution to be a pressuring standpoint in this decision on whether you want to keep your child. As a human, we have the rights that no state shall make or enforc...

    Read More

  • Importance Of Abortion Essay

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abortion is an extremely controversial issue and one that is continually on the forefront of debates. Those who oppose the idea (Pro-lifers), thinks it is an act of woman playing “God” who live from who dies. Yet, whether an unborn baby constitutes a normal person is questionable; a pregnant woman, on the other hand, has the undeniable right to choose whether she wants to have a child or not. Therefore, the decision to have an abortion is the personal choice and responsibility of the woman, because prohibiting abortion impedes freedom of choice and endangers the physical and mental health of women.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Abortion

    2054 Words  | 5 Pages

    Abortion in the United States is a legal form of murder. Each and every year over a million babies are murdered and it must be stopped now before it will continue to get out of hand each and every day. We have discussed in this essay that a fetus is a living humans and not something that can just be thrown away. An unborn child is still a child and he or she needs an opportunity to grow and live a long successful life just like the rest of us have gotten the privilege to do. Abortion cannot go on any longer. More and more live are lost every day.

    Read More

  • Position Paper On Abortion

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abortions have always been a very controversial topic. Over the years we continue to fight for or against it. One can say that is one of the most talked and argued topic in the United States. An abortion is when a woman terminates her pregnancy before the fetus is viable using various of methods. Some argue that abortions should be illegal and considered murder, while others, from a religious point of view, say that no one has the right to take away the life of a person, in this case the fetus. However, others insist, that abortions are a basic women’s right.

    Read More

More about Abortion And The Rights Of Abortion

Open Document