Argument Essay: Partial Birth Abortion

Partial-birth abortion
In Catholic social teaching, human life is considered to be sacred from the exact moment of conception to the occurrence of natural death. It is not dependent upon tangible means but instead originates from the God who created us. In other words, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church – the fifth commandment (n.d.), “human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." Thus, the life and dignity granted to every person by our Creator must be valued and protected throughout every stage of life. In essence, it is a person’s dignity that is seen as the very foundation of a moral image within our society. The primary and greatest basic principle of human rights is the right to live, leading those following the Catholic tradition to keenly work toward respect and justice in regards to humans

exercising that right. This dignity lies at the core of the Church’s perseverance on respect for human life and that right to live. Yet, immoral acts such as abortion and euthanasia essentially condemn that right by completely ignoring this concept (Bickerstaff, 2012).
In fact, partial-birth abortion within the moral context demonstrates immorality, raising much concern within the Catholic tradition. In sum, the procedure itself is ultimately intended to terminate the pregnancy and end the life of an innocent, unborn child who is partially delivered feet first, outside of the mother’s womb. This practice, in fact, is none other than physical cruelty, as a large majority of the child’s body is forcefully removed from the mother’s womb with the use of forceps during the enforced birth process. Through the course of the procedure, the infant is not anesthetized as a way to reduce discomfort or to the point of death prior to partial delivery. Once the unborn child is somewhat outside the uterus, the child is basically stabbed, as a sharp pair of curved scissors are inserted into the skull. The brain is then removed by means of suction. Following this, the unborn baby’s head collapses and the doctor is then able to remove the remaining part of the dead body entirely from the uterus. Because the child is almost fully delivered during this method of termination, this procedure is frequently considered crossing the line, ranging in severity from that of abortion to infanticide (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996).
Doctors often use this form of abortion during the middle to late stages of pregnancy, when a child’s bones and ligaments become too strong to dismember the body. In an effort to justify this horrific act, doctors attempt to describe it obliquely as simply intact dilation and the removal of the unborn child’s body. It is often performed on mother’s whose unborn child has been diagnosed with either hydrocephaly, Down Syndrome or other potentially detrimental birth defects. The mother may be suffering from severe depression or a midlife crisis concluding such prenatal findings and this method has been argued to serve as a way to protect her well-being. However, counterarguments have been made invalidating the notion supporting the necessity of this procedure by demonstrating the critical danger the procedure can result in for the mother (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996).
Nonetheless, the Church has still declared the moral evil of every single obtained abortion dating as far back as the first century regardless of the reason. Thus, the philosophy remains consistent. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (n.d.) declares that direct abortion is gravely conflicting with the moral law, affirming that “you shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. An individual’s life must be preserved with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” Abortion is a horrific wrongdoing and serves as a severe moral disorder no matter the circumstances. It contributes immensely to increasing views contrary to life, signifying a precarious danger to an impartial and independent social existence. In reality, the procedure of partial-birth abortion is none other than the direct killing of an innocent human being. With this practice in place, much concern is brought forth in regards to its legality and the acceptance of it in a society that anticipates any affectations about human rights (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996).
As disputes continue to surround this very controversial issue, some argue that life inside the womb cannot be considered a viable form of a living being before birth, while others argue the opposite to be true. Partial-birth abortion, as it stands, eradicates the most vulnerable of beings, the unborn child. For this reason, such victims ought to be protected through legal and constitutional security, yet are forced to their deaths through the most violent and gruesome measures. This practice unquestionably epitomizes a violation of defending the weak. In essence, it entails the killing of an infant while a majority of the body is already outside the womb and for this reason, this heinous act is considered one-fifth abortion and four-fifths infanticide. Nonetheless, advocates in favor of the procedure claim that this act cannot be considered murder or destruction of human life until the child is actually born and delivered completely outside the mother’s body (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996).
In Roe vs.

Wade 1973, the Supreme Court constitutionalized the laws criminalizing or restricting women's rights and access to abortion. Proponents in support of abortion through this trial failed to acknowledge the criminal sanction in terms of causing death to an unborn child during the birth process of leaving the mother’s uterus. Pro-life supporters counteracted these acknowledgments, however, highlighting the idea that it would not be long before the same influences used to validate killing an unborn child would be used in the same respect to rationalize killing those alive. With partial-birth abortion still legally in effect within the United States, questions are being raised in terms of how far Congress will actually allow this to go and by what circumstances it will essentially be considered illegal (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

1996).
As partial-birth abortion continues to remain a practice, society is ultimately damaging the common good of all people. Due to the failure to eliminate the use of this procedure, the practice itself is spreading, with a number of practitioners using this form of abortion as a way to terminate the pregnancy, as well as teaching others to do the same. Individuals are performing harmful acts to God’s creations and essentially disregarding others’ humanity. As a result, individuals in effect end up desensitizing themselves through the held acceptance of killing another living being, in addition to depreciating the worth and sacredness of the human life. Furthermore, its discoverers should be convicted in light of their cynicism because of their ability to escape the law in terms of murder. In other words, if a child was fully delivered from the womb and then killed, homicide laws could be applied, but because the procedure allows for part of the body to still be left inside the mother, the act gains protection under Roe. Vs. Wade (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996).
Despite whatever efforts are made in justifying partial-birth abortion, no plausible reason can be applied to this procedure and the unjust act of brutally killing the weak and innocent. It is wrong no matter what and no amount of moral guilt or lack thereof for the individual requesting the procedure can transform this act to be considered right by any means. Regardless if the unborn child is disabled or not, the act still constitutes a wrongdoing. The gift of life is something that should be appreciated, protected and shielded from dangers, not damaged at the hands of another human. The laws of society need to recognize and understand what should be considered objectively wrong. Legislators, especially those Catholics who hold political and legislative power, have an obligation to defend the innocent, not disregard the human life (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1996). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church – the fifth commandment (n.d.) states, "the inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority….The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights.”
Irrespective of the motivation for partial-birth abortion, the act itself is still considered murder. It contradicts the dignity of the human person and the right of that person given to them by God. Despite what stage the unborn child is in during pregnancy, it should still be treated and given the same respect as any other living person. In its most vulnerable stages, it is our duty and obligation to protect that living being. In light of the Catholic tradition, those who are led by their faith through the Catholic Church should work toward respect and justice in regards to humans exercising that right. This dignity perseveres the respect for human life and that right to live.