Arguments Against Abortion Past Viability

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Recommended: Abortion through three different ethical lenses

Haley Smith BioMed Ethics April 30, 2018 Argument: Against Abortion Past Viability

P1. Fetuses are viable after 22 weeks.

P2. Abortion should not occur after fetuses reach viability.

C. Performing abortion after a fetus is viable is ethically wrong.

Addressing my first premise, a fetus is considered viable after 22 weeks which means it could survive outside of the mother's womb however this paper will argue that abortions should not be performed once a fetus has reached viability and why the abortions that are performed after this period are ethically wrong. This paper will also examine the the cases of abortion after fetal viability in mothers who had unplanned pregnancies and will not be addressing cases of fetal abnormalities, endangered mothers health, or cases of rape and incest these are circumstantial cases and in …show more content…

An abortion is the premature ending of a pregnancy involving the surgical removal of the fetus or by using a prescription drug for early pregnancies. In the United states abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed. According to the Guttmacher institute in 2014 alone 926,200 abortions were performed and this was with in the age range of 15-44 this number was down from 2011 which had over 1.06 million and just under half of these women reported having a previous abortion (1). The subject of abortion has been a very heated topic for years ever since the supreme court case Roe vs. Wade the case that secured a woman's constitutional right to an abortion before the fetus reaches viability or when the fetus can survive outside of its mother, which they determined was 28 weeks but with medical advancements this has changed the argument of when a fetus becomes

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