Different Points of View on Abortion

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Abortion is the act to remove the embryo or the fetus from the mother's womb in order to end pregnancy. It is practiced by two techniques, medical abortion and surgical abortion. Medical abortion is the process of taking pills, and surgical abortion implies a surgery to remove the foetus (1). In the past, the availability of abortion would have never been guessed. Now, in Canada, abortion has been legalized since January 28th in 1988. The Supreme Court of Canada passed a law which states that abortion is possible during the nine months of pregnancy. Provinces decides on the regulations on how and when the abortion is be performed (2). However, abortion has always created controversy, because some think that it is cruel to kill an unborn life, while others think that it is a fundamental human right. Seeing both side of the issue, should abortion be allowed in today's society? In an kantian point of view, abortion has to be prohibited since the act to abort cannot be applied as an universal law. On the other hand, abortion would be permitted in an utilitarian viewpoint, because it maximizes the best outcome and increases happiness of everyone. I, personally, think that abortion is unethical due to the interpretation of the fetus as an object.

For someone that acts according to the ideology of Kant's ethic, it is impossible that one would agree on aborting an unborn human being. There are two principles of morality in Kantian Ethics; hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative. To begin, categorical imperative, means that morality determines the duties. In general, this imperative has two different formulations, but they similary end up with an idea in common, that is being against harming people. The first formulation consi...

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In conclusion, it is not acceptable to authorize abortion from my point of view. The act to abort is similarly the same as killing a born child or even an adult. Moreover, abortion does not fit the principle of Immanuel Kant's ethic, because the maxim cannot become an universal law and the act to abort is treating the fetus as a means. However, abortion is permissible in according to the ideology of utilitarianism since it promotes the best outcomes of the parents that had wished for abortion. Even after almost three decades that the Parliament of Canada has passed the law on abortion, this issue is still very controversial in today's society. Nevertheless, as controversial as it might seems, abortion rate significantly continues to increase annually(). For further explanation about this fact, scientific development might be a valid approach to justify it.

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