The Golden Rule: A Discussion Of Abortion

Abortion has been an ongoing controversy for many years, especially in today’s society. According to anthropologists, within at least the last 4,000 years, abortion has been a part of virtually every society (Pollitt 16). One in five women will exceed their childbearing years, without birthing a child (Pollitt 16). For hundreds of years, including during the writing of the Constitution, abortion was considered to be legal under the common law, with the exception of aborting late in the pregnancy (Muller 69). According to Guttmacher institute, approximately one third of women will have one or more abortions by the time she reaches the menopausal stage in her life (nytimes 1). There are various reasons that explain these statistics, but motherhood

The Golden Rule states that you should “do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.” Some would say that the Golden Rule is relative, as opposed to being absolute. Someone who is pro-life would say that you would not want someone to prevent you from having life by aborting you, so you should not abort a baby. Those who are pro-choice have a more unusual way of looking at the Golden Rule. For example, some people use insults as motivation, but they should not insult others just because they find insults to be useful. Also, someone who is very wealthy may never accept help from others, but that does not mean individuals with money should not try and help the less fortunate by donating to charity (Meyers

In the United States, 1.5 million abortions are performed each year, which some people consider to be the “modern-day Holocaust” (Brennan 31). In 1859, the American Medical Association House of Delegates suggested that abortion was “the slaughter of unwanted children and the destruction of human life.” Again, the American Medical Association reiterates their opinion on abortion in 1871, claiming that it is “wholesome destruction of unborn infants.” Fetal Research advocates Doctors Willard Gaylan and Marc Lappe agree with the American Medical Association saying that abortion was an “unimaginable act of violence” (Brennan 33). Pro-choice enthusiasts, on the other hand, do not feel that abortion is murder. A fetus is seen as not being a separate life because it is very dependent on the mother and cannot live without her until late in the pregnancy (Sloan