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Ethical arguments against abortion
Arguments against abortion
Arguments against abortion
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The Pro-choice Argument Today, Canada is one of only a few countries without a federal law restricting abortion. It has been legal throughout Canada since 1988. The definition of an abortion is “the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy”. The spontaneous version of this is called a miscarriage, where the fetus is expelled without doctoral assistance. There are many reasons a women may want to terminate a pregnancy, such as the inability to care for or financially support a child, To prevent the birth of a child with birth defects or severe medical problems, or pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
If a mother knows she won't be able to provide for her child, it's actually more responsible
As to any argument, there are two opposing sides when it comes to the matter of abortions. These two opposers usually refer to themselves as “pro-life” and “pro choice”. Pro-life supporters maintain that abortion is wrong and pro-choice believe that it is a woman’s freedom to choose her pregnancy decisions. When it comes to the topic of abortions, most of us will readily agree that it’s a woman’s choice to decide what her reproductive decisions are, i.e. pro-choice. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is in the question of whether or not abortion is a fundamental right granted to women by the Constitution. Whereas some are convinced that a fetus is considered alive at conception, usually citing the word of God, others maintain that
Abortion is a very controversial and sensitive topic in today’s society. Two different sides to this argument is pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life proponents believe in the right to life for unborn fetuses saying that abortion should be considered murder regardless of how far along in the pregnancy the woman is. Pro-choice advocates people who believe the woman carrying the fetus should be able to make her own decision on aborting the fetus.
Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before birth; it causes the termination of the embryo or fetus inside the woman. There are two different types of abortion, a spontaneous abortion, which is also known as a miscarriage, and an induced abortion, where the embryo or fetus is purposely removed from the woman’s body. The topic of induced abortion has been widely debated for hundreds of years. The issue of abortion was argued way back in the time of the ancient Hebrews. In the United States, it became illegal around the mid 1800’s and not until the 1960’s was the argument for the right to abort brought back to the table.
As many may know abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. Abortion is one of the heaviest topics currently discussed in contemporary American politics. Also, it has always been a contentious issue. Even great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle weighed in on abortion, arguing its benefits and drawbacks in a democratic society. There are both pros and cons about abortion. In this quote it states,
Abortion is a national issue, but in Canada they handle things differently. Although abortion is legal in Canada, there are so many barriers that can restrict the access to women having abortions.
Thou shalt not kill; one-tenth of what may arguably be the most famous guidelines of morality in the western culture, and also the main driving force for pro-life advocates. The argument supporting their beliefs typically starts with the premises that a fetus is a person, and to destroy or to kill a person is unethical. Therefore abortion, the premeditated destruction of a human being, is murder, and consequently unethical. I deny the fact that the fetus, what I will refer to as an embryo up to 22 weeks old, has the right to live. The opposing argument is invalid because a fetus, although perhaps a part of human species, is not formally a person. This leaves it simply to be a part of the woman?s body, whose fate lies solely in the hands of the pregnant woman alone, no different from a tumor she might have. By proving this, the abortion debate then becomes an issue of women?s rights, something that is most controversial indeed. Furthermore, it is fair to question the credibility of many people against abortion because of obvious contradictions in the logic of their belief systems. The fact that this debate is relevant in modern society is ludicrous since there is a simple and plausible solution to this problem that could potentially end the debate for good, leaving both sides satisfied.
A Defense of Abortion In her argument on abortion, Judith Thomson discusses some major points about abortion. She deals with extreme cases and those extreme cases help us to realize a single perspective of abortion. For example, she talks about the violinist attached to you. In that example, you keep everything constant and focus on a single point, violinist being dead if you unattached him.
Even back in 1892 when Canada was much more conservative and Christian compared to today, there was many reports of women seeking abortions and upset due to the first Canadian Criminal Code that prohibits abortion and the sales, distribution and advertising of contraceptives. However this made sense due to Christian values. As Canada progressed and its culture changed, this law was considered outdated and was changed in 1969, contraceptives were allowed but abortions could only be performed under special circumstances. Many Canadians, particularly women and feminists disagreed with this law and believed it should be their own decision, not someone else and so many protests, petitions and illegal abortion clinics began, particularly by Dr. Henry Morgentaler. In the 1980’s most Canadians were pro-choice as a Gallup poll showed that 72% of Canadians believed that an abortion decision should only be decided by the pregnant woman and her doctor. By 1988, as previously mentioned, the law was abolished and all abortion restrictions removed. Now, there is talks of a law again yet Canadians have very mixed views on abortion whereas before 72% of Canadians wanted a change. The country must educate themselves more before a change is made to avoid the unrest it had before 1988. Many believe there should be restrictions to limit abortions in Canada yet compared to other democratic countries with abortion restrictions like Australia, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, excluding Ireland, and the United States have higher abortion rates per 1000 women between 15-44 years old than Canada according to Maclean's. Canada has had much more issues when abortion laws than it has had without them. There isn’t a clear majority supporting a specific change like last time and the restrictions aren’t needed anyways as there are no problems. Canada does not need abortion
As one knows, some unwanted pregnancies could often be harmful and distressing for a woman. Women should have the right over their body to choose to sustain the fetus or not. In the past decades, women did not have their freedom of abortion in many countries of the world. There have always been controversies going on about abortion. Each individual has dissimilar views on the legality of abortion. Some people are against abortion for personal religious purposes and beliefs. For those who don’t believe in abortion, it is because they see it as killing a fetus, which is a human being. Others support abortion because they believe in women’s rights. Laws of abortion vary in each country, and abortion is not legal all over the world. It is illegal under any conditions but only permitted to save woman’s life if in countries such as Brazil, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and Ireland. However, abortion is legal without any restrictions in countries like Canada, Albania, and Italy. It the past decades Abortion was considered as criminal act in Canada. “If an abortion was carried out without such approval, the woman was liable for imprisonment for 2 years, an...
There will always be a debate over whether or not abortion should be a legal option. It continues to divide Americans very long after the US Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. People, identifying themselves as pro-choice, say that choosing abortion is a right that should not be limited by the government or religious authority, and it outweighs any right claimed for a fetus or an embryo. It is said that pregnant women will resort to unsafe, illegal abortions if they do not get the option to do it the safer way, legally. Their opponents, identifying themselves as pro-life, say that a life begins at conception, and so abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent, helpless human being. They say
Abortion is a hot topic and a significant topic for many people Countless amount of people feel aborting or killing an unwanted child should be against the law. Many do not know what abortion is, why people choose to get abortions, the different between pro-life and pro-choice, and the laws in place of abortion. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice and responsibility of the woman.
As defined by the Merriam- Webster dictionary, abortion is “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus as a spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation- miscarriage, the induced expulsion of a human fetus, or the expulsion of a fetus by domestic animal often due to the infection at any time before completion of pregnancy” (“Abortion”).
The words of an unborn baby are ones that almost no one ever thinks of, or hears. One of this country's most controversial topics is abortion. However, if one sees the constitutional infringement to women by the restriction of abortion; the torment to the unwanted child; and the anguish society has to sustain, then this topic would not be so debatable. Too many people do not see the effect that abortions cause. It is a very dangerous offence that affects the mother, father, the community, and most importantly, the fetus, and that is why abortion should be illegal in Canada. First, abortion is against God’s law in many Holy books such as the Bible and the Quran. Secondly, abortion does not only affect the individual, but the community as a whole, and the rights of those people are infringed on. However, abortion does nothing in the cases of rape, or women’s rights, which is the constant argument people in favour of abortion argue. And lastly, abortion should be seen for what it is, murder.
Within the “Defense of Abortion,” Thompson insinuates an underlying principle, in which she highly values the principle of autonomy, as seen in her essay conversing the illegality of drug use. The implication of the principle of autonomy is an exercise of the belief that an adult is entitled to and has complete control over their body. Thompson’s argument begins with the willingness to take on the initial claim that nothing can be done to end a fetus’ life, insinuating that an abortion is impermissible even to save the mother. The response to this claim stated, “Doesn’t anyone have the right to defend themselves in the face of impending death?”
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by destruction of a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus before birth, prior to the time when the fetus attains viability, or capacity for life outside the uterus (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43). Currently almost twenty-five percent of pregnancies in the United States are aborted. About one forth of people who abort are teenagers, fifty-seven percent are younger than 25, and almost eighty percent are unmarried. During the first trimester is when most of the abortions take place. Only about ten percent are performed later in the pregnancy (Slife, 1998, p.329). Abortions go back as far as Ancient Greece where it was used as a type of population control. Then in the Roman Times men had total control over the procedure. “Man could give law-enforced command that his wife have an abortion, or he could punish or divorce his wife for having one without his consent” (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43).