Abortion According to Aristotle

Abortion according to Aristotle
Do you believe that abortion is morally correct? That taking away someone else’s life is an option? That abortion is following the Golden Mean according to Aristotle? Currently, many people believe that it can be an option, because the baby hasn’t been born yet. But others, including Aristotle will disagree.
First of all, who is Aristotle? Aristotle was a philosopher who thought that an act is morally correct if it follows the Golden Mean. This is an action or a feeling responding to a particular situation at the right time, the right way, the right amount or/and the right reason. Not too much and not too little. The key to the Golden Mean is in moderation. I picked Aristotle because I believe that he has the best ethical philosophy. I agree with Aristotle’s ideas about the Golden Mean because I believe that if you are a moderate person, you will not take anything to an extreme and you’ll make good decisions. He also believes in the Sofia Virtue which is that you have to think straight, learn well and act accordingly. This idea mostly settles in the consequences of actions and how you may respond on them. The Golden Mean also tell us that you need to require virtue because it shows how moral a person is, but what I don’t agree that if a person is virtues, they will know exactly when to stop on their own. I don’t agree with that idea because sometimes virtuous people are forced to do something they don’t like to do so they try to stop it, but they are unable.
Currently, abortion is a major issue facing the world, especially for teens. Abortion is when there is a conscious or intentional termination in human pregnancy. There are two types of it: therapeutic and elective. Therapeutic is when the mother needs to abort because of health issues while elective, is when the mother wants to abort because she doesn’t want the baby. The two ways to abort are: medical and surgical. Medical is when the doctor gives the patient some drugs to terminate the pregnancy. The only problem with medical abortion is that it can only function for the first nine weeks after conception and the patient will receive strong cramps. The other way, the surgical is when the doctor removes the fetus by manual vacuum aspiration/dilatation/evacuation. These three different ways are by absorbing the organs or pulling the fetus part by part. This can only be practice for 15 to 24 weeks after conception.
According to Aristotle’s thought, abortion is not following the Golden Mean because it is an action that doesn’t respond at the right time by making a decision at a wrong time, in the right way and the right amount of reason, by choosing an excess. Also, abortion is not following the Sofia Virtue because when you are making the decision to abort, you are not thinking straight, acting accordingly, and learning well because you are choosing an option that is an excess. Another idea that abortion is not following Aristotle’s beliefs is that people who are choosing to abort are choosing an excess instead the mean. In this case, the deficit will be keeping the baby and the mean will be giving the baby for adoption. Adoption will actually be a mean because it is what is morally correct and is the best for the baby because he/she will be with a family that will love them instead of a place where they won’t be loved. While keeping the baby will be a deficit because they might know that they weren’t wanted and that will harm the baby.
Aristotle also thought that if someone was virtuous, they would know when exactly to stop on their own or begin. When we relate this thought with an example of rape and adoption, many people disagree because many girls want to stop the rape, but they can’t. Later, their consequences are that they are expecting a baby from someone who rapes them. According to Michael Smith, rape is the reason for 13,000 of 1.3 million annual abortions (Smith, “Women’s Health”). It may not be too many people but you can ask yourself about how many babies are being aborted. 13,000 have been killed because of it, and I believe that it is morally incorrect, that the safest thing to do is give it to adoption. Instead of going to an excess, these girls should use the Sofia Virtue and think straight and make an appropriate decision that will not affect anybody.
Based on the moral reasoning of Aristotle, the correct ethical response to abortion is abstinence. To have sex at the right time, in the right way by protecting yourself, and with the right amount of reason so that if there is an unexpected baby, you will be prepare for it. So when, you are in a situation that you’ll need to choose between an excess, mean, and deficit, you should consider the Golden Mean because it will make you think straight and act accordingly while making the decision and learning the consequences that it may bring.

Work Cited
1. Aspiration.”08 Feb. 1009. Web. 05 Apr.2012 http://www.rhtp.org/abortion/mva/.

2. Hill, Peter. “Contact Medical News Today.”Medical News Today. MedLexicon International, 27 Feb 2004. Web. 23. May. 2013 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/contactus.php. 3. “What is Abortion?” What is Abortion? N.p., 08 June 2010. Web. 22. May. 2013 http://www.bpas.org/bpasyoungpeople/what-is-abortion

4. Smith, Michael, W. “Woman’s Health.”Abortion- Reasons Women Choose Abortion. Healthwise 22, Feb. 2011. May 23, 2013 http://women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion.

Cited: 1. Aspiration.”08 Feb. 1009. Web. 05 Apr.2012 http://www.rhtp.org/abortion/mva/. 2. Hill, Peter. “Contact Medical News Today.”Medical News Today. MedLexicon International, 27 Feb 2004. Web. 23. May. 2013 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/contactus.php. 3. “What is Abortion?” What is Abortion? N.p., 08 June 2010. Web. 22. May. 2013 http://www.bpas.org/bpasyoungpeople/what-is-abortion 4. Smith, Michael, W. “Woman’s Health.”Abortion- Reasons Women Choose Abortion. Healthwise 22, Feb. 2011. May 23, 2013 http://women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion.