Abortion-Ethics

Abortion

Abortion has been considered as one of the most controversial and debatable ethical issues for a long time now. It has roots deep in the history at least couple of hundreds years, and there has not appeared a unanimous view on it so far. Moreover, it is possible that our society won’t live to see such a thing. Since the termination of the pregnancy is frequently discussed and has many different views on if it is to be legal, illegal, unethical or ethical, a lot of questions arisen in the past. Questions and answers to them differ in many ways, depending if the issue is considered for example from the non-religious or religious point of view. In addition, important are also the rights of people connected to the act of abortion, same as the rights of a fetus. Even though legality of abortion varies from country to country, could it be considered as ethical and moral? As we know, not all issues that are legal are ethical and moral.
Firstly, lets start with arguments in favor of abortion. Who has a right to decide whether pregnant women should undergo an abortion or not? Could law interfere or could each woman decide that on herself? One of the strongest arguments is that the mother has a right to chose whether she wants to keep a child or not. Especially in cases of unwanted pregnancy, which can be caused by many reasons. Getting pregnant after being raped or incest is one of those situations, and also very suitable for resulting in abortion. What woman would want to keep a child after such a painful and terrifying experience? Could she keep the child and love it as it was planned?
Other situation could be just unwanted pregnancy due to the carelessness or bad contraception. These things can happen to any woman and her body, and as a matter of fact these things do happen daily. Since it is her body, she should have an explicit right on deciding about her own body and her own future. If the abortions were not possible in previously listed cases, what would the life of those children look like? Can those children be promised and provided with great life full of love and happiness even though they were not conceived intentionally and could be considered as “unwanted” in this world?
Is the unborn child more important than the health and life of the mother carrying it? One of the arguments in favor of abortion still considers mother as a main factor. If mother’s health and life is in danger because of the pregnancy, abortion should be allowed as one of the resolutions. As mentioned earlier, it should be the mother who decides what will happen to her and her body, especially in the case of health risks, abortion should not be debatable and should be considered as right thing to do. And it is right thing to do because the motivation is good. By undergoing an abortion, the intention is to avoid the health risks and save the women’s life. From the Aristotle’s, Kant’s and The Stoics’ point of view, abortion is considered to be ethical and moral because for them, the motivation is the primary factor in deciding what is ethical and what is not.
When the life actually begins? Does a fetus have a right to life? When speaking about arguments in favor of abortion we cannot avoid the statement that fetus is not a human being. But what is a human being? Views and opinions on this issue also differ from people to people or religion to religion. One of the interpretations is that human being is everything that has a genetic code of a human. However, is that enough? Others claim that, “apart from a human genetic code, in order to be a human being one must fulfill other aspects such as ability of thinking, communicating and expressing oneself.” So could a “simple” fetus, which does not meet the requirements, be considered as human being? Or could abortion then be regarded as killing? It is hard to determine if the fetus is a person or not, and also the moment when fetus gains rights to life. Some think from the moment of conceiving, others from the birth. Which is stronger? Or more true? Can we easily decide?
As we know, everything in our lives has its “for” and “against”, and the abortion is no exception. Arguments for the abortion seem strong and logical, but let us look on the other side of the issue. There are several different views on why should abortion be illegal, or at least why the abortion is wrong.
Contrary to the opinion that fetus is not a human being, there is an opinion that fetus actually is a human being and undergoing an abortion would result in a killing of an innocent human life, which is wrong in every aspect. Even though fetus cannot think or communicate, it should still have an opportunity to develop to such a stage and to become a whole person. It is a potential life, and that is considered to be a life as such. Nothing is more valuable than human life and in that case the life should be protected even before the birth. Who knows, maybe exactly that fetus can in future become very special and can contribute somehow to the society. Moreover, if the fetus is a human being, can it feel pain? Abortion is complex procedure, which brings pain to mother undergoing it, same as it does to the fetus. Isn’t it wrong to cause pain to others? Especially to ones, that cannot defend themselves?
Same as the health and the well-being of the fetus is important, the health and the well-being of the pregnant women is equally important. As I mentioned earlier, abortion is complex and dangerous procedure, which can have bad impact on health of the mother. Should a woman risk her own life with abortion? Is undergoing an abortion good decision if it is risky? There are many cases when women became unable to get pregnant again after the abortion, which could lead to other difficulties. Abortion does not affect just a physical condition of the pregnant woman. Women often experience states of depression or guilt after undergoing the abortion. This psychical state can very well influence the physical state. Woman can keep telling herself that she won’t ever be able to get pregnant again, even if that is not true, she could cause the miscarriage. This vicious circle is very hazardous and dangerous for women and her close ones. Will these women be able to live with that fact for the rest of their lives? I guess yes, but they would never forget about it.
Other important argument making abortion unethical and immoral is connected to adoption. How many people are unable to conceive a child nowadays? The number is not small. This generation is changing and has a lot of bad habits that has an influence on fertility - smoking, drinking, bad life-style etc. Nowadays, women have big problems with getting pregnant and men are less fertile than before, but those people are, unfortunately, the most often people who really want to have a child and start a family. What to do in this case? Is it wrong to allow abortion in this case? Yes. If the woman gets pregnant and doesn’t want to keep a child because of many different reasons, there are many other solutions to the issue than undergoing an abortion. Adoption is one of them. Giving birth to a child and then giving it away is not an easy thing to do, but isn’t that better than killing potential life by abortion? These women have the opportunity to make other mother or couple very happy.
In conclusion, both the arguments for and against abortion are logical and point proving, but as with everything in life one side outweighs the other, at least a little bit. However, how to decide what outweighs what? It depends on the each person individually, because each person has different values in life. For somebody, one value can be crucial and the most important. For others, that same value can be irrelevant. People should be able to freely make their own decisions as long as they are not interfering the freedom of others.
For me, making our own decisions concerning our own lives and bodies is the right that everybody should have. That is why I am a supporter of the first argument, which is in favor of the abortion and which primarily protects the right of the pregnant woman to chose what she wants to do with her own body. My decision may be based on the fact that I am a woman and that I can imagine myself being in that kind of situation. But the answer to the question if the abortion could be regarded as ethical is hard to state. Even if I agree with abortion it doesn’t mean that I think that it is ethical. According to some ethical theories, it is ethical; according to others, it is not, depending on the importance of either the motivation or the result. If there existed a simple and clear answer, the world wouldn’t have to discuss it over and over again. Morality of the abortion is relative.
Word count: 1566

Bibliography:
Dolan, Edward F. Jr., Matters of Life and Death, 1982
Internet Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/al7.php

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[ 1 ]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/philosophical/moralperson.shtml

Bibliography: Dolan, Edward F. Jr., Matters of Life and Death, 1982 Internet Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/al7.php -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/philosophical/moralperson.shtml