Abortion in Canada Should Remain Legal
“Abortion is not a crime in Canada but it is an area of the law” (Duhaime, 2010) that isn’t black and white. It has been completely legal since 1988 and our government should keep it that way. For as much as some people are anti-abortion or ‘pro-life’ they need to understand that women have abortions for a variety of reasons one being that an abortion can actually benefit the unborn child. Those who are anti-choice also claim that abortion is wrong because it violates the rights of the fetus, but what about the rights of the woman? It is a woman’s right to decide what she does with her body and though it is much debated; a fetus by logical argument is not a person and does not hold any rights. Finally, even if abortion was made illegal as it was many decades ago, desperate measure to abort unwanted children would be taken by many expecting women, with dire consequences. It is from these four statements that one can say that abortion should continue to be legal in Canada.
“It is not always in the best interest of the child to be born” (Jacob, 2006). A great example comes from the book Abortion under Attack. It features a story from a girl whose father never wanted her. She “suffered emotional abuse of hearing on a regular basis that she was unwanted and unwelcomed.” (Jacob, 2006) A lot of children are sadly born into this type of unloving environment when a mother is too poor to afford an abortion and doesn’t have the support to take care of the child or when they are born into a strained relationship. When a child is born to parents who don’t want them, would it not have been in their best interest to have been aborted? Rather than be subject to emotional or physical abuse or loveless lives in group homes, they could have never had to experience any of the pain; they never would have known. The fetus is not a conscious being, so when it is aborted it feels no pain; it is as if it never existed. In other cases, a child who born to a woman who heavily used
“It is not always in the best interest of the child to be born” (Jacob, 2006). A great example comes from the book Abortion under Attack. It features a story from a girl whose father never wanted her. She “suffered emotional abuse of hearing on a regular basis that she was unwanted and unwelcomed.” (Jacob, 2006) A lot of children are sadly born into this type of unloving environment when a mother is too poor to afford an abortion and doesn’t have the support to take care of the child or when they are born into a strained relationship. When a child is born to parents who don’t want them, would it not have been in their best interest to have been aborted? Rather than be subject to emotional or physical abuse or loveless lives in group homes, they could have never had to experience any of the pain; they never would have known. The fetus is not a conscious being, so when it is aborted it feels no pain; it is as if it never existed. In other cases, a child who born to a woman who heavily used
References: Arthur, J. (1999, October). Abortion In Canada. Retrieved from http:www.hackcanada.com/Canadian/freedom.canadabort.htm Duhaime, L. (2010, March 24). Abortion law in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.duhaime.org/LegalResources/CriminalLaw/LawArticle-27/Abortion-Law-In-Canada.aspx Jacob, K. (2006). Abortion under attack. Emeryville, California: Seal Press. Piehl, N. (2007). Abortion. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press.