Abortion Is A Constitutional Issue Essay
Abortion is a constitutional issue that questions whether it is ethically acceptable or a violation of the Constitution. It is a constant debate that revolves around moral, religious, and political values and effects several groups including pro-life supporters, pro-choice supporters, the state government, the federal government, courts, mothers, fathers, and most importantly, the child inside the womb. For one reason or another, these groups have their reasons and this essay will explore those arguments and their ethical value, while citing many of the conflicts that have arose in the United States over this highly controversial, constitutional topic. I believe that abortion should be outlawed in the United States with the exception of rape cases and other severe situations.
The constitution states that all men are created equally and that every citizen has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice. Abortion is an operation that takes the lives of unborn children …show more content…
from when they are conceived until they are nine months old. The questions that the United States face are: Is abortion right or wrong? Should it be legal in the United States? What are its benefits and drawbacks? Statistics have offered information that demonstrates the rising controversy in the United States. In the world, there are approximately 126,000 abortions are performed each day, 46 million are performed per year. (abortiontv.com) These statistics include the whole world, but are just a preview into the high rate at which people are turning to abortion.
Many people and associations agree and are doing to things to try to prevent this.
They are trying to prevent early teen pregnancy and the murder of babies before they are born. The group that makes an effort towards this is the pro-life group. They fight for the rights of children and are fully against abortion. They believe that once a baby is conceived, it is considered a living human being and therefore it is murder in almost every circumstance. This number of pro-life people has risen to 42% in the last five years. Many people that are involved in this group are religious people, big companies, and people who are just against human lives being taken. The exception to this group's philosophy is that if rape or incest has occurred that it could be considered acceptable, but unfortunate. These groups air commercials and have billboards making people think twice as they drive by. A group called Pro-Life Washington' collects donations and holds events to raise money to prevent
abortion.
Women perform abortions for many reasons. Many turn to it as a solution for rape. It is not fair to a woman to have to give birth to a child when they did not even choose to have sex. This is one of the justifiable reasons that women have to make this choice. The sad fact is that only one percent of abortions are executed because of rape victims. One more reason that women opt out of having a child is because of birth deformities and hazards to the mother carrying the child. They may choose to abort the baby because a doctor has already confirmed that it will not survive or that the mother will not survive the pregnancy. In this case, abortion can be beneficial, by possibly saving a life via ending another. Once again, the percentage of people in this situation who utilize abortion is only four percent. (Abortiontv.com) I believe that these are the only circumstances in which abortion is justifiable and it is sad that this is old five percent of abortions. This leaves another ninety-five percent that use abortion as a form of birth control. This means they have careless sex, because they know that they always have a legal option out. By keeping abortion legal to all women, it encourages women to have the procedure and in some ways gets rid of morals in the United States. The high rate of teenage pregnancy is evidence of this; every two out of five teens will become pregnant before the age of twenty. Is this because they know that they have a backup? If abortion was not available, I believe that the teen pregnancy would significantly decrease because it would remind people that if their method of birth control fails, they will have to carry out their baby to term. Catholics formed anti-abortion efforts when the idea first surfaced a long time ago in the United States. It was immediately opposed and considered a sin in every aspect possible. Eventually the Protestant group began to fight against for their cause. Although in the Bible there are no specific guidelines regarding when human life begins, there are many passages that could be interpreted as a reference to this subject. In any case, abortion is the termination of a life. One of the Ten Commandments clearly states that "Though shalt not Murder." As and Christian and an educated person, I do not believe that this statement can be taken loosely or re-interpreted. In this part of the Bible, God makes it clear that murder is a sin. In the United States today, about 76% of Americans consider themselves Christians. Just as the Pledge of Allegiance has seen attempts to be altered, so has the constitution. Though it does not clearly state that abortion is wrong, it says that a human deserves certain rights, which they are not receiving. If abortion can be overturned, so can the politicians who are trying to take "Under God" out of the pledge. Since this nation was founded under God, it would only further separate the people of the United States to continue allowing abortions.
State legislatures have begun to do their part in preventing abortion. Abortion affects them in many ways and if laws were changed, they would have to change them to obey the law. Currently, a baby is federally considered a human being when it is born. In the state of California, a baby in the womb has been declared a human life because of the Laci Peterson tragedy. If it is illegal for a husband to kill his wife with his child inside, it must be wrong to willingly and legally terminate the life of another child and receive money for the procedure. Already, there are increasingly less and less clinics that perform this in each state and there are very clear restrictions on it. In many states one must be at least 18 or else they need permission from their parents. Many teens would not carry it out if they had to tell their parents. So, because these kinds of rules are formed, it is an effort to try to reduce the number of women who do this. However, unless laws are changed to make it illegal in most circumstances, there will still be millions of babies being killed each year in every state.
Also, companies like Wal-Mart are doing their part to help reduce abortions. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest drug and pharmacy stores in the United States and they have refused to sell the emergency contraception pill, known as the "morning after pill," a pill that is taken the next morning to prevent any possible conception that may have happened the night before. By refusing to sell this, whether it is for ethical reasons or masked behind economic reasons, it is one step closer to keeping babies from being killed. They are taking strides towards getting abortion outlawed without openly taking a position against the cause. Though the pill itself is not considered abortion and does not involve violence, it just promotes carelessness, as does abortion. Many doctors refuse to distribute this drug as well, which makes it harder for a person to get rid of the baby. The argument of the anti-abortionist relies on the fact that abortion is the killing of a human life and therefore it is wrong in every way to kill a human life. But in analyzing this argument and getting all of the facts, one must consider whether a fetus in the womb is considered a living person and whether they can feel pain or not. The main problem with people in America is that they are uneducated. A large percentage of pro-abortionists are either inadequately informed or will benefit from the procedure. What they do not know is that a fetus can feel pain in the third trimester and 1% of abortions are performed during this trimester. As stated earlier, it has been found that 46 million are performed each year in the world, which would mean that 4 million and 600 thousand babies can feel themselves being aborted every year. (abortiontv.com) Is this not wrong in every aspect? Most Americans live in some kind of fear at the high rate of violence in the United States. Many are afraid of painful deaths such as being stabbed to death, or strangled, or shot but have they ever considered that these babies who feel pain suffer worse deaths than these entire put together. Another concern that this group has is that a husband or boyfriend has no say in whether they want to keep the baby or not. In many circumstances women make the executive decision because they can. They, however, face the opposing side in the United States, the pro-abortionist group.
The pro-abortion groups feeds of the idea that women deserve to have a choice because it is their bodies. This group includes people who are feminists, women, uniformed, and people who will benefit from it. A large percentage of this group is women who rely of abortion as a form of birth control. They know that if they accidentally conceive a child, they have a backup. People who are not ready to have a baby in their lives often utilize this. They justify it by claiming that it is not fair to the baby to be raised in an inadequate environment. This once again circles to the fact that they are uninformed. Women have the option of adoption which is a wonderful alternative compared to killing a child. Some of their other arguments are that the planet is overpopulating, abortion is safer than childbirth, and that the number of abortions is relatively low. Just by looking at these weak arguments, they are easy to contradict. The planet is overpopulating, but abortion and the people who support it are no better than China killing baby girls if we continue to practice this. Overpopulation will not be solved by abortion, nor will it be solved by murders or suicides or natural deaths. The scary fact is that these women are not worried about preventing overpopulation because they continue to abort. Over 50% of women who have abortions continue to do this. Abortion may be safer than childbirth but it is no reason to kill a child. These days, having a child is just as risky as taking an airplane or crossing the street, and it is no support for this violent, nationwide slaughter. In addition, these supporters claim that the number is relatively low, but one in three babies conceived in the United States is aborted. This is a disgusting and wrongful practice and the Constitution and law should have nothing to do with it. The people in this group that are doctors and who will benefit from it, will lose profits is it is outlawed, but it will be for the betterment of the country and the people residing in it. To continue this will be an easy task for many states. The laws are already established and people have already taken their positions. The constitution would require an amendment, which would require the whole process of getting it approved. John Kerry supports this and is probably relying on it to win some votes in the 2004 election. If it is outlawed, I'm sure that he, and other politicians like him, will lose credibility and moral ground. The plain facts are that the people who think they are doing women, or doing themselves a favor by supporting it, are really hurting women because most women are traumatized by it and missing out on giving life to an innocent human being.
Roe v. Wade, made it possible for women to have on-demand abortions. Because of this one court decision, it is possible and legal that millions of babies are killed per year. The court case gave women the right to abortion during the whole pregnancy and supported it by saying that it was backed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In conclusion, I believe that despite of the many views and arguments regarding abortion, it is morally wrong and should be outlawed in most cases in the United States. The drawbacks outweigh the benefits by a mile, therefore it is unpractical and a tragedy. If the constitution can be modified and amended, it will eliminate this controversial issue and aid in the unification of the people in the United States.
The constitution states that all men are created equally and that every citizen has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice. Abortion is an operation that takes the lives of unborn children …show more content…
from when they are conceived until they are nine months old. The questions that the United States face are: Is abortion right or wrong? Should it be legal in the United States? What are its benefits and drawbacks? Statistics have offered information that demonstrates the rising controversy in the United States. In the world, there are approximately 126,000 abortions are performed each day, 46 million are performed per year. (abortiontv.com) These statistics include the whole world, but are just a preview into the high rate at which people are turning to abortion.
Many people and associations agree and are doing to things to try to prevent this.
They are trying to prevent early teen pregnancy and the murder of babies before they are born. The group that makes an effort towards this is the pro-life group. They fight for the rights of children and are fully against abortion. They believe that once a baby is conceived, it is considered a living human being and therefore it is murder in almost every circumstance. This number of pro-life people has risen to 42% in the last five years. Many people that are involved in this group are religious people, big companies, and people who are just against human lives being taken. The exception to this group's philosophy is that if rape or incest has occurred that it could be considered acceptable, but unfortunate. These groups air commercials and have billboards making people think twice as they drive by. A group called Pro-Life Washington' collects donations and holds events to raise money to prevent
abortion.
Women perform abortions for many reasons. Many turn to it as a solution for rape. It is not fair to a woman to have to give birth to a child when they did not even choose to have sex. This is one of the justifiable reasons that women have to make this choice. The sad fact is that only one percent of abortions are executed because of rape victims. One more reason that women opt out of having a child is because of birth deformities and hazards to the mother carrying the child. They may choose to abort the baby because a doctor has already confirmed that it will not survive or that the mother will not survive the pregnancy. In this case, abortion can be beneficial, by possibly saving a life via ending another. Once again, the percentage of people in this situation who utilize abortion is only four percent. (Abortiontv.com) I believe that these are the only circumstances in which abortion is justifiable and it is sad that this is old five percent of abortions. This leaves another ninety-five percent that use abortion as a form of birth control. This means they have careless sex, because they know that they always have a legal option out. By keeping abortion legal to all women, it encourages women to have the procedure and in some ways gets rid of morals in the United States. The high rate of teenage pregnancy is evidence of this; every two out of five teens will become pregnant before the age of twenty. Is this because they know that they have a backup? If abortion was not available, I believe that the teen pregnancy would significantly decrease because it would remind people that if their method of birth control fails, they will have to carry out their baby to term. Catholics formed anti-abortion efforts when the idea first surfaced a long time ago in the United States. It was immediately opposed and considered a sin in every aspect possible. Eventually the Protestant group began to fight against for their cause. Although in the Bible there are no specific guidelines regarding when human life begins, there are many passages that could be interpreted as a reference to this subject. In any case, abortion is the termination of a life. One of the Ten Commandments clearly states that "Though shalt not Murder." As and Christian and an educated person, I do not believe that this statement can be taken loosely or re-interpreted. In this part of the Bible, God makes it clear that murder is a sin. In the United States today, about 76% of Americans consider themselves Christians. Just as the Pledge of Allegiance has seen attempts to be altered, so has the constitution. Though it does not clearly state that abortion is wrong, it says that a human deserves certain rights, which they are not receiving. If abortion can be overturned, so can the politicians who are trying to take "Under God" out of the pledge. Since this nation was founded under God, it would only further separate the people of the United States to continue allowing abortions.
State legislatures have begun to do their part in preventing abortion. Abortion affects them in many ways and if laws were changed, they would have to change them to obey the law. Currently, a baby is federally considered a human being when it is born. In the state of California, a baby in the womb has been declared a human life because of the Laci Peterson tragedy. If it is illegal for a husband to kill his wife with his child inside, it must be wrong to willingly and legally terminate the life of another child and receive money for the procedure. Already, there are increasingly less and less clinics that perform this in each state and there are very clear restrictions on it. In many states one must be at least 18 or else they need permission from their parents. Many teens would not carry it out if they had to tell their parents. So, because these kinds of rules are formed, it is an effort to try to reduce the number of women who do this. However, unless laws are changed to make it illegal in most circumstances, there will still be millions of babies being killed each year in every state.
Also, companies like Wal-Mart are doing their part to help reduce abortions. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest drug and pharmacy stores in the United States and they have refused to sell the emergency contraception pill, known as the "morning after pill," a pill that is taken the next morning to prevent any possible conception that may have happened the night before. By refusing to sell this, whether it is for ethical reasons or masked behind economic reasons, it is one step closer to keeping babies from being killed. They are taking strides towards getting abortion outlawed without openly taking a position against the cause. Though the pill itself is not considered abortion and does not involve violence, it just promotes carelessness, as does abortion. Many doctors refuse to distribute this drug as well, which makes it harder for a person to get rid of the baby. The argument of the anti-abortionist relies on the fact that abortion is the killing of a human life and therefore it is wrong in every way to kill a human life. But in analyzing this argument and getting all of the facts, one must consider whether a fetus in the womb is considered a living person and whether they can feel pain or not. The main problem with people in America is that they are uneducated. A large percentage of pro-abortionists are either inadequately informed or will benefit from the procedure. What they do not know is that a fetus can feel pain in the third trimester and 1% of abortions are performed during this trimester. As stated earlier, it has been found that 46 million are performed each year in the world, which would mean that 4 million and 600 thousand babies can feel themselves being aborted every year. (abortiontv.com) Is this not wrong in every aspect? Most Americans live in some kind of fear at the high rate of violence in the United States. Many are afraid of painful deaths such as being stabbed to death, or strangled, or shot but have they ever considered that these babies who feel pain suffer worse deaths than these entire put together. Another concern that this group has is that a husband or boyfriend has no say in whether they want to keep the baby or not. In many circumstances women make the executive decision because they can. They, however, face the opposing side in the United States, the pro-abortionist group.
The pro-abortion groups feeds of the idea that women deserve to have a choice because it is their bodies. This group includes people who are feminists, women, uniformed, and people who will benefit from it. A large percentage of this group is women who rely of abortion as a form of birth control. They know that if they accidentally conceive a child, they have a backup. People who are not ready to have a baby in their lives often utilize this. They justify it by claiming that it is not fair to the baby to be raised in an inadequate environment. This once again circles to the fact that they are uninformed. Women have the option of adoption which is a wonderful alternative compared to killing a child. Some of their other arguments are that the planet is overpopulating, abortion is safer than childbirth, and that the number of abortions is relatively low. Just by looking at these weak arguments, they are easy to contradict. The planet is overpopulating, but abortion and the people who support it are no better than China killing baby girls if we continue to practice this. Overpopulation will not be solved by abortion, nor will it be solved by murders or suicides or natural deaths. The scary fact is that these women are not worried about preventing overpopulation because they continue to abort. Over 50% of women who have abortions continue to do this. Abortion may be safer than childbirth but it is no reason to kill a child. These days, having a child is just as risky as taking an airplane or crossing the street, and it is no support for this violent, nationwide slaughter. In addition, these supporters claim that the number is relatively low, but one in three babies conceived in the United States is aborted. This is a disgusting and wrongful practice and the Constitution and law should have nothing to do with it. The people in this group that are doctors and who will benefit from it, will lose profits is it is outlawed, but it will be for the betterment of the country and the people residing in it. To continue this will be an easy task for many states. The laws are already established and people have already taken their positions. The constitution would require an amendment, which would require the whole process of getting it approved. John Kerry supports this and is probably relying on it to win some votes in the 2004 election. If it is outlawed, I'm sure that he, and other politicians like him, will lose credibility and moral ground. The plain facts are that the people who think they are doing women, or doing themselves a favor by supporting it, are really hurting women because most women are traumatized by it and missing out on giving life to an innocent human being.
Roe v. Wade, made it possible for women to have on-demand abortions. Because of this one court decision, it is possible and legal that millions of babies are killed per year. The court case gave women the right to abortion during the whole pregnancy and supported it by saying that it was backed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In conclusion, I believe that despite of the many views and arguments regarding abortion, it is morally wrong and should be outlawed in most cases in the United States. The drawbacks outweigh the benefits by a mile, therefore it is unpractical and a tragedy. If the constitution can be modified and amended, it will eliminate this controversial issue and aid in the unification of the people in the United States.