Abortions: Pregnancy and Child

Should Abortion be Legal? Melissa Papai
PHI103: Informal Logic
Instructor: Jennifer Hacker
7/1/13

Should Abortion be Legal?
Even though Abortion raises a host of ethical issues since it basically involves the termination of a probable human life. The debate over the legal and ethical viability of abortion has been complicated by the lack of consensus in defining whether a developing embryo can be equated with a human life. Methods to abort unwanted or undesired pregnancies have been recorded in the earliest of human civilizations, dating back to the ancient Egyptians. Since abortion involves the termination of a probable human life (because the embryo hasn’t yet reached viability), it has generally been either illegal through much of human history. Nobody ever realizes what woman goes through when she finally decides that she wants a abortion. With all of the people that are against abortions it would be hard to change their thoughts and beliefs on this subject. Should others have a say so such as the father of the fetus, people that do not believe in abortions, or anyone that is not the mother of the fetus. Should the mother of the fetus be the only ones that can determine the faith of the fetus?
The problem with making abortions illegal is that the people are going to get it done whether the law approves it or not. Abortions should be a choice weather people are against it or not. If we would make abortion illegal then, there would be more crimes being committed because people will break the law and do the procedures themselves which will be unsafe. As Moreno states in the article from The Washington Post (2003) that, ("The right to an abortion is incredibly important, because abortions not done in a clinic can be so dangerous to everyone involved," Lipsitz said. "People are still going to have abortions and will seek out people who will give them an abortion. I 've heard women speak about this. There 's such intense fear and scariness that comes with an illegal abortion." The problem with this is that no matter what the law says if a woman or a man wants the abortion then regardless they will have it without proper procedures and could cause death for the embryo as well as the woman. This is a great example of why abortion should be legal, as many people break the law everyday this would not change someone’s decision if they want to keep their child or not. There have been plenty of times where I watch the news and there was a baby born and it was killed by their own mother.
When it comes to abortion, people feel that you are killing a human being and that is a crime. How many people are actually thinking what is going to happen to the human being if we stop abortion? Some people were raped either by a family member or stranger, they do not have money to take care of the child and give them what they need, and the mother is in a position where keeping the embryo would kill the mother. Even though I am against abortions I do feel that it is the mother’s choice and it must be hard on anyone to make this choice or not. This is something that the woman would have to deal with for the rest of their lives. In the article the Daily Gleaner (2008) it states that [Today we are asked to despise the "fetus" and to respect the "abortion provider." In the new language of abortion, unborn children are no longer "killed"; unwanted pregnancies are "terminated." Nobody is "pro-abortion"; some people are merely "pro-choice." This helps these certain situations to where the mother feels less guilty of having an abortion.] People have an abortion for many reasons and sometimes it is to protect the embryo from having a bad life.
There have been so many women that feel that abortions are morally wrong but they have to have it anyways. They feel that they could not give the human life a good life or they have other children and did not feel it is fair to bring another one in the world until they are able to. Just because they feel that it is wrong they still have the abortion because they feel like it is the responsible thing to do. As Beckwith explains in the Taking abortion seriously (2001), that nearly 80 percent of the public will now admit that abortion involves the destruction of a human life, even though many in this group still believe abortion should be legal. In fact, studies show that at least 70 percent of aborting women believe what they are doing is morally wrong or at least deviant behavior. Abortion is something that is going to be a debate until the end of time because someone will say that just because you cannot take care of the infant there is always adoption. If you look at how many children that are in an residential home and never leave the home until the age of sixteen. As it is stated in the Orphan Hope International (2003) according to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based. This shows you that there are so many children out there just alone in the United States that does not have a place to call home. There are millions of abortions that take place each year and if you stop abortions all you are going to have it more children orphans.
There are so many legal and illegal abortions that are taking place today and so many people fighting for it, weather it is for making it illegal or keeping it legal. As it is stated in Population and Development Review by Hodgson, 2009 that according to these best estimates, of the 210 million pregnancies in the world each year, approximately 130 million result in live births, 38 million in spontaneous abortions. About 80 million of these annual pregnancies are estimated to be unintended, so induced abortion, legal and illegal, currently is being used to end somewhat more than half the world’s unintended pregnancies. People do know really know how they feel about the subject until they are in the position. For example, I was always the one that thought that abortion should be illegal and that people are wrong for killing a child. I always felt that if two people are responsible to have sex then they should be responsible to take care of a child. About a year ago, one of my friends just found out that she was pregnant and she told me that she used protection but it did not work. She explained to me that she would not be able to take care of her first child and go to school if she had the child. She would not have the means to take care of two children which, means that both of the kids would suffer in life if she kept the baby. It was not until then I realized that instead of her hurting one child she would be hurting two. She was doing it to better her child’s life to where the child would not have to suffer.
People also argue about that fact that abortion is murder and that is why abortion should be illegal. The thing about that is where is the law that abortion is murder? How would you determine if that is a fact or that people are just assuming that abortion is murder? As it is stated in An Introduction to Logic by Mosser, 2011 that in the preceding argument, we may be quite willing to accept that murder is illegal. But the controversy over abortion really involves the first premise, whether or not abortion qualifies as murder. To assume that abortion is murder, then, begs the question, for that is the very issue that is at stake in the argument. It is important to see that rejecting this argument because it is fallacious doesn’t establish anything about the topic of abortion. Rather, it indicates that this argument, as structured, relies on an illegitimate inference, or commits a fallacy. This shows us that there is not fact that abortion is murder because it states that they assume that it is murder. There is nothing that justifies that abortion is murder, and the law is very strict when it comes to murder so it is just someone’s opinion. Everyone believes in different things and that is not a bad thing. The thing is, people should not assume or judge something just because they feel that it is wrong.
The subject of abortion will remain an argument for many more years to come because of the fact that it is a subject that cannot be closed. A woman should be able to determine if she will or will not conceive a child. A woman might not be able to take the challenges of a child, or she might not be able to handle it mentally and that only hurts the child. As it is stated in Population and Development Review (2009) that ensuring that individual woman has the central role in determining their own fertility is not something that can be accomplished once and for all, especially in like of the spread of below replacement fertility, It is a goal that each generation has to struggle to attain for itself.
There has been some debate on whether the father of the fetus has a say so, that it is only a right if the woman wants to keep the fetus or not. Some men are still trying to fight for the right for the say so to stop the woman from having an abortion. As it is stated in, Suits Argue Fathers ' Rights in Abortion by Brannigan (1988) "the Supreme Court has made it crystal clear that a pregnant woman, without the permission or consent or advice from anyone else, may undergo an abortion if she chooses to do so." As this being said, a woman should be able to choose whether or not she wants to keep the fetus. I also feel that if the father of the fetus would like to take care of it then the woman should have respect for the father and the fetus and conceive the child and give all rights over to the father. Understanding the fact that the woman does not want to bring the child into this world for whatever reason that they may have, if the child is able to have a home provided from the father they should be able to have rights to the decision of the abortion. The father should have the rights to take the woman to court and prove to the courts that he would be an excellent father. This should be for the courts to decide because the fetus was not only created by the mother. As for now the father of the fetus has no rights on what the woman decides.
As researching on this topic it does show what they called “Men Abortion Rights” that states in the movement for men 's abortion rights, Ohio legislators are attempting to make headway. Ohio house bill 287, seeks to give a man the legal right to decide whether or not the woman he impregnates should get an abortion and would make it mandatory for all women to have the written consent of "the father of the fetus" before she can go forward with the procedure. Under the same legislation, rape and incest victims would need a police report to "prove" they need an abortion. As for a woman who does not know (or doesn 't want to reveal) who the man is, she would be unable to elect the procedure. Anyone, including doctors, who violate the bill would be guilty of "abortion fraud" and charged with a misdemeanor. In this case I feel that it is a wonderful thing that the father wants to raise and take care of their child. The bad thing would be that if a woman does not know who the father is could not have an abortion. There should be an affidavit that they should be able to sign that they swear under oath that they do not know who the father of the child is so that they could have an abortion.
People can argue over and over about should they make abortions legal but, if we did do those they we will be more over populated and more children without homes. A child should grow up into this world with a family that can take care of them and love them. If you force a woman to keep their child even though they cannot deal with them then, all you are is hurting the child. People should use be responsible when there is a child that could be involved. Some people have no choice because they were force or raped. I am against abortion but, I do feel that it is the woman’s choice weather to bring their child into this world. I also feel that the father of the fetus should have a right to it even if the mother wants to have an abortion. After reading about abortions, there are so many things that happen that people cannot help but to have an abortion. In the end of this all, the women are the ones that will have to deal with their consequences for the rest of their lives. This will remain in debate and will always remain in debate if abortion should be legal.

References:
Beckwith, F. J. (2001). Taking abortion seriously: A philosophical critique of the new anti-abortion rhetorical shift. Ethics & Medicine, 17(3), 155-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/275007028?accountid=32521
M. B. (1988, Aug 23). Suits argue fathers ' rights in abortion --- one plaintiff has petitioned Supreme Court. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/398087902?accountid=32521
Mosser, K. (2011). An Introduction to Logic. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Moreno, S. (2003). Both sides on abortion try a youthful drumbeat. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/409399108?accountid=32521
Porter, S. (2008) Men 's Abortion Rights: What Will They Think of Next? National Organization for Women Retrieved from http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/menandabortion.html
Renault, T. (1998). Legalizing abortion has only served to increase society 's woes. Daily Gleaner. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/412652500?accountid=32521
Kriest, A. (2003) Orphan Hope International, Facts and Statistics Retrieved from http://www.orphanhopeintl.org/facts-statistics/
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References: Beckwith, F. J. (2001). Taking abortion seriously: A philosophical critique of the new anti-abortion rhetorical shift. Ethics & Medicine, 17(3), 155-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/275007028?accountid=32521 M. B. (1988, Aug 23). Suits argue fathers ' rights in abortion --- one plaintiff has petitioned Supreme Court. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/398087902?accountid=32521 Mosser, K. (2011). An Introduction to Logic. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Moreno, S. (2003). Both sides on abortion try a youthful drumbeat. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/409399108?accountid=32521 Porter, S. (2008) Men 's Abortion Rights: What Will They Think of Next? National Organization for Women Retrieved from http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/menandabortion.html Renault, T. (1998). Legalizing abortion has only served to increase society 's woes. Daily Gleaner. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/412652500?accountid=32521 Kriest, A. (2003) Orphan Hope International, Facts and Statistics Retrieved from http://www.orphanhopeintl.org/facts-statistics/ .