Preview

Can Abortion Ever Be Justified?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4811 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Can Abortion Ever Be Justified?
Religion fuels much of the intensity of the abortion debate. Modern government is purposefully separated from religion. In the Western world, the teachings of any one religion shouldn¡¦t and don¡¦t dominate the laws of a nation. However the morals and beliefs of the people are what establishes the morals and beliefs of a government. And the abortion debate is not just one of religious attributes, it is one of morality, legality, political and scientific concerns too. And it does not just concern the black and white debate of wrong and right, this at least is commonly agreed upon although many sides use many different types of argument to proves their points. Morals are dictated by the beliefs and feelings of society. Society today views life as precious, and as being something that should be protected. This is evident by the amount of ¡¥pro-life¡¦ pressure groups that hold weight. Such as The Association of Pro- Life Obstetricians and LIFE. Polls show that most people think that abortion is wrong in the way it is legal today, but only a small percentage of these are against abortion outright. Many religions that dominate culture have denounced the practice, however every one of these has also outlined extreme circumstances where induced abortions may be permitted, thus not outlawing the science and technology of abortion. The circumstances are similar with regards to political leaders speaking out concerning the issue. If this is a fair representation of society, then the morals dictated by this are confused and unclear. Is abortion morally wrong? Can it ever be justified?

In the UK abortion became illegal in 1861 under ¡¥The Offences Against the Person Act¡¦ when the penalty for 'procuring a miscarriage' was life imprisonment. This was backed up in 1929 in the Infant Life Preservation Act. Women trying to escape the burden of an unwanted pregnancy were forced to use unreliable and dangerous methods, including poisonous drugs, knitting needles, soap or lead



Bibliography: K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡KPage

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Nowadays abortion is a controversial issue around the world. If you ask me which country is full of prevalence of abortion, I would say that it is the United States of America. According to http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html, it said that there are about one million people to have an abortion every year and also about three thousand people per day. I also think this issue is becoming more serious because everyone has a different idea about that. Some people are pro-life, and some people are pro-choice. This issue deals with several factors of a person’s life. Therefore, I think government should stay out of the abortion issue because of respecting religious beliefs, invading human right, and ensuring quality of life for the baby.…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are a mass amount of controversies when the word “abortion” is brought into awareness. This dispute has brought about both positive and negative affects on society. Abortion plays a major role in the everyday life of a human. People base their political parties, and even the jobs they choose to work at, all depending whether the host is pro-life or pro-choice. I personally am pro-life. I have made the decision of being pro-life based on multiple observations. Some of these observations include you are murdering your own child, you need to face the consequences of your actions, and to give people who are not able to have their own offspring a chance to be a mother/parent.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The law should not determine what is right and what is wrong. Just because abortion is legal, doesn't mean it's right. As P. Ramsey stated, "Not everything that is legal is right...and nothing that is right is right because it is legal" (Day 55). Abortion should also not be considered right because it has been determined legal. Dean Stein, the father of four, and a pro-life advocate explained his beliefs on abortion (Day 79). He states, "My father was born and raised in Romania, and when Hitler came in in the Holocaust, there were Christians who risked their lives to smuggle him [my father] and his family out of Romania when it was legal to kill him just because he was a Jew," he goes on, "...in the same way the Jews were killed just for being Jews, now babies are killed just for being babies" (Day 79). Just because abortion is "painless" to the baby, doesn't mean it's right. In the United States, we don't allow people to kill innocent human beings, even if the death or killing is painless or not known by the victim (Day 80). Abortion should not be considered anything less than murder. Murder stops a beating heart. Abortion stops a beating heart and stops one 4000 times a day (Day 82). Religion…

    • 1360 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Phi 103 Abortion

    • 2332 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Many will argue whether or not abortion it right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or not, but one thing that everyone can agree on is that abortion is a very complex issue with very little common ground that keeps many people divided. The topic of abortion is a subject that many different groups have vested a great deal of time and effort to have their views known in society. The two biggest groups are the pro-choice and pro-life followers, which have been struggling to prove who is right and who is wrong for many years. I believe that abortion is a complex issue and that pro-choice and pro-life both have some reasonable arguments to support their views. When approaching the topic of abortion one must be willing to look at the topic with a open mind because everyone will naturally favor one side over the other because of human nature but everyone must realize that both sides of the debate have great reasons on why they are right. "Abortion debate is not about 'facts, ' but about how to weigh, measure, and assess facts" (Luker, 1984. p. 5). One must make a decision for themselves based on the facts presented. I "as a practicing Catholic" do believe that abortion is morally and ethically wrong but as a American I do respect the laws of the government yet not everyone will agree with my views on the topic. This is why I believe that abortion is a controversial issue affecting our society, it may be legal but it is ethically and morally wrong and based on that I believe that the act of aborting a potential life should be illegal.…

    • 2332 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is hard to find a single definition for the word “abortion.” Dictionary.com states that an abortion is also called voluntary abortion and it is the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. However, google states that an abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy. On the contrary, Merriam Webster defines an abortion as a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus. Just reading these definitions begin the argument of whether or not abortion should be legal and if it is “morally” right. Abortion has become a popular topic of discussion across politics and within churches. Although both sides have valid arguments, it is up to the woman carrying the child to decide whether she will keep the child or not. No government, nor religion should force someone into making a decision they weren’t fully supportive of.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abortion- Unbiased

    • 1589 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Abortion has been around for thousands of years and was legal in the United States since the very beginning. First it became illegal throughout the 1880’s up until 1973. Although abortion was illegal in the 1800 and 1900’s, it was still commonly done. It was still being used very unsafely and the number of deaths because of unsafe abortions increased to 15,000 by the 1930’s. These illegal abortions were very unsafe because untrained professionals were preforming them and they often left part of the fetus in the womb.…

    • 1589 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    pro-life

    • 1607 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Recently, I read “Arguments for and Against Abortions” that discussed the history of the abortion debate. I found that there are two major groups who often have heated discussion about their belief on whether abortion is right or wrong choice for women to do. Abortion… one of the most talked about issues in our society today. What is abortion? It involves one terminating a pregnancy by removing or expelling of a fetus or embryo from the uterus. Women and Men often find themselves facing the dilemma of whether or not to end a pregnancy. People have often had differences in opinion about this controversial topic because some feel that it is unethical as it regards to legal, cultural, and religious views. Most people are either all for, or against having the abortion procedure being done they’re very few who are undecided about this issue. There are many high-profile groups two in particular that acclaim either Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. United States pro-life groups feel there should be greater restrictions on abortion or even ban it. They argue that a human fetus is a human being with a right to live, so to them abortion is like murder. In contrast, you have the pro-choice organization that says women have the reproduction rights, to make the choice on whether or not she wants to carry a pregnancy to term. So many questions are raised when it comes to this matter. Is having an abortion is right or wrong? To me abortion is every women's right. Pro-life will argue statement such as abortion is murder, if a woman is willing to have sex, she’s knowingly taking the risk of getting pregnant, and should be responsible for her actions, adoption is a viable alternative to abortion, and rape doesn’t justify an abortion just to name a few.…

    • 1607 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Abortion Is Wrong

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There’s a lot of speculation going on right now about whether or not abortion is ethical. Many people believe that there should be laws against it, that it should be banned entirely. Thousands spend time protesting abortion, stating that it is a sin, and that it is the same as murdering a child. However, the majority of those who claim these things don’t have their facts quite right.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abortion is a practice that has been seen in history for thousands of years. “Abortion was recorded in 1550 B.C.E. in Egypt, recorded in what is called the Ebers Papyrus and in ancient China in about 500 B.C.E. as well… Hippocrates also offered abortion to his patients” (Fox). More recently, Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in the United States. “In a 7-2 ruling on January 22, 1973, the justices declared laws prohibiting…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If a fetus is a person, then terminating its life is wrong, but if one does not consider it a person, then it is only fair to say terminating its life is not wrong and therefore morally permissible. This is why, even if abortion is immoral, it should be legal. The fundamental argument of abortion, personhood, has come to be a matter of belief. Because not everyone agrees that the biological joining of a sperm and egg equal a life, the start of personhood/life becomes a belief instead of a fact. In the United States, if what President Jefferson said “We mandate no belief, nor will we ever” then abortion should be legal, because it relies on a personal choice constructed by a set of…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fortunately, with these advancements came more efficient ways of terminating a pregnancy. Ironically, at the same time Victorian Mortality surged! Under Victorian Morality, abortions became a taboo, leading to their ban in most English speaking countries. The first law to specifically outlaw abortions was the Malicious shooting or stabbing act of 1803. Under this legislation any woman who received an abortion as well as any persons were conducting the procedure was sentenced the death penalty or 14 years imprisonment.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Abortion Is Wrong

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Abortion is an extremely controversial issue because while some people are completely against it, others believe that a women should have the right to choose. I believe that abortion is morally and ethically wrong. 21% of all U.S. pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortions.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abortions have been around for thousands of years. However, in the 1800s, abortions in the United States were illegal. Due to the lack of medical education, procedures and surgeries, abortions were very dangerous. As medical advancements were made, women still had to rely on back alley abortions which usually resulted in…

    • 2145 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Anti - Abortion

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Dating all the way back to the 1800 's, abortions have been taking place all over the world. In the US abortion laws were created around 1820 stating that women would not have abortions after already being pregnant for four months. Then by 1900 most abortions were outlawed. It wasn 't until 1956 that all fifty states had banned abortion with certain exceptions varying by state. Abortions were performed in the case of rape or incest in order to save the life of the mother, or if the fetus was deformed. It was then that back alley abortions started becoming very popular. Women were finding any way possible to be rid of babies they didn 't want.…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abortion (Pro-Life)

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Nowadays, in this world, there are a lot of problems that can make tremendous conflicts for human beings. They are very complicated and bring a lot of argument and nobody knows what the exact answer is. They also have pros and cons. One of the most complex problems is abortion. This is due to moral and ethical values which we all have. The majority of us are Christians or are brought up in that kind of ambiance which means that as small children we were taught values that are based on the bible such as that famous phrase "Thou shall not kill". This phrase relates to this topic because an abortion is the murder of a human being.…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics