Socrates View On Abortion

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC (Pazol et al., 2015), 699,202 legal induced abortions were reported in 2012. As a controversial social problem, the discussion continues of whether or not abortion should be legal. In Plato’s Republic, Socrates’ ideal city is based on justice, although he legalizes abortion as a way to punish those for bringing an “imperfect” child into his city. As a way to try and resolve the creation of “imperfect” children— those that are illegitimate, unauthorized, and unhallowed—Socrates’ allows men and women, who have passed the age of having children, to be as sexually active as often as they wish, with whomever they wish. Socrates’ presentation of abortion is not accurate and he fails
to establish an effective way to resolve it. In Socrates’ ideal city, the presentation of abortion is inaccurate. Abortion is legal and at the discretion of the guardians within his city. Socrates believes that if a man older or younger than the age of fifty-five engages in reproduction, the child must be aborted. The abortion would take place in a place of darkness, through a dangerous weakness of will, and without the benefit of the sacrifices and prayers offered at every marriage festival (Republic 461e). The same regulations will apply to those of men in their begetting years who has a child with a woman of childbearing age without the sanction of the rulers (Republic 461b). Socrates’ justification for his socialistic system is that, when everything is shared, there is unity—one citizens’s individual pain and pleasure is at once collective. As a way to resolve the social problem, Socrates’ allows men and women, who have passed the age of having children, to engage in sexual activity with whomever they desire, with certain exceptions—“for a man - his daughter, his mother, his daughter’s children, and his mother’s ancestors; for a woman - her son, his descendants, her father, and his ancestors” (Republic 461c). When examining the effectiveness of his attempt at a resolution, the means of it are not within reasonable standards as citizens should be able to be involved with whomever they desire, whenever they desire to be. Socrates’ presentation of abortion is ineffective and inaccurate due to several factors that he fails to consider and recognize when legalizing abortion in his ideal city.
These factors are prominent regarding the safety of women, as well as his city in such ways that freedom is lacked and therefore could lead to a non-desirable environment. When establishing the legalization of termination of pregnancies, he could have considered opinions of advocacy groups and political forces. According to a journal article in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, a state’s abortion policy is established by a role in the National Abortion Rights Action League, the percentage of female state legislators, and the percentage of Democratic female legislators. Also, the restrictiveness is based on the population of Roman Catholics (Medoff, 2002). Restrictions on abortion should be based on beliefs of citizens in the state, in which, Socrates’ lacks the acknowledgment of women and bases his decision solely to himself and how he desires his ideal city to
be. Abortion is a two-sided argument, in which the opinions of citizens could be that of pro-choice or pro-life. Proponents, more commonly known as “pro-choice”, choose abortion as they believe it is a women’s right that should not be limited by the government or religious authority. Those that are pro-choice also argue that women will resort to unsafe, illegal abortions if there is no legal option. Opponents, also known as “pro-life”, argue that personhood begins at conception and therefore abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent human being. By choosing abortion, opponents are convinced that abortion inflicts suffering of a child and is unfair to those that cannot conceive children (ProCon, 2016). These are critical, opinionated, and considerable views on abortion that Socrates’ fails to recognize when making his decision to legalize abortion in his city. The alternatives to abortion are additional factors that Socrates’ fails to examine.
Parenting the child yourself, reaching out to the father of the child, adoption, and foster care are considerable options that Socrates’ fails to consider or even recognize (M, 2011). However, parenting the child and reaching out to the father are not necessarily adequate options within Socrates’ city, as the reason for abortion is due to the conception of a child “illegally” — not within begetting years. Again, Socrates’ fails to respect women in giving them the right to choose their form of healthcare as he prominently makes the conscious decision of enforcing an abortion or the killing of the infant once it is born. These alternatives provided are potential ways to effectively “resolve” or eliminate the reoccurrences of abortion in Socrates’ ideal city, so perhaps they should be discussed and
considered. The costs of obtaining an abortion, when done properly and legally, are other considerable aspects. A study based on the response of abortion demand to changes in abortion costs took place and was analyzed by Medoff. This study estimated the impact of various restrictive abortion laws, complements, and extends prior research by including an estimation of price of obtaining an abortion. The results of the study revealed that the real price of an abortion has statistically and numerically notable negative impact on abortion demand. Medicaid funding places restrictions on abortion, as well as a parental involvement law, in order to reduce the demand for abortions. However, a state waiting period and a mandatory counseling law have no statistical significant impact on the abortion demand. The results provide support for the hypothesis, proposing that increases in abortion costs not only reduce the amount of abortions, but also reduce the number of pregnancies by altering women’s sexual/contraceptive practices (Medoff, 2008). In regards to Plato’s Republic, cost may not be a significant factor, as it is of Socrates’ wishes to abort children conceived outside of his regulations. Eventually, if the conception of “imperfect” children or children conceived not within begetting years reoccurs repeatedly, Socrates’ may consider, if not already, enforcing a cost on abortions. Alternatives, public opinion, and costs are all acknowledged when arguing about the legalization of abortion in present day society. Perspectives on abortion are involved in presidential debates and the candidates’ opinions are taken into consideration when it comes time to elect a president for office. Hillary Clinton, the nominated Democratic candidate, has expressed her support for abortion rights and the funding of Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization that does research into and gives advice on contraception, family planning, and reproductive problems. On October 19, 2016, Clinton said “I will defend Roe v. Wade (a law banning abortions expect to save the life of the mother) and I will defend women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions” (Rosier et al., n.d.). She has discussed her vote against banning late-term abortions, and concludes that the government should not make reproductive decisions for women. Donald Trump, the nominated Republican candidate, is opposed to abortion with the exception of occurrences of rape, incest, or danger to the mother’s life. In a letter to anti-abortion leaders, Trump announced the appointment and outlined his views on abortion, which included “Nominating pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, signing into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act … defunding Planned Parenthood … making the Hyde Amendment permanent law”. In regards to Roe v Wade, Trump believes the court will likely overturn the abortion law case (Rosier et al., n.d.). Each presidential candidate carefully considers their own beliefs, the beliefs of citizens, and women’s rights when debating the social issue of abortion. The perspectives of presidential candidates and their desires for continuing the legalization of abortion or prohibiting abortions if often a factor of opinion when it comes to voting. Socrates’ fails to acknowledge the perspectives of those around him, focusing only on himself and his desires for his ideal city. In order to establish a law, perspectives other than the ruler’s must be taken into critical consideration. Socrates’ is the ruler of his ideal city and a president is, in essence, a “ruler” of fifty states. With all of the discussed factors taken into consideration, Socrates’ could potentially better his ideal city. He could also respect the perspectives of the citizens and women’s rights, rather than basing decisions on his desires and the act of being “pro-city”. Opinions of proponents (pro-choice) and opponents (pro-life) could also be taken into consideration, allowing the citizens of his city to have a voice. All of these factors enable us to recognize how Socrates’ fails to accurately present the social problem of abortion as well as establishing an effective resolution.