Abortion Essay, Research Paper

Abortion

Many have pondered upon the meaning of abortion. The

argument being that every child born should be wanted, and

others who believe that every child conceived should be born

(Roleff). This has been a controversial topic for years.

Everyone in the United States is covered under the United

States constitution, and under the 14th Amendment women have

been given the choice of abortion. In 1973, Harry A.

Blackmun wrote the majority opinion that it’s a women’s

right to have an abortion and Roe v. Wade legalized

abortion. Even though these people have been given the

right, the case is not closed. Pro-life activists carry a

strong argument, and continue to push their beliefs. They

feel so strongly about these beliefs that violence has

broken out in some known instances. Pro-choice activists, on

the other hand, also carry very strong points. They believe

that the child inside them is their property and it’s life

doesn’t begin until birth. In 1973, the United States

Supreme Court decided that as long as the baby lived in the

womb, he or she would be the property of the mother. Because

of this decision almost every third baby conceived in

America is killed by abortion, over one and a half million

babies a year (Petrikin). Many countries have followed these

decisions on the abortion issue and some of these include

Canada, England, and France. Other countries still believe

abortion should be illegal, which include Germany, Ireland,

and New Zealand. Although many believe that abortion is a

women’s choice, abortion should be banned because its

immoral and life begins at conception.

Abortion is the choice of a woman whether or not she

wants to receive one. Under the 14th Amendment’s “personal

liberty” women are given the right to receive an abortion.

The 14th Amendment’s concept of “personal liberty” and

restrictions on state action is enough to allow a women’s

decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The

right to choose to have an abortion is so personal and

essential to women’s lives that without this right women

cannot exercise other fundamental rights and liberties

guaranteed by the Constitution (Cozic 72). The state can’t

interfere in the private lives of a citizen. Without the

right to choose an abortion, the 14th Amendment’s guarantee

of liberty has little meaning for women. With the right to

choose abortion, women are able to enjoy the rights to fully

use the powers of their minds and bodies (Cosic 73). A man

can withdraw from a relationship as soon as he finds out

about a pregnancy. Sometimes after men find out about a

pregnancy, they choose to leave the women. It is only fair

to say that women should be given the same choice. If one

doesn’t want to hold the responsibilities of a child than

she should be able to have the choice of abortion in her

options. Because contraceptives fail, and because they are

not always available or possible to use, abortion is

necessary if people are to be able to determine whether and

when to “bear or beget a child”(Cozic 72). Couples choose

the alternative of abortion so they can start or expand

their families when they feel most ready and able to care

for them. Women choose to have an abortion because pregnancy

and childbirth can prevent them from keeping their jobs,

from feeding their families, and from serving others in ways

they consider necessary and appropriate. Pregnancy and child

birth may determine whether a woman ever gets to start or

complete her education, which will significantly influence

her ability to support herself and her family. The

availability of abortion makes it possible for people not

only to choose the number of children they want, but also to

create the kind of family life they have always wanted for

themselves. If a women cannot choose to terminate an

unwanted pregnancy, she is denied the right to the “control”

of her own body. One of the most sacred rights of common law

is to choose and if a women can’t do this than their most

important possession is taken away. Abortion isn’t only a

women’s right, it’s a women’s choice.

However, allowing abortion to be legal is immoral. A

pre-born child is never seen as the miracle only a woman can

create. Compassion for the small one is drowned out under a

demand for rights of the woman, but what about the rights

for the unborn. The idea of an unborn child’s right to his

or her body is ignored. Never, in modern times, has the

state granted to one citizen the right to have another

killed in order to solve their personal, social, or economic

problems. the embryo is its own being that should have it’s

own rights to protect it. The zygote is a unique genetic

being (Petrikin 27). There is a better way to solve our

problems than by killing children. A fertilized egg is the

most beautiful , most innocent being that we could ever

create, and can redeem even the worst of our mistakes. This

fertilized egg is not just a mass of tissue, for if it were

than there would be no debate. A fetus feels pain. Ultra

sound, fetoscopy, and study of the fetal EKG have

demonstrated the responsiveness of the human fetus to pain,

touch and sound (Petrikin 64). The fetus responds to light,

heat, cold, and taste. Observations of the fetal movements

in saline abortions indicates that the fetus experiences

discomfort as it dies. One doctor stated, “When I injected

the saline, I often saw an increase in fetal movements,”

(Petrikin 64). In another case, a film using new sonographic

techniques, shows the outline of the child in the womb

thrashing to resist the suction device before it tears off

the head. This is murder. Nobody who sees this film will

speak again of “painless” abortion. After the doctor who

performed this procedure saw this film, he never performed

another abortion again. But, many doctors still do perform

abortion, and in some instances a live child is killed.

“About once a day, somewhere in the United States, something

goes wrong and an abortion results in a live baby” (Petrikin

76). Forty five out of six hundred and seven mid trimester

abortions done in Connecticut in 1974-1976 resulted in live

births (Petrikin 76). In these cases the child was killed in

cold blooded murder. It is immoral to kill, therefore

abortion is immoral.

Finally, abortion should be banned because life begins

at conception. The individual sex cell consists of 23

chromosomes. It is only through combination, however, that

the sex cells contain the full complement of heredity units

that defines a human being (Roleff 17). This procedure of

combination defines conception. After the merger of the two

sex cells 46 chromosomes are present. This is what makes a

human being. The merger is complete within twelve hours, at

which time the egg is fertilized and becomes known

technically as the “zygote”. The inherited characteristics

of a unique human being has been established, and in no

circumstances will it change (Roleff 17). Nothing from this

time on, until death, will anything be added. The definition

of alive is that a being is growing, developing, maturing,

and replacing its own dying cells. This does not consist of

being dead. At the very time conception begins the zygote is

growing, developing, maturing, and replacing its own dying

cell. This new living being has a genetic set up unlike

anyone else’s, totally different from the cells of the

mother’s body. What is critical to figure out is if it is or

isn’t human life, and of course it is human life. At 18 days

the heart is pumping through a closed circulatory system,

with blood whose type is different from that of the mother.

At 40 days the brain begins to function. In the 16th week

motion has been detected. At 6 and 1/2 weeks all twenty

milk-teeth buds are present. During the eighth week the

baby’s stomach secretes gastric juice, and all its body

system is present. The baby dreams, thinks, and feels pain.

This is definitely a child, and no one on the face of this

earth would be here if they weren’t conceived during the

time of conception.

In summary, abortion can be justified by a women’s

right to choose, but it should be banned because it’s

immoral and life begins at conception. Women have been given

the right to have an abortion under the United States

Constitution, but this right is still being protested by the

people that fight for the unborn’s rights. Pro-life

activists claim that its immoral because it is simply

defined as murder. Life beginning at conception is another

strong point brought up by pro-life activists. Before a

child is born it is given all it’s necessities to survive.

Before birth the child s heart beats, the gastric juices

flow in the stomach, and all its necessary organs have been

made present. This is a child that thinks, dreams, and feels

pain. Yes, some women may look at having an abortion to

solve her personal problems, but in all, women are

abandoning the abortion because it weakens their great

strengths: creation, compassion and the ability to look

beneath the surface of appearance of things. Maybe soon the

abortion issue will reverse, and people will see the rights

of the unborn as greater importance than that of a personal

right.