Is Abortion Really Murder? Essay, Research Paper

Many people feel that abortion is wrong and should be considered murder. But is it really murder? Women have abortions for many different reasons, whether it is just because they do not want the child, or they are too young, or they are not able to handle the pregnancy health wise and they may die as a result of carrying to term; there are many more reasons pregnant women choose to have abortions. This is not murder, if anything it is saving an unborn child from the future suffering it may go through, because the mother did not want it or was not ready. Abortion is essentially the same thing as pulling the plug on a patient that is on their death bed, basically, putting it out of its misery. It also helps to reduce the number of children that are in the need of being adopted.

Many women get pregnant by accident and they do not know what to do. So their first thought is to get an abortion because they do not want a baby. They want to be able to do as they please and not be tied down by a child. A woman that has an unwanted pregnancy also most likely does not want the child to suffer. Which will happen if it is unwanted in the beginning. This should not be considered murder, but helping a child and a mother not have to go through so much pain.

True, the end result of a pregnancy is a human being but, if unwanted that young human can potentially live in a world of hurt. Something nobody should be forced to go through. If a teenage girl becomes pregnant she is obviously not ready for the responsibility of caring for a child since, she is so young. A child raising a baby is just the beginning of a troubled life for that baby. A teenager is not able to have a job where they make enough money to support the baby and themselves. Furthermore, a minor is not responsible enough yet to be able to take care of an infant. It is in the best interest of both parties to end the pregnancy. This allows the teenager to grow up and do the things teenagers should be able to do. It also keeps a baby from having to suffer.

Women also have abortions to save their own lives. Some women are just not able to handle the stress of carrying a baby. Sometimes there may be a complication in the pregnancy as to where either the baby lives or the mother lives. In this case the mother may decide that she wants to be able to be there for her children and doesn t want them to grow up not knowing their mother.

Another reason for an abortion could be that the child is destined to have a terrible disease that will cause it to go through much suffering. A parent is not going to want to have to see their child suffer. That may cause them even more pain than ending the pregnancy.

Should abortion really be considered murder? Is saving an unborn child from future neglect, suffering, or pain wrong? The law has ruled abortion legal, placing the decision where it should be; in the hands of the woman. It takes a lot for a woman to decide to terminate a pregnancy for her own reasons. But when she makes the decision she is thinking of the baby too, not just herself. Women who choose to have an abortion are ruled murders by the “Pro-Life” group. In a way she saved a life. She made the decision to prevent a child from going through things it shouldn t have to go through. She saved it from suffering and many other things.

The two opposing sides on the abortion issue, actually agree on many things, almost everything. They agree that, ” the life of a child is a precious thing that deserves the full protection of the law it is a woman s exclusive right to make decisions concerning her body” (Jeff Gilbert).

A woman should not be considered a murderer for ending an unwanted pregnancy. A murderer is someone who viscously kills another human being out of insanity or just plain rage and hatred. Murders are usually gruesome and very horrible. There are many definitions of murder. Different people have different definitions. For instance, Sir Edward Coke defines the murder of a child as such: “the whole body must be detached from that of the mother; but if it has come wholly forth, but is still connected by the umbilical chord, such killing will be murder” (Coke). He defines “abortion” as this: “Feoticide would not be such a killing; he must have been in rerum natura It is this circumstance which distinguishes murder from every description of homicide” (Coke). In the United States murder is divided into degrees. For example:

In Pennsylvania, the act of April 22,1794, makes all murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, rape, robbery, or burglary, shall be deemed murder of the first degree; and all other kinds of murder shall be deemed of the second degree (Lectlaw)

The term “abortion” is not mentioned in this definition. Therefore, should not be considered murder.