Abortion Essay, Research Paper

Freedom of Choice

Abortion has been one of the most heated topics being debated in the United States and Canada. Abortion is a discussion of human interaction where ethics, emotions, and law come together. There are people that have different views of abortion but no matter what their view is they fall under a thin line. There is the pro-choice and the pro-life. These are the only two categories that people s views fall into. A pro-choice person would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers and the government has no right to interfere. A pro-life person would believe that from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive. Since this embryo or fetus is alive and is a person, you have no moral right to abort a life. If you aborted the life (person) you would be committing murder.

The word murder is mainly used by pro-lifers to describe what happens when you abort an embryo/fetus. Murder means intentional and for no reason killing of another person. Pro-choicers wonder how anyone can tell a woman that she can t abort an embryo/fetus to interrupt a pregnancy if it is a result of rape or incest? A women cannot bear the thought of having a child that would be a constant reminder of what happened on a particular day, so many years ago.

My personal belief is that each woman has the right to decide whether she wants to abort an unwanted pregnancy. The termination of the pregnancy might have to do with the health of the mother herself, maybe the mother is unable to attend to the child s needs after its born, resulting in child abuse and mental disease. In these situations abortion is a must in my opinion. Most abortions occur because contraception fails, because of a rape or because of a serious medical condition of the mother, which could lead to her death. In these situations abortion is often the only way that prevents the birth of an unwanted child or saves a mothers life.

In the world today, pregnancy often has unfortunate effects on adolescents. They drop out of school, have nervous breakdowns, and even commit suicide. It can be unsafe for young teenagers to go through with pregnancy, they can die because their bodies aren t mature enough. Many teenagers cannot provide the right conditions for raising a child for they are still children themselves. The effects of having a baby can result in an end to a future career, meaning that there is a high possibility of the mother and baby living in poverty. The pro-lifer would say that the teenager could give the baby up for adoption and save a life.

Another issue on the topic of abortion is when pregnant women are older. They no longer have the energy to efficiently take care of the child. Most of these women already have grown-up children and possibly even grand children. From a medical standard these women are at a very high risk that health problems for the mother and the baby could happen. Some people are opposed to aborting the child for reasons that if that mother is capable of getting pregnant that she should have the responsibility of having the child.

There is also the issue of rape that has to be considered when we discuss the importance for women of having a right to a safe and legal abortion. It seems obvious to most people that they shouldn t force a woman who has become pregnant as a result of being raped to give birth to the baby. The pro-lifers don t see the same picture; they use the same old murder argument to not allow the pregnant women to get an abortion in a case of rape. They say that the child could be born and if the mother doesn t want the baby that she could give the baby up for adoption. What the pro-lifers don t see is the affect that will be upon on the women that is involved. The pro-lifers are only concerned for the fetus and not what will happen to the mother or the mother s family that has to deal with the incident. If the mother gives birth to the baby she might be unable to bear the psychological trauma of the event and so getting the abortion would prevent her that grief.

Opponents of abortion seem to think that women who choose to have abortions typically do so thoughtlessly. They do not know that a decision in itself is already agonizing and a very painful thing for a women. Can you really understand the issue of abortion unless you have been in the situation of possibly having one? What some people don t seem to understand is that abortion is not an easy way out. A woman herself has to make a decision on which is better for her. Many people try to force their beliefs on others and judge them for their decision on which is which. Many people try to force their beliefs on others and judge them for their actions. These people need to judge themselves before they start to judge others.

The reasons why women have abortions vary. It may be a case of rape, physical or psychological condition. A choice needs to be available to prevent the birth of unwanted children, to avoid damage to the child as well as to safeguard the emotional and physical health of women. Abortion is a tough choice and the decision should be a personal one, with out interference of government or special interest groups. Losing safe and legal abortion would mean reducing women to childbearing machines It would mean turning our backs on the technology we have, and it would also devalue women as independent human beings. It would bring more meaningless deaths from the illegal and self-induced abortions and more pain for women.

When looking at abortions there are many pros and cons for each. What it mainly comes down to is how each individual perceives each situation of abortion If one person sees abortion as a women s choice and can back up his views with proof that it would be better for the mother, then do not try to destroy their views. If a person sees abortion as killing a life and they want to abolish abortion, then let them have a chance to voice their opinions. Remember that it is good to have views from both sides because then people aren t always seeing in tunnel vision. So what ever our society decides to do with abortion, remember the effects that could happen to the world as a whole.

God gave us freedom of choice and if He, as a God, gives all of us this freedom, what right do we have to take it away from peoples opinions?