Auguments About Abortion Essay, Research Paper

Auguments about Abortion

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues around, and is an issue that

will never be agreed upon. By bringing morals into the question of whether it

should be legal to have abortions, this issue has been elevated to a higher

level. By some people, it is no longer looked at as a question of choice but as

a question of morality, and these concepts have led to a full-blown debate over

something that really should not be questioned.

Every women in America has the right to decide what to do with their

bodies. No government or group of people should feel that they have the right

to dictate to a person what path their lives should take. People who say that

they are “pro-life” are in effect no more than “anti-choice”. These pro-lifers

want to put the life and future of a women into the hands of the government.

Abortion, and the choice a women may make, is a very private thing and should

not be open to debate. The question of morality should not even come into play

when considering abortion, because in this case the question is not of morality

but of choice and constitutionality.

The ninth amendment states “The enumeration in the Constitution, of

certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by

the people.” This in turn, is guaranteeing a women the right to have an

abortion. Pro-choice people say that abortion is the killing of a child, but

pro-choice people do not consider the fetus a child. A philosopher, Mary Anne

Warren, proposed that consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, and

self awareness are factors that determine ‘person-hood’.

But, a misconception that held is that people who are pro-choice are

actually pro-abortion. Many people that support the right of a women to decide

what to do with her own body may be personally against abortions. But, that

does not mean that they think the government should be able to pass laws

governing what females do with their bodies. Pro-choice people simply believe

that it is the right of a women to assess her situation and decide if a baby

would be either beneficial or deleterious to her present life.

People that are against abortions do not take many things into

consideration. One thing they do not consider is how the life of a teenager may

be ruined if they are not given the option of abortion. Another thing not

considered is the serious family strife that will result if a baby is forced to

be born. Pro-lifers are adamant about their beliefs and think that they have an

answer to every situation. Pregnant? Try adoption. Pregnant? They will help

you support the baby. What ever the women’s situation may be, pro-lifers will

not change their stand.

Many people that are pro-life suggest adoption as a viable alternative

to abortion. But, in reality, this is not a good answer. The fact is is that

the majority of people looking to adopt are middle class white couples. Another

fact is is that most of the babies given up for adoption (or that are aborted)

are of a mixed race. And, the truth is, is that most of the adopters do not

want these type of children. This is a sad fact, but is true. Why else would

adopting couples be placed on a waiting list for a few years when there are so

many other kinds of babies out there. Would these pro-lifers rather see these

children grow up as wards of the state, living a life of sorrow and misery?

Pro-lifers are fighting for laws that will make abortion illegal. Do

they really think that this will stop abortions? The only thing a law against

abortions will accomplish will be to drive pregnant women to seek help in dark

alleys and unsafe situations, resulting not only in the termination of the

pregnancy, but perhaps their own lives as well. In the 1940’s when abortion was

illegal, there were still many cases of women seeking help elsewhere. The only

difference though, is that these women usually ended up dead because of

hemorrhaging or infection. If a woman wants an abortion, illegal or legal,

nothing will stop her. Why would pro-lifers, who supposedly put so much value

in life, want to endanger the live of another person?

It is true that if a law is passed against abortion, it may serve to

prevent some abortions. A women may not have enough money for an alley-way

abortion and would then have to carry their pregnancy to term. The results of

this could be disastrous. First of all, the mother would be depressed, probably

would not get prenatal care, may drink, do drugs, or any other thing she could

do to perhaps harm the life of the baby. And, when the baby finally is born,

the mother may hate the baby, knowing that it has ruined her chance of ever

accomplishing her goals in life. If these ‘women forced into motherhood’ do

happen to keep their child, there is a good chance of child abuse and neglect.

These unwanted children, raised by the state or unloving parents, would then

give birth to another generation of unwanted children. Also, in some desperate

situations, new mothers may have the idea that since they could not have an

abortion they will kill their baby right after birth, perhaps with the idea that

they would get away with it and be able to start their life afresh. When all of

these situations are considered by an open-minded person, abortion seems the

better of them.

Radical pro-lifers fight for the lives of children and then go and

destroy the lives of abortion doctors. Does this mean that they place more

value on the live of a bundle of cells and tissues than they do on a human

being? Contradictions such as these lead many pro-choice people to believe that

pro-lifers are close-minded, immovable, radicals.

Pro-lifers may say to all of these arguments that any of these

situations would be preferable to abortion. The important thing, they believe,

is that these children will be living. They say that when a women goes to get

an abortion the fetus is given no choice. But, in effect, what they really are

saying is that the power of choice should be taken away from the mothers, giving

the unborn child an opportunity to be brought into a loveless, lonely, and

uncaring world.