Have you ever heard of the word abortion at all? Abortion is a very diverse topic in our world today, especially in the United States. Many people do not know what abortion really means. Abortion is when a woman purposely terminates, or kills, her pregnancy, most often during the first 28 weeks after conception (Google). While some some people know this, still others are not aware of why someone would choose to have an abortion. Many people may think rape is the highest cause women have abortions. But, what they do not know, is less than 1% of women have an abortion after being raped (Abortions in America). The two major reasons women have abortions are because of poor finances and responsibility. Both reasons are 21% of all the explanations women give when they are having an abortion (Abortions in America). The other causes include:her life would change too much, which is 16%; she is unmarried, 12%; too young or immature, 11%; she has all she wants, 8%; or the baby has potential health problems (Abortions in America). This shows that when legalizing abortion, all these women that are having abortions because of those reasons, will have access to professionally-performed abortion centers and will reduce the risk of death from unsafe, illegal abortions (Abortion).
The Church VS. the Government
Many people believe abortion is wrong because of what their religion is. The others, believe that state laws should not be there because of what someone's religion
Abortion is the process of intentionally ending a pregnancy. Abortion touches the hearts of many because its consequences result in the loss of a human life. Its controversy stems from the fact that people’s opinions on this matter are rooted in their value systems, religious beliefs, and political socialization. Its prominence in political discussions today is likely to continue given the relationship between unwanted pregnancies and overpopulation. There is often debate about the constitutionality of abortion, as it is not specifically addressed by any doctrine. As a result, there has never been an explicit national law enacted.
Bertha, M. (2014). Pro-Life, Pro-Choice : Shared Values in the Abortion Debate. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. https://fortlewis.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search- ebscohost-com.fortlewis.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.9780826519924&site=eds-live&scope=site Throughout this book, Bertha claims that she is for pro choice, but at the end of the reading, she states that she has changed her beliefs to pro life. This specific author performed studies, exams, courses, and clinicals and discovered the facts about the harm that takes place to your body after having an abortion. Bertha discusses the hard, mental griefs and traumas that follow the procedure, as well as the uneasy argument about the virtuous worth of the human fetus. The author brings experience to the discussion through the psychological department, being an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University, as well as having written many informative and knowledgeable articles.
There are many common pregnancy alternatives, but most often the resulting decision is abortion because it is effortless. Abortion is endings a women’s pregnancy by removing or forcing a fetus or embryo from the mother’s womb before it is able to survive on its own. Not all abortions are purposely done some are spontaneous like when a women that has a miscarriage. Rather abortion is done purposely or naturally it is a worldwide complication as to it being wrong or right. Abortion is an ethical issue that will be analyzed according to a personal worldview and Christian worldview. Ethical thinking will be examined by value-based decisions that address abortion from the perspective of a Christian worldview and comparing it to a personal assumption by addressing ethical dilemma, core beliefs, resolution, evaluation, and comparison.
Why do people believe that an unborn life has precedence over the life of a living woman? In a country that boasts increasingly complicated legislature regarding women's health, the issue of abortion is one that has preoccupied the United States since before 1880 (Our Bodies, Ourselves, 2016). Those opposed to abortion often have reasons entrenched in religion (Pew Research Center, 2009) or politics. Since religion is one of the main streams from which ethics are imposed, the entire issue surrounding whether women have the right to safe abortions or not is hotly debated among ethicists, scientists, politicians and beyond.
Abortion has been a highly debated topic for many years. Until 1973, when abortion was legalized in the U.S., women were obtaining very dangerous abortions that often killed them in the process. Although abortion is legal now, members of society still do not agree on whether it is “right.” There are pros and cons of abortion, which can be examined by the three theoretical perspectives; Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Postmodern Theory. This essay explains what the three theoretical perspectives are and how they view the social issue of abortion.
Abortion and the morality of it has been a hot topic for years in the United States although it has been carried out for centuries in different cultures. Abortion is a medical procedure deliberately terminating a pregnancy. Abortions usually happen within the first 28 weeks of pregnancy and are considered an outpatient procedure. The first abortion laws were passed by Britain in 1803 and by 1880 most abortions in the U.S. were illegal, except for those that were performed to save the life of a woman. This exception to the rule gives insight into the battle that exists today and the ethical debate of abortion.
Prior to 1970 abortions were illegal in the United States. It was then when the now popular Roe v. Wade case took place which saw the Supreme Court make any laws regarding the prevention of early-stage abortions unconstitutional. An abortion can be defined as an early termination of an unwanted pregnancy. As a topic of controversy there are many aspects of abortion that are constantly being debated. For example, moral and legal obligations, support from federal and state funding and the debate of whether there has been a decline in abortions since its legalization, are amongst the main issues surrounding this topic.
Abortion has been a controversial topic since being declared a “fundamental right” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade in 1973. There are two different areas of advocacy: those who identify themselves as pro-life, and those who identify by pro-choice. Pro-life activists view abortion as an immoral killing of a human being, and do not condone it under any circumstance. Pro-choice activists believe abortion is a civil right, and women should be in control of any decision regarding their bodies.
“On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”, an essay written by Mary Anne Warren, defend abortion in any stage of a woman’s pregnancy (pg 468). Warren argues that the potential to become a human being is not the same as being human and deserving the same right to life (pg. 468-472). This essay asserts that in order to be human, one must possess five particular traits (pg. 470). These trait are consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, the ability to communicate, and awareness of oneself (pg. 470). Warren claims that since a fetus has not yet acquired all of the traits, then that fetus is not human and therefore does not have the right to life (pg. 470).
The concept of infanticide is one that is largely accepted to be immoral according to western standards. Because of this viewpoint, the objection that Mary Anne Warren’s argument to support the morality of abortion should also be extended to infanticide as well poses a problem. Warren claims that in order to earn the status of personhood you must possess the five characteristics that she enumerates in her article “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion.” These characteristics include consciousness, reasoning, self- motivated activity, communication, and concept of self. In her argument, she claims that these traits are the only way one can be considered a person and until these traits are acquired, a human being is not considered a person of moral standing. Without moral standing the claim is made that ones rights do not have to be honored. Because fetuses do not have these attributes it ought to be considered moral to abort a fetus. The problem arises when one considers an infant. According to the five traits, infants are also not to be considered a person, and thus it ought to be moral to kill an infant, which is known as infanticide. This is a problem because of the wide-standing viewpoint that the killing of an infant is considered murder, and therefore immoral. This creates a gaping whole in Warren’s argument, and one could argue that it discredits it completely.
Abortion has been a debating issue for many decades. Most of the countries, permit abortion, however, some religions and countries consider abortion to be morally and ethically impermissible. In Canada, the abortion was legalized in 1988 based on the fact that the law should not force a women to carry a fetus beyond her priorities as it would interfere with her body and her own securities towards life. Many would argue against this view by stating that a fetus does have a right to live and thus, abortion is morally wrong. I believe that abortion is morally and ethically permissible as long as it does not violate significant rights of others.
The history of 'abortion ' in the United States is more complex than most people imagine. Abortion and issues surrounding abortion are involved in intense political and public debate in the United States, law varies from state to state with regards to state legislature of abortion. 'Until 1973, the control of abortion, was almost entirely in the hands of the government of the state. ' (Vile. M. J. C, 1999, P203) The focal legal debate surrounding the issue of abortion is whether a foetus has a basic legal right to live, which turns on to the question on when a foetus is potentially a person (when it becomes 'viable ') and therefore should be ultimately protected from this point. 'Pollitt identifies that to have the legal right to have an abortion, was a transformative event for women’s liberation: it saved women from death and injury; and enabled them to commit to education and work. It also changed how women saw themselves; as mothers by choice not by fate.’ (Kennedy. S, 2014, P56) This essay will critically discuss the role and variety of actors involved in the discussion of abortion in the United States, and the impact they have politically, socially and economically, by critically exploring relevant theory.
In our present day, physicians and patients alike have concentrated on establishing a set of universal standards to guide clinical decision making. However, these standards ignore the critical role of religion in dealing with such bioethical issues. As abortion continues to turn into a more prominent topic of discussion and debate, it is critical for us to understand these religious belief systems in order to cross over value conflicts. Thus, in my final paper, I’ve chosen to focus on the different stances Jewish and Islamic faiths have taken on abortion. Although abortion is normatively prohibited in both faiths, I’ve examined how each ethical code permits abortion if and when the pregnant woman’s life is in jeopardy. Additionally, I’ve emphasized the value of unborn life in each faith. Judaism uses the concept of rodef, or pursuer, to authorize abortion in this scenario while Islamic law cites the maqaṣid, higher objectives of the law, to authorize abortion in this scenario.
One of the most frequently debated topics in bioethics is the morality of abortion, or the ending of a pregnancy without physically giving birth to an infant. Often times abortions are categorized into either spontaneous, a natural miscarriage; induced or intentional, which is premeditated and for any reason; or therapeutic, which albeit intentional, its sole purpose is to save the mother’s life. It seems however that moral conflicts on issue mainly arise when discussing induced abortions. In general, people universally agree it is morally wrong to kill an innocent person and in some people’s eyes induced abortions are the intentional killings of innocent persons, thus making them immoral. However not all individuals view fetuses as persons and consequentially argue it is not morally wrong to kill them.
Patients are now enabled to make autonomous decisions about their own healthcare or their minor child’s healthcare, sharing the decision-making responsibility with doctors. Consequently, practitioners face challenges of how to respond to dilemmas concerning their best medical advice and patients’ religious or cultural concerns. In other cases, a doctor's conscience or beliefs can influence him to refuse to perform a service or procedure despite the patient's wishes. Many believe that physicians who refuse to comply with legally-accepted medical treatments are “not qualified to fulfill the role of a medical professional” and should be asked to “find a more suitable profession or medical specialty with no threat of conscience dilemmas”. Mississippi