The Three Theoretical Perspectives on Abortion
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.
Structural Functionalism states that everything in society serves a purpose, whether it is positive or negative. Structuralists look
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Over the years, more people have become pro-choice because of the many circumstances under which a woman might need to have an abortion. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice supporters are almost 50/50 in the U.S., now. Today, many government officials are in the process of trying to shut down Planned Parenthood, which is where many women, and even men, go when they cannot afford to see another physician, or just because Planned Parenthood gives exceptional health care. If this business shuts down, many lower income individuals will have no way of seeing a doctor if they think they are pregnant, need an STI screening, need to have an abortion, etc. While these people will have no way of paying for a doctor, middle and upper class individuals will still be able to afford going to another doctor for these types of issues. This means the middle/upper class would have less unwanted babies, allowing them to push off having a child until they are financially and emotionally prepared, while the lower class will have higher numbers of unwanted babies because they could not afford an abortion. It is possible that some type of dialectical model could be created that would appeal to both groups, but as the conflict theory states, there will always be some disagreement.
Abortion has been an issue of heated debate in the United States for numerous years. Legislation has ruled it legal to perform an abortion on any gestational age of an embryo or fetus. Some people agree with the law and consider themselves pro-choice. Others are completely against abortion and are pro-life. In addition to these two groups is another group who support abortion in the first half of pregnancy, but believe abortion should be banned for the second half.
Structural Functionalism is defined as, “a society which is a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together” and “ its society as a living organism/ machine that has multiple organs and parts and people to fulfill their individual functions; working together to make it happen ” (Henslin 2015, Smith 2017).
The issue of abortion is one of the most sensitive and controversial issues faced by modern societies. This issue leads to topics of whether abortion is right or wrong, if it is the actual killing of a person, and what actually defines the moral status of a fetus. In this paper, I will be arguing against Bonnie Steinbock, who believes that abortions are morally acceptable. So I will be supporting the view that abortions are not morally acceptable.
From a sociological perspective, the conflict theory focuses on opposing interests of groups and the struggle to agree on norms and over the control of scarce resources. It is very well known that people have their own definitions for things, different cultures, religions and values all come into account. Certain behaviors are defined as deviant or acceptable by powerful groups and because of failure of consensus with the other groups, conflict arises. When people in a position try to enforce conformity, this creates resistance and resentment; the result is a constant struggle throughout society to determine who has authority over what. The choice to abort or to choose life is either a life-saver to some or a crime to others. The conflict perspective
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.
The issue of a woman’s right to her own body, within the last few decades, has become a progressively intriguing social dilemma in American society. More specifically the topic of abortion is not as taboo as it was thirty years ago although the debate has continued as to whether or not the decision should rest solely on the woman. Merriam Webster defines abortion as the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus as induced expulsion of the human fetus. This is a controversial subject that can be argued quite effectively for or against a woman’s right to choose. The three major sociological perspectives of conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” As stated in the Declaration of Independence, ALL men are created equal and given equal rights. Why then, would such rights be denied to those with the inability to even protect themselves? Each year in the United States alone, roughly 1.21 million abortions are performed. According to the Guttmacher Institute, that adds up to almost 55 million abortions since 1973 when abortion was legalized. There always seems to be an excuse behind the carnage of these innocent lives, but without proper, solid reasoning, abortion is the careless
There is a vast number of ethical theories, whether or not you believe in those theories is a matter of opinion and personal belief. For this reason, people can take the general concept of a theory and explain it in a way that aligns with their beliefs. Personally, I feel as though there is some truth in most, if not all, ethical theories. Though, there is one theory in particular I have taken a liking to; and this theory is egoism. Egoism, in the most general terms, is a theory in which a person is motivated by their own self-interest to further their wants or goals. This theory can be interpreted in a number of ways, one of them is that it is considered selfish. Egoism, is not necessarily selfish in that it may be in your own self-interest to do something for others. To help further explain my understanding of egoism, I’d like to bring up the topic of abortion. The debate over abortion has been going on for a while. As time goes by, my opinions on the topic have changed, especially when I learn about the different arguments each side makes. I will take some arguments from both sides to help explain egoism. Through my explanation on my understanding of egoism, I will ultimately express my views on this social issue as well. Though it is important to keep in mind that my main goal is to explain each side of the debate through the views of an egoist and whether or not each side is morally sound.
Out of all modern social controversies, perhaps the most heated controversy is that of abortion. In today’s society you are either a Pro-life or a Pro-choice, there is not a middle ground. Pro-life are individuals who believe abortion is immoral and should be stop for the wellbeing of women and unborn babies. In contrast, the Pro-choice individuals do not necessarily promote abortion, they just believe women should be the ones to make decisions over their bodies and health. Although the two main sides of the abortion debate have concerns for human life, pro-life activists worries more about the fetus and morals, a clear difference from the pro-choice that worries more for the women and their rights. Based on the points I explored, the pro-choice arguments are stronger than pro-life arguments. Most of both groups arguments comes from peer-reviewed researches from well-known sources to support each individual concept. Effects on women,socio-politics, and fetus are some of the main point of conflicts between the pro-life and pro-choice advocates.
Abortion has been a heated debate in the United States for decades. Since before the ruling on Roe v. Wade, it is clear that this is an issue that is far from ever being decided upon. Between those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice, scholars from both sides work on disproving the morality of the other side. With the evolution of abortion laws and regulation through the decades, it is difficult to imagine the United States without conflict pertaining to abortion. Despite pro-life and pro-choice agendas, the country is in ever-changing opinion when it comes to abortion.
The abortion question raises a number of issues that form the core of the abortion debate. Opponents and supporters of abortions have been battling over this particular problem for decades and still cannot come to an agreement. Being one of the most common and most controversial medical procedures, abortion tends to affect people on psychological and sociological levels. But while the discussion of the morality of abortion is an ongoing debate, the social issues surrounding abortion in most cases stay unnoticed. The social aspect of the issue is centered on the abortion policy. The main question of the abortion policy is whether the law should permit abortions and, if so under what circumstances. The other is whether the law should put the life of an unborn child first and legally protect it. The peculiarity of the abortion policy is that its measures are highly dependent on different public opinions.
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.
Structural Functionalism aims to understand society in an objective way. It views society as an entity that is “objectively real”. It emphasizes the unity of society, and how individuals perform roles and how these roles are vital in meeting the needs of the collective whole. For instance, because every society has stratification, stratification must have certain functions and these functions can contribute to the survival of the social system as a whole. Furthermore, structural
Abortion has been and still is one of the most controversial topics in American culture. The reason for the controversy is the different viewpoints of this very personal matter. Some believe that abortion is the same as murder. Others believe it’s a personal choice which only they have the right to make. Due to the nature of the procedure and the concerns associated with ending a pregnancy, abortion will continue to top the list of “touchy” subjects in American politics and culture. As a pro-choice advocate, it is important for the right to have an abortion to be established and protected.
The Ethics Of Abortion is a very controversial subject that has been continually argued over for the past few years and probably many more years to come. The main controversy is should abortion remain legalized? Before we get into the many sides of abortion we must first define abortion. Abortion is the destruction of the fetus or unborn child while the child is still in the mother’s womb. This can be done by almost anyone from the mother herself to back alley abortions and even to abortions by clinics set up especially for this purpose. There are two sides to this abortion topic, the PRO-LIFE, which is those who are against abortion altogether and the PRO- CHOICE or those who believe it is the woman’s right to