Abortion had and still retains the centre stage in the world’s political debates. Whether abortion should or should not be legal has been discussed in most countries around the globe. According to Psychology Today, the Guttmacher Institute has reported over 350 different pieces of legislation that restrict abortion. Every ban that’s been signed has been challenged based on the ethical side.
About Abortion
Medically speaking, abortion is a state that refers to the termination of a pregnancy. This termination can be induced artificially or occur naturally.
Natural termination occurs when the health of the mother is bad or if the embryo deforms for some reason. There’s not much to debate in this case – it is basically natural selection that prevents the birth of an unhealthy or deformed baby, and protects the health of the mother.
The debate occurs when it comes to induced abortion. Used as a remedy when contraception methods fail, such an action opens a variety of ethical debates. Is this morally acceptable? Should it be legal or not?
This is a rather confusing topic that many struggle with. If you need some inspiration and guidance, you might want to explore a big database of abortion essays to get a better idea of what the debate encompasses, what the issues that arise include, and decide on which side you’re taking in it.
The Three Sides of the Debate
Even after decades, no side has a stronger say in this. Much has been written about the topic from both perspectives – ethical or philosophical, and legal. Some choose to advocate a legal position, while other look at this from a more ethical perspective. Whether you talk about the morality of abortion or its constitutional status, it goes without saying that the arguments are strong on both sides.
And of course, there are those in the middle. These are the people who believe that the choice should be restricted, but not to those who have a health-related issue because of it. According to this group, abortion is immoral and should be considered illegal, with exception to some cases.
Legal Side of Abortion
The Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution says:
‘’The word ‘person’ does not include an unborn’.
This means that from a legal standpoint, a fetus is not a person or an independent being. According to this, an abortion is the termination of the process called pregnancy and not the termination of a human being. Based on this, the legal side of abortion leaves it up to the mother, the person who carries the fetus in her body, to make a decision she deems fitting regarding it.
Those who are pro-choice often point out to some fierce statistics. For example, the risk of a mother dying while giving birth is 8.8 in 100000. Aborting a child comes with a risk of 0.6 in 100000. They also point out that thanks to modern medicine, this procedure does not affect future pregnancies, and gives women their right to choose.
Many of the induced abortions happen because the mother is unprepared for the child and decides to not carry it to term. But, some occur in cases where the female is a victim of rape or incest, or is facing serious medical conditions that occur because of or are worsened because of pregnancy.
Some of these arguments have made numerous courts worldwide to decide in favour to abortion. They’ve declared it as the ‘fundament right of a woman’.
Ethical Side of Abortion
While all of the above is considered a strong argument, the other side of this debate has equally fierce things to say. From an ethical standpoint, aborting a fetus is the same as terminating a life. Not to mention, the baby suffers during abortion.
During abortion, the woman is sedated, but the baby isn’t. If this procedure is performed after eight weeks of conceiving, the fetus will already have developed a response to pain. This means that same fetus will feel excruciating pain during the process.
That’s just one of many ethical arguments. According to some studies, young adult groups of women who undergo such procedures are at high risk of anxiety and depression following the process.
As far as humanity goes, many pro-life will argue that fetuses with disabilities are not lesser than human beings. So, while women are given the choice and often opt for termination of a pregnancy because of the fetus suffering from things like Down syndrome, this is considered unethical and unfair.
And of course, there’s the biggest argument of them all. If a fetus is not a human being, how come bringing it to full term makes it one? How can this not be a termination of a human being if not doing it leads to actual life?
The pro-life side of the debate has a strong term for this. It is called ‘personhood’. This refers to the moral status of a person. According to this, people have obligations to others, which include the right to life. The question of whether an unborn child or a fetus is a person or not is answered by one single thing – the existence of a heartbeat. While law shows that a fetus is not an actual human being, the existence of a heartbeat confers a right to life.
So, which one is it? Which side do you think is the rightful side in this debate? Or are you perhaps taking a third stance, believing that abortion should be legal in some cases and illegal in others?
Author’s Bio
Judy Nelson is a psychologist who works with adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. She aims to help young people overcome life barriers and shape their future. According to Nelson, people are the most complex thing this world has to offer.
