Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most likely during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. In America, we see society divided in two positions when it comes to abortion, pro-choice and pro-life. Many individuals who are pro-life believe that aborting a unwanted pregnancy or killing an unwanted child is inhumane and should be against the law. Others who are pro-choice, argue who are we as a society to judge individuals beliefs and doings? In the United States, we have people fighting for the rights of a woman to terminate a pregnancy since its their body and right and others opposing the right. Abortion is seen as right to women to decide if she wants to terminate a pregnancy, to me life starts at conception. To me abortion is murder! We will be looking at religious arguments and scientific theories as well to support why abortion should not be acceptable unless for health reasons.
Religion is a main reason why abortion is wrong, Christianity is a perfect example of why it’s considered murder. Charles Bellinger states that that religious arguments cannot be a legitimate part of the abortion debate. However, I completely disagree with his idea! According to Psalms 139:14 " I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (The Holy Bible). This verse is stating that the fetus living inside of a woman is wonderfully made. Aborting a child is considered as destroying an innocent life. Christianity and the majority of individuals in a society views this as being morally wrong and inhumane. Abortion is wrong for many reasons but mainly for murdering a human being inside of you. Many people believe that the baby is not a person until he is born; which is wrong. We should all know that that fetus living inside of you becomes a human life from the moment of conception. The Bible says in Jeramiah 1:5 that, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” This pretty much states that the child is a blessing and has a life even when its conceived.
Individuals that believe abortion is a painless process for the infant has never really thought about the process. Many people agree with the termination of a late pregnancy, meaning that the baby has already develops its senses and has developed nerves. The procedure begins with potassium injection to the heart, which stops the heart from beating (Hawking 315). According to Hawking’s, late term abortion requires more detachment, especially after the injection being administered. This procedure is confirmed by Dr. Levatino, the amniotic fluid is suctioned out, a sopher clamp is used to grasp an arm or leg and pulls hard in order to tear the limb from the baby, one by one this part is repeated until all of the limbs are retrieved, as well as the organs. The head is then grasped and crushed and a white substance comes out of the cervix (the baby’s brain). The abortionist removes the skull bones and then placenta (Levatino). He states that he has performed over 1,200 abortions in his career, he regrets doing this procedure and regrets taking the innocent lives of these poor children.
Women also decide to have abortions other reasons besides unwanted pregnancies. Walker et al state that a diagnosis of fetal abnormality presents parents with a difficult – even tragic – moral dilemma, that they choose abortion. Fetal abnormalities include, a cleft lip and/or palate, which in itself does not constitute a serious abnormality and hence does not justify abortion, could have accompanying malformations that may not be detected until after birth, such as congenital heart disease, brain abnormality and chromosomal anomalies (Walker et al. 530). These reasons are not morally acceptable for a person to abort a child. I understand that having a baby with certain conditions like this can be expensive, but why blame the baby for our DNA and the environment that we continue to grow the baby. Fetal abnormalities is not a legitimate reason to have an abortion.
Immanuel Kant is a famous philosopher who believed that moral laws could be derived from reason, and that all immoral behavior was, unreasonable or irrational (Vaughn 41). The question is what would Kant say about the topic of abortion. According to Kant abortion would be immoral because it would be irrational for every woman who does not want a baby to have an abortion. Why is abortion immoral? The reason it is immoral is because an act like this is unreasonable. I understand that woman that are raped would not want the memory of the person who has raped them. However, why blame the baby for such cause? It is unreasonable for the woman to abort the child, just like they say not to victim blame when a woman is raped, we should not victimize the baby, we should give the baby the life it deserves. Also, the whole process of an abortion is an immoral as a whole, it is murder.
The natural law theory from Aquinas, is the view that right actions are those that conform to moral standards discerned in nature through human reasons (Vaughn 40). This theory is very clear on the position of abortion. The fetus is an innocent person from the beginning of conception, and killing an innocent person is wrong. When a baby is conceived, they are innocent, they did not have the choice of being conceived. The two people involved knew the risks of having sexual intercourse and just because they do not want to be responsible they take the life of the child. In regards to a woman being raped, I understand it is traumatic but there are other options besides abortion. Don Marquis argues that abortion is wrong regardless of these exceptions where abortion is allowed, and that is abortion after rape and abortion during the first fourteen days after conception when there is an argument that the fetus is not definitely an individual. The reason these are not good arguments for an abortion is because the child is innocent of the occurrence. Having an abortion is removing the child from having a chance of life and finding a family that does want him or her regardless of how they were brought into this world.
Abortion is an evil and painful procedure for both the woman and the child. A baby starts to develop a heartbeat at about 3 weeks of fertilization. Abortion is seen as right to women to decide if she wants to terminate a pregnancy, to me life starts at conception. To me abortion is murder!