Abortion Essay, Research Paper
Abortion
Many have pondered upon the meaning of abortion. The
argument being that every child born should be wanted, and
others who believe that every child conceived should be born
(Roleff). This has been a controversial topic for years.
Everyone in the United States is covered under the United
States constitution, and under the 14th Amendment women have
been given the choice of abortion. In 1973, Harry A.
Blackmun wrote the majority opinion that it’s a women’s
right to have an abortion and Roe v. Wade legalized
abortion. Even though these people have been given the
right, the case is not closed. Pro-life activists carry a
strong argument, and continue to push their beliefs. They
feel so strongly about these beliefs that violence has
broken out in some known instances. Pro-choice activists, on
the other hand, also carry very strong points. They believe
that the child inside them is their property and it’s life
doesn’t begin until birth. In 1973, the United States
Supreme Court decided that as long as the baby lived in the
womb, he or she would be the property of the mother. Because
of this decision almost every third baby conceived in
America is killed by abortion, over one and a half million
babies a year (Petrikin). Many countries have followed these
decisions on the abortion issue and some of these include
Canada, England, and France. Other countries still believe
abortion should be illegal, which include Germany, Ireland,
and New Zealand. Although many believe that abortion is a
women’s choice, abortion should be banned because its
immoral and life begins at conception.
Abortion is the choice of a woman whether or not she
wants to receive one. Under the 14th Amendment’s “personal
liberty” women are given the right to receive an abortion.
The 14th Amendment’s concept of “personal liberty” and
restrictions on state action is enough to allow a women’s
decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The
right to choose to have an abortion is so personal and
essential to women’s lives that without this right women
cannot exercise other fundamental rights and liberties
guaranteed by the Constitution (Cozic 72). The state can’t
interfere in the private lives of a citizen. Without the
right to choose an abortion, the 14th Amendment’s guarantee
of liberty has little meaning for women. With the right to
choose abortion, women are able to enjoy the rights to fully
use the powers of their minds and bodies (Cosic 73). A man
can withdraw from a relationship as soon as he finds out
about a pregnancy. Sometimes after men find out about a
pregnancy, they choose to leave the women. It is only fair
to say that women should be given the same choice. If one
doesn’t want to hold the responsibilities of a child than
she should be able to have the choice of abortion in her
options. Because contraceptives fail, and because they are
not always available or possible to use, abortion is
necessary if people are to be able to determine whether and
when to “bear or beget a child”(Cozic 72). Couples choose
the alternative of abortion so they can start or expand
their families when they feel most ready and able to care
for them. Women choose to have an abortion because pregnancy
and childbirth can prevent them from keeping their jobs,
from feeding their families, and from serving others in ways
they consider necessary and appropriate. Pregnancy and child
birth may determine whether a woman ever gets to start or
complete her education, which will significantly influence
her ability to support herself and her family. The
availability of abortion makes it possible for people not
only to choose the number of children they want, but also to
create the kind of family life they have always wanted for
themselves. If a women cannot choose to terminate an
unwanted pregnancy, she is denied the right to the “control”
of her own body. One of the most sacred rights of common law
is to choose and if a women can’t do this than their most
important possession is taken away. Abortion isn’t only a
women’s right, it’s a women’s choice.
However, allowing abortion to be legal is immoral. A
pre-born child is never seen as the miracle only a woman can
create. Compassion for the small one is drowned out under a
demand for rights of the woman, but what about the rights
for the unborn. The idea of an unborn child’s right to his
or her body is ignored. Never, in modern times, has the
state granted to one citizen the right to have another
killed in order to solve their personal, social, or economic
problems. the embryo is its own being that should have it’s
own rights to protect it. The zygote is a unique genetic
being (Petrikin 27). There is a better way to solve our
problems than by killing children. A fertilized egg is the
most beautiful , most innocent being that we could ever
create, and can redeem even the worst of our mistakes. This
fertilized egg is not just a mass of tissue, for if it were
than there would be no debate. A fetus feels pain. Ultra
sound, fetoscopy, and study of the fetal EKG have
demonstrated the responsiveness of the human fetus to pain,
touch and sound (Petrikin 64). The fetus responds to light,
heat, cold, and taste. Observations of the fetal movements
in saline abortions indicates that the fetus experiences
discomfort as it dies. One doctor stated, “When I injected
the saline, I often saw an increase in fetal movements,”
(Petrikin 64). In another case, a film using new sonographic
techniques, shows the outline of the child in the womb
thrashing to resist the suction device before it tears off
the head. This is murder. Nobody who sees this film will
speak again of “painless” abortion. After the doctor who
performed this procedure saw this film, he never performed
another abortion again. But, many doctors still do perform
abortion, and in some instances a live child is killed.
“About once a day, somewhere in the United States, something
goes wrong and an abortion results in a live baby” (Petrikin
76). Forty five out of six hundred and seven mid trimester
abortions done in Connecticut in 1974-1976 resulted in live
births (Petrikin 76). In these cases the child was killed in
cold blooded murder. It is immoral to kill, therefore
abortion is immoral.
Finally, abortion should be banned because life begins
at conception. The individual sex cell consists of 23
chromosomes. It is only through combination, however, that
the sex cells contain the full complement of heredity units
that defines a human being (Roleff 17). This procedure of
combination defines conception. After the merger of the two
sex cells 46 chromosomes are present. This is what makes a
human being. The merger is complete within twelve hours, at
which time the egg is fertilized and becomes known
technically as the “zygote”. The inherited characteristics
of a unique human being has been established, and in no
circumstances will it change (Roleff 17). Nothing from this
time on, until death, will anything be added. The definition
of alive is that a being is growing, developing, maturing,
and replacing its own dying cells. This does not consist of
being dead. At the very time conception begins the zygote is
growing, developing, maturing, and replacing its own dying
cell. This new living being has a genetic set up unlike
anyone else’s, totally different from the cells of the
mother’s body. What is critical to figure out is if it is or
isn’t human life, and of course it is human life. At 18 days
the heart is pumping through a closed circulatory system,
with blood whose type is different from that of the mother.
At 40 days the brain begins to function. In the 16th week
motion has been detected. At 6 and 1/2 weeks all twenty
milk-teeth buds are present. During the eighth week the
baby’s stomach secretes gastric juice, and all its body
system is present. The baby dreams, thinks, and feels pain.
This is definitely a child, and no one on the face of this
earth would be here if they weren’t conceived during the
time of conception.
In summary, abortion can be justified by a women’s
right to choose, but it should be banned because it’s
immoral and life begins at conception. Women have been given
the right to have an abortion under the United States
Constitution, but this right is still being protested by the
people that fight for the unborn’s rights. Pro-life
activists claim that its immoral because it is simply
defined as murder. Life beginning at conception is another
strong point brought up by pro-life activists. Before a
child is born it is given all it’s necessities to survive.
Before birth the child s heart beats, the gastric juices
flow in the stomach, and all its necessary organs have been
made present. This is a child that thinks, dreams, and feels
pain. Yes, some women may look at having an abortion to
solve her personal problems, but in all, women are
abandoning the abortion because it weakens their great
strengths: creation, compassion and the ability to look
beneath the surface of appearance of things. Maybe soon the
abortion issue will reverse, and people will see the rights
of the unborn as greater importance than that of a personal
right.