Abortion: Life or Death Decision
For centuries, people have longed for an effective means of birth control. Before birth control pills and surgery, there was no way of preventing a pregnancy. However, if women did get pregnant, they could choose to have an abortion. In early societies, unwanted children were often disposed of after they were born. Infanticide was common. Sometimes babies were killed outright and other times they were simply abandoned. In 1973, abortion was legalized in the United States by the Supreme Court’s decision on the case Roe vs. Wade and it has become one of the most controversial topics in America ever since then. This case divided the nation into two groups, pro-life and pro-choice. The term pro-life refers to the groups of people that oppose abortion and pro-choice refers to the groups that support it.
Pro-life supporters argue that abortions are murder and extreme cases of child abuse. For most pro-life supporters, their religious morals oppose the killing of another human being. From the moment of conception, the embryo is alive and its life imposes a moral obligation to preserve it. They believe humans should not have control over whether another human being should live or die. Pro-choice supporters believe that abortions are a justifiable means of terminating an unwanted pregnancy. They morally argue that a woman should be able to do with her body as she pleases. Pro-choice supporters also argue that a fetus is not a human and its rights should not override that of the mother’s.
In today’s society, it does not matter whether a person is right or wrong just as long as they can justify their actions to make them look and feel good. Justifying something is used as a means to back our decision so people will not criticize or hurt us. Most people think it is okay just as long it does not cause them pain.
The moral view a person holds is found to be the largest argument backing their decision to oppose or support abortion. Is it morally all right to kill a human being? Is it morally all right to tell a woman she has no control over her body? These are two of the many questions people may ask themselves when deciding on which side to support. Before focusing on these moral arguments, it is worth noticing that abortion raises emotional problems. Many people are personally affected by abortion, or fear they may need to resort to abortion at some time in the future. It is tempting to bypass the moral question altogether, by saying that abortion is a fact of life for women. Most women have commitments and duties that are not always compatible with having a child at anytime. Women need to be able to plan out their lives just as men do without the fear of becoming pregnant ruining their plans.
When people argue about the life status of an unborn baby, it is important to know what is defined as a human. The definition of life varies with differences in background, culture, and values, but also that all people share certain