Elements of Writing (M, Th)
12/12/12 (essay 3)
The Never Ending Struggle On the topic of incurable issues abortion is of the highest sensitivity. The debate of abortion comes down to emotion verse practicality. The issue that lies with the legalizing abortion is does this violate the rights of the fetus; it comes down to the matter of ethics as opposed to freedom. Should human rights be extended to the point of over ruling the mothers’ freedom? The issue at hand is one that leaves many people torn between one side or the other. Pro-Choice VS Pro-Life activists are ones that are firmly set in their ways because it’s a matter of morals to define who has the rights and why should one be able to overrule the other: mother vs. child. In the matters of the mothers rights verse the child’s, it comes down to a matter of when the fetus should be considered a baby with full-fledged legal rights. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice come at a stand still when it revolves around the matter of a time frame. The instant the egg becomes fertilized Anti-Abortion activist believe that in this second the fetus is a baby entitled to rights. Emerson expresses the beliefs of the Pro-Life as, "each human being, born with practically unlimited potential for growth and development, must be allowed ... maximum freedom for self-development and the fullest self-expression" (Emerson). It is this belief that strips the rights of the mother away immediately and everything revolves around what’s best for the fetus in this instant. Veber, a Pro-Life activist, explains that allowing the pregnant woman full rights is a denial of fetal rights, and the parents do not at any point have the right to end that unborn child’s life (Veber). Pro-Choice activists struggle with the issue of stripping the mother of rights and giving all the rights to an unborn fetus. Flawing Anti-Abortionists beliefs according to the U.S. Supreme court, a pre-viable fetus is not a person, and if it is not a person it cannot be murdered (Goldblatt). In the medical field, a fetus is considered viable in its 24th week after the last menstrual period of the mother, although most abortions are legal up to 22 weeks (Abortion Facts). Interestingly enough though, 88% of all abortions in the United States are done within the first 12-13 weeks, making the act of “murder” far-fetched due to how far from being a person this small collection of cells is (Abortion Facts). Pro-Choice followers emphasizes that goodness is best achieved in the appropriate context of others (Emerson). As Americans we were founded on the basis of freedom, and women’s rights was fought for. In Pro-Choice peoples opinions the choice in their name represents the freedom we as Americans receive; the mother should be given all her freedoms of choice up until the day where the fetus is no longer completely dependent upon the mothers nourishment for survival, typically at the end of the first trimester. According to Dawn E. Johnsen’s article from the Yale Law Journal, “[a] woman’s right to bodily autonomy in matters concerning reproduction is protected by the constitutional guarantees of liberty and privacy… the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws should be interpreted to prohibit the state from using women’s reproductive capability to their detriment” (Johnsen, 600). It’s a woman’s constitutional right to do what she pleases to her body for whatever reason she deems best. Should America be concerned with the freedoms it has given us or strip us of those rights to force us into one decision. The base off of which these activists develop there arguments from are virtually opposite one emotional (Pro-Life) and the other practical (Pro-Choice). There are many situations where emotions get the best of us, and this is where Pro-Life grows their arguments. The root argument of Pro-Life activists is that abortion is a sin and therefore criminal. According to National Right to Life, “On the issue of abortion, 26%