Abortion is a controversial topic because it deals with the issue of human life and death. There are no contemporary ethical issues so expressively charged and attractive to public, political, legal, and moral disagreement as those involving matters of life and death. Abortion is one such moral issue and one that has the ability not only to cause extreme and damaging divisions among citizens but violence as well. The main cause of controversy is that abortion is defined differently by those who do support it and those who reject it. This is important, in that it again raises questions concerning the supposed worth neutrality of so-called ‘objective’ ethical definitions and concepts and the extent to which these can be ethically approved (Stetson 34). Abortion is morally wrong and is not permissible because it kills a human being, violates human rights and is not approved by religion.
Pro-life advocates state as one in their beliefs an issue about the origin of life, while pro-choice people oppose the point of origin and are inclined to release the issue as not vital to their own position. Those people, who support a life position, agree with the question the bottom-line opinion that human life begins at conception. Above all, the issue of abortion affects women and their health. The decision to make an abortion is connected with emotional and psychological distress, but in some cases, it can be the only possible way out of family problems. “If we want poor women to make choices which might benefit the larger community then society needs to make choices which benefit poor communities” (Colker 49). Critics state that abortion is a traumatic event causing emotional suffering. Abortion is morally wrong because it terminates the life of individuals and can be seen as a killing of the individual (Kramlich 783).
Religious considerations are important for religious families believing in God’s providence and destiny. The pro-life opinion conceives of the individual woman as an extended personality. A woman is part of a set of equally beneficial duties that individuals have to each other (Stetson 23). The joys and traumas of childbirth are well known. Viewing pregnancy as the execution of beneficial duties to God requires stress on joy instead of pain. The Good Samaritan role, in a religious environment, rendering assistance beyond that which duty requires–underlines the painful nature of pregnancy. In both roles, the individual woman has no choice but to give birth to a child. The private figure of pro-choice gives way to the personality who merges self-interest with the interests of other people (Stetson 99). Against this, it might still be argued that the inconveniences and other mental, physical or social ills caused by an unwanted pregnancy are still not enough to excuse killing the fetus and violating his right to life. The demand not to kill the child becomes even more influential when it is supposed that there are ways possible for helping women to prevent the problems of unwanted pregnancies (Colker 49).
According to the conservative point of view, abortion is an absolute moral wrong, and consequently, abortion is a thing which should never be permitted under any conditions — not even in self-defense, such as cases where a continued pregnancy would almost surely result in the woman’s death. A common worry among conservative anti-abortionists is that, if abortion is permitted, then respect for the holiness of human life will be diminished, making it easier for human life to be taken in other conditions (Colker 49). The issues and facts typically raised against abortion here are almost always based on the sanctity-of-life principle (Stetson 92). Whether human beings do in fact have a natural right to life, and whether unborn children are in fact human beings, are matters of ongoing theoretical debate. There are numerous problems involved in characterizing and using precise principles of individuality. A fetus does not need to have characteristics described, and that it is possible that attributes given in principles are adequate for personhood, and might even meet the criteria as necessary principles for personhood (Kramlich 783). Given these principles, all that needs to be claimed to reveal that an entity (including n unborn child) is not a person is that any entity which fails to suit all of the criteria listed is not a person. In this case, abortion is morally wrong because it violates the rights of an individual and his freedom of choice. There are some facts that prove that abortion is the only possible decision for many women to avoid undesired pregnancy or health risks caused by pregnancy. Still, abortion should be considered an immoral act, but it is the only possible decision to save the happiness of a family and women’s health (Kramlich 783).
In sum, abortion is like no other issue in its ability to enlarge moral and ethical attitudes to human life. Abortion is morally wrong because it kills a human being, violates human rights, and is rejected by religion. From a personal standpoint, abortion is immoral. At the center of abortion, disputes is a religious issue, it was mentioned that many extended and poor families are not supported by the government and women have to make abortion to avoid financial burden and poverty. Still, abortion should be prohibited in a variety of circumstances.
References
Colker, Ruth. Abortion & Dialogue: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and American Law. Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN. Publication Year: 2002.
Kramlich, M. The Abortion Debate Thirty Years Later: From Choice to Coercion. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 31 (2004), 783.
Stetson, D.M. Abortion Politics, Women’s Movements, and the Democratic State: A Comparative Study of State Feminism. Oxford University Press, 2004.