ABORTION

Abortion

Abortion

Thesis Statement:

“Many people think it is okay to have an abortion but in the end do not realize the affect it has on their life”.

Introduction

The loss of a fetus before it is able to live outside the womb is called abortion. When abortion occurs spontaneously, it is often called a miscarriage. Abortion can also be intentionally caused, or induced. Induced abortion is regarded as a moral issue in some cultures. In others it is seen as an acceptable way to end unplanned pregnancy. Abortion is a relatively simple and safe procedure when done by trained medical workers during the first three months (first trimester) of pregnancy. Abortion is less safe when performed after the 13th week of pregnancy.

Abortion is an all too common thing these days. Before we discuss the issues brought up by abortions lets first define abortion. A medical abortion is one that is brought about by taking medications that will end a pregnancy. The alternative is surgical abortion, which ends a pregnancy by emptying the uterus (or womb) with special instruments. Either of two medications, mifepristone or methotrexate, can be used for medical abortion. Each of these medications is taken together with another medication, misoprostol, to induce an abortion. Many activists try to put out a lot of negative and incorrect information about abortion to get people to go against it. Pro-Life activists feel that human life begins at conception; therefore abortion is murdering a human being. They feel that the second you become pregnant that baby is a human being and deserves the right to live. On the other hand pro-choice activists say that personhood at conception is a religious belief, not a provable biological fact. Mormon and some Fundamentalist churches believe in personhood at conception; Judaism holds that it begins at birth and abortion is not murder; ensoulment theories vary widely within Protestantism. The religious community will never reach consensus on the definition of a "person" or when abortion is morally justified. There is so much more to it then murdering a human being. Many people believe that it is just plain wrong not matter the circumstances.

Discussion

Pro-Choice activists have put out many websites about their cause and have tried to make people realize that abortion is not murder of a human being. In a lot of abortion cases the women feel that they have no other choice or that if they brought the baby into the world it would only bring more pain. But in the United States the women have a right to terminate their pregnancy if they feel it necessary(Gissler, 1996). In 1973, in the landmark case of Roe versus Wade, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provided a fundamental right for women to obtain abortions. The Supreme Court held that the "right to privacy," established by the Courts precedents in the contraception cases of the 1960s and early 70s, assured the freedom of a person to abort unless the state had ...