Is Abortion Moral - Essay Example

Is Abortion Moral? School Is Abortion Moral? The issue of abortion has always been controversial, as it has multiple ethical problems that must be resolved before giving a specific answer on the question whether it is moral to have abortion or not. Even though the issue requires consideration of multiple nuances like the ontological status of embryo and religious views on the problem etc., still abortion should be the personal matter of the woman who decides to conduct the procedure; therefore it depends on her personal moral standards and conscience. From this point of view, in general, abortion is immoral; although the ethical issue should be resolved by each person individually. My personal opinion on the matter of abortion was formed under my parents’ influence; they have always taught me that a life of human being is the highest priority; and if an embryo exists, then this is the way it should be, because children come to this world for some reasons. As for the facts, I have always been convinced that an embryo in a woman’s body, even if it is not a human being in the early stages of pregnancy, is a potency of a human. We cannot know when human soul starts inhabiting human body, so making a pro-choice means taking responsibility for a life, which is the hardest responsibility ever. That is why I believe that abortion is immoral, because anyway it deals with a kind of murder of a human being or its potency. Moreover, my current opinion against abortion is based on mere consideration of the fact that I wouldn’t have existed if my mother had had an abortion. Thinking about this is the most decisive argument for me in consideration of this issue. The very first argument on the matter of why abortion is moral concerns the fact that human fetus is a part of a woman’s body, which means that it is up to the woman to decide in which way she wants to dispose her own body and its parts. According to a philosophical consideration of the issue conducted by Francis Wade in his article “Potentiality in the Abortion Discussion”, as long as an embryo belongs to a female body, it is considered to be its part, as potentiality of human being doesn’t actually mean a complete human being (Wade 1975). According to this analysis, pregnancy is a special kind of condition of a woman’s body, so it is up to the woman to decide whether she wants to discontinue it or not. Each and every woman has a right to manage her body’s conditions and change them in accordance with what she feels about it. This argument concerns the personal matter of every pregnant woman, as her body belongs to her only, and no one can tell her what to do with it. Giving a birth to a child means going through rough times, full of physical discomfort and ultimate suffering; therefore, those women who feel uncomfortable with the condition have their moral right to discontinue this unpleasant experience (Wade 1975). Furthermore, human body is a very personal kind of possession and the most intimate property ever, which is why it seems moral to have abortion as an implementation of the right to possess one’s own body. Moreover, some claim that abortion is moral in perspective; as it may happen that if a woman is forbidden to discontinue her pregnancy and is forced to give birth to an unwanted child, she will abandon the child or make its live worse by hating one. The rates of abandoned children and orphans are already high and not all of them are lucky to be adopted. In most cases unwanted or abandoned children become traumatized for the rest of their lives, because they are lack of love and support. Thus such children live their entire lives with the feeling of being abandoned and unloved. However, the strongest argument at this point is that often these children get into bad companies and increase criminal rates in the society, as their moral traumas affect their conduct and make them more aggressive and full of hatred. The morally traumatized people are not happy with their lives and might even wish not to be born at all. Thus there is no point of giving birth to a child if this child will be unhappy throughout one’s entire life and will bring harm to other people. However, the most significant argument related to pro-choice concerns the ontological status of embryo, which in fact is supposed to define whether an embryo is a human being, and therefore would abortion mean murder or not. The pro-choice activists are used to accepting the point that human embryo is not a human being, as it can’t exist apart from woman’s body (George 2008). Thus it should be considered as a part of human body but not as a self-sufficient organism. Therefore some researchers claim that human embryo doesn’t possess any soul until certain age when the part of female body, literally a piece of flesh, acquires any forms of a living being (Cameron & Williamson 2005). From this point of view ontological status of human being must be defined through an individual’s ability to function independently. However, the problem of embryo finds a lot of opponents who don’t agree with the previous position. They assert that embryo is not just a part of woman’s body but a separate living creature. The very first argument presented on the matter is that the biological structure of embryo is different from biological structure of any other organ of human body (Dunstan 1984). Thus, according to its biological characteristics, a foetus can be considered as a human being, which means that abortion is murder. Moreover, an experiment conducted by professor S. Campbell has proved that embryo possesses certain specific features of a human creature. In his research he denoted that at 6 months the behavior of an embryo is already a little different from that of a newborn - an embryo can perform complex movements, swallow, complain if it is pushed a little and even smile when he is warmed and comforted (George 2008). Thus this proves that an embryo is a potential human being, and in this case its potency is decisive and crucial. Furthermore, abortion causes serious damage to woman’s body and even may lead to lethal outcomes or infertility. In many cases abortion causes various gynecological diseases and affects woman’s reproductive system. “Especially it concerns nulliparous women who are inclined to the most dangerous risk to become infertile. As a result of abortion the menstrual cycle is violated (about 12% of women), the cycles become irregular, there may be bleeding between periods” (Koop 173). “If abortion is made by women who already gave birth, her cycle may recover in 3-4 months; if before surgery the woman did not give birth, may be delayed up to a year or more to recover all the functions” (Sai 17). Hence, abortion leads to a lot of harmful outcomes that affect the entire woman’s body. Finally, abortion is immoral because it definitely means killing of some kind of living creature, which has been given for some reasons. This point is the main claim why different religions forbid abortions and proclaim its harmful nature. As far as it has been proven that embryo is not just a part of female body or a piece of flesh, thus killing it makes it a great sin. Moreover, taking into consideration the fact that embryo cannot protect itself, abortion turns into an especially rude kind of murder. My personal opinion on the matter of abortion hasn’t changed even after the research that I’ve conducted for this essay. The fact that embryo is not a piece of flesh was obvious to me, but I couldn’t confirm this point with real facts. However, now I know that, first of all, biological structure of embryo differs from any other organ of human body, which makes it impossible to consider embryo as a piece of body. Second of all, a six month old embryo demonstrates absolutely human-alike features like swallowing and even smiling, which makes it a human being, only unborn and unable to function independently apart from its mother’s body. These facts affected me to a great extent, as before my assumptions on the matter of abortion had been based on mere personal opinion, which I had received from my parents. Also, I think that the religious point of view on abortion makes sense spiritually; hence if a child is given to its mother, then there is a reason for the child to come to this world. Otherwise how would it be possible to explain why some people try to get pregnant for years and are not able to do it, despite being absolutely healthy? All the facts and opinions presented above aim to prove that abortion is immoral. However, the argument that woman’s body belongs to her and she can do whatever she wants with it also makes sense. That is why abortion should be the matter of responsibility and morality of each and every pregnant woman who considers having it. References Cameron, C.and Williamson, R. (2005). In the World of Dolly, When Does a Human Embryo Acquire Respect?. Journal of Medical Ethics, 31, 215-220. George, Robert P. (2008). Embryo Ethics. Daedalus, 137, 23-35. Wade, Francis C. (1975). Potentiality in the Abortion Discussion. The Review of Metaphysics, 29, 239-255. Dunstan, G. R. (1984). The Moral Status of the Human Embryo: A Tradition Recalled. Journal of Medical Ethics. 10, 38-44. Sai, Fred. (2004). International Commitments and Guidance on Unsafe Abortion. African Journal of Reproductive Health. 8, 15-28. Koop, C. Everett. (1989). The US Surgeon General on the Health Effects of Abortion. Population and Development Review. 15, 172-175. Read More