...ABORTION Abortion remains a divisive and contentious issue which conjures visceral emotions within our contemporary political landscape. The dominant political approach to abortion witnesses Queensland Government engaging in the rights-based realm asserting that foetal life is to be afforded liberal rights at the expense of a woman via the formulation of anti-abortion laws . However, the politics of abortion is patent in ways far beyond centralised government with the discursive framing of abortion often being left to non-governmental actors given the sensitivity and unwillingness of politicians to copiously address abortion. This has resulted in the emergence of a rigid debate between foetal rights and women's rights making liberal rights...
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...Alexia Rodriguez 12-07-11 Making the Ultimate Choice With the evolving moral standards of society, abortions are becoming more and more justified. Abortion, the practice of removing a fertilized egg from a mother, has become a controversial issue in American society, but should be generally supported because of women’s rights, religious and personal beliefs should not interfere with government and laws, in case of rape or incest, abortion is a safe medical procedure, and even with responsible use of contraceptives unwanted pregnancies still occurs. A woman's right to choose abortion is a fundamental right recognized by the US Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade since Jan. 22, 1973. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without legal restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy. Abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy were invalidated by Roe v. Wade. State laws limiting such access during the second trimester were upheld only when the restrictions were for the purpose of protecting the health of the pregnant woman. The court case legalized abortion in the United States, which was not legal at all in many states and was limited by law in others. The Supreme Court chose to base its decision on the Fourteenth Amendment. The fourteenth amendment is based on the fact that U.S. citizenship is a birthright and blocks states from taking actions that deny...
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...Stigma and Counseling Methods associated with Abortions Marsha Escayg Medgar Evers College The abortion rates in the United States is higher than that in most other developed countries. Although this fact alone requires attention, looking deeper reveals additional areas of concern. According to Greene this research is based on the different confinements on abortion that have been forced under the falsification that women may be ignorant, undecided or pressured as to their choice to end a pregnancy. Of all the health decisions women make in their lifetimes, their choice to end a pregnancy is among the most individual and socially challenged. What this article does is address the gap in knowledge by describing the counseling tools and practices at one large abortion clinic in the US. It examines how confidence in decisions making varies by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of women and pregnancy-related attributes. Furthermore it reviews women’s responses to questions aimed at identifying those with specific beliefs about spirituality or abortion. Overall what was found was that upon arrival to the clinic women had high pre-counseling confidence in their decision to terminate their pregnancy. Abortion policies concentrates on prerequisites, for example, waiting periods, state-mandated information and parental association. These laws are focused around the premise that women are unaware of the nature of the abortion and the dangers included, and require extra data...
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...Abortion: I am Pro-Choice Abortion is an issue that many women have been dealing with for years. On January 22, 1973 the court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the United States Constitution thereby subjecting all laws attempting to restrict it to the standard of strict scrutiny (en.m.wikipedia.org). Unwanted pregnancies can be very stressful for women. According to Socialist worker, women have the right to control their own bodies and reproductive lives (socialistworker.org). Therefore, I am pro-choice. Abortion is growing rapidly in America amongst women and their right to reproduce children, however women should have the right to choose to get an abortion for many reasons such as a medical condition, teen pregnancy, and rape. Women that are faced with medical conditions while pregnant are faced with difficult choices. Many women have medical conditions before they become pregnant, and some transpires during the pregnancy. Medical conditions can arise during pregnancy that may pose a danger to the mother’s life. Some women may opt for abortion in order to receive treatment that could save a woman’s life. Having a baby could pose a risk for the mother, the baby or both. “To force her at the risk of her life means to force her to give up her right to live.”(Gordon, John Stewart “Abortion” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005) Certain conditions can complicate any pregnancy. The child could also be born with a serious medical issue, such...
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...9 Reasons Why Abortions Should Be Illegal http://www.mrdata.net/books/9reasons.htm EE: [ Home | Links | Searches | Books | Writings | HTML ] Discuss abortion in the MrData.Net Abortion Discussion Forum. Introduction: Planned Parenthood has written 9 Reasons Why Abortions are Legal. In response, I have written 9 Reasons Why Abortions should be Illegal. Nine Reasons Why Abortions Should Be Illegal Actually, I have been laughing to myself at Planned Parenthood's list, because it is so easy to defeat. It's not Planned Parenthood's fault--there are no good reasons to support abortion, other than serious health issues of the mother or baby. Also, I believe that Planned Parenthood serves many valuable functions. I agree with many things they do. I strongly disagree in their support of abortion. I only chose to debate their particular opinions because a) They are a large, national, pro-abortion organization. b) They have made a list, and my debate tactic suits such a list. I invite you to read the following debate with an open mind and consider the validity of the two opposing opinions. If you can find any error in my facts or reasoning, I hope you will let me know. I am an unmarried, conservative male. I have always been supportive of the life of the unborn. However, in the past my opinion was, "Well, the country is evenly divided on this issue. Although I am personally against abortion, there are others who don't agree with me. I won't force the issue unless there is...
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...Abortion February 23 2015 “Is abortion moral or immoral?” We still have no answer. We defend about the nature and the moral status of the fetus. Don Marquis as well as Bonnie Steinbock embraces with the argument of their own, which point out the morality of abortion. Don Marquis upholds the fact of since abortion deprives the fetus of a future like ours therefore most abortion is morally wrong. He adheres in his article “abortion is, excepting possibly in rare cases, seriously immoral”, what he meant was that not all abortions are wrong. He did not discuss about the exception of “… abortion before implantation, abortion when the life of a woman is threatened by a pregnancy or abortion by rape” Regard of that, Marquis has claimed, “… It is in the same moral category as killing an innocent adult human being.” He inquires the reason of killing a human being is wrong. Marquis explains the killing is not just cause of pain and perceive of loss to the victim’s family, moreover it includes the basis loss to the victims themselves as “the loss of one’s life deprives one of all the experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments that would otherwise have constituted one’s future”. With the respect of Marquis’s theory, it is the loss of a valuable future like ours that respond to the question of why killing a human being is morally wrong. Moreover, Marquis also stated in his article “…the future of a standard fetus includes...
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...Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before the birth and the Roman Catholic Church would say that this is morally wrong. An Abortion results in the death of an embryo or fetus. Abortion, the Church says destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. The Church teaches the human life begins at the moment of conception. Does a mother have the right to take the life of her unborn child? Some may say that it is God’s will for that fetus to be born, and that the child is supposed to be born. I will be using different views from an ethical standpoint to try to understand if abortion is morally good or bad. From a non-biblical standpoint, it is based on whether a woman finds it ethically right to terminate a pregnancy and what effect it would ultimately have on her happiness. Therefore, abortion is not philosophically incorrect. Abortion is defined as: “The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy." However, if only the debate over the abortion issue was as simple as the definition provided. Much like every aspect of human life, a statement is not right or wrong, but can be left opens for interpretation. There is no black and white in life, only gray areas. Some issues provide us more gray areas than others. Abortion is a good example of that. If a woman does not believe in a higher power, what justifies her right to...
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...The argument on whether abortion is morally permissible has been considered for years. Most philosophers incline to accept moral principle that it is always prima facie seriously wrong to end the life of a person in normal circumstances. The personhood of an embryo and foetus has somehow invoked another controversial issue on whether they are kind of beings, or persons, that it is seriously wrong, for any sake, to end their life. Both the anti-abortionist side and pro-choicers side can only give equally vague boundary on claiming that foetus is a person, or not so. However, as we will find out later in this essay, the problem of whether a foetus is a person, or whether a foetus has serious right to life, does not significantly affect the consideration of abortion under Thomson’s account. The argument of the personhood of foetus will just stay at a standoff if there is no clear definition or lists for what characteristics make a thing a person. When we draw line to represent the development of a human being from the state of conception to the point that a baby is born, it will be arbitrary to choose a point which the thing inside a mother is a person after that point and not a person before that point. Moreover, the opposite of abortion may suggest that a foetus, even at the moment of conception, is a person because of their potential future, meanwhile, the supporters of abortion may insist that a foetus has not yet become a person because it lacks of some characteristics that...
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...2014 Corey Hunt Abortion Controversy: Women’s Right or Legalized Murder? Abortion is one of the most controversial debates of the century. Everyone knows someone who has been pregnant or debating having an abortion. There are plenty of reasons why women feel they need to terminate their pregnancy. The following information is for those who believe that abortion is the solution to their problem. Yes abortion is a legal solution to an unwanted pregnancy. Many pro-choice activists will argue the claim that it is a safe and relatively painless procedure. Abortions are morally and ethically wrong because they kill innocent unborn fetuses who have the right to life. During pregnancy, women give the unborn fetus the right to use their bodies. Abortion should be illegal because they defy the sanctity of human life, deny the mother the alternatives to having an abortion, and cause psychological side effects. Millions of people have died trying to defend their country, their freedom, and their families. Victims have been remembered through speeches and memorials, but why are those who seek justice for victims the same ones who defy the sanctity of human life and approve abortions. Let’s look in the Bible to see what is said about abortion. People can argue that it is unfair to quote the Bible on God’s view on abortion. Well, it is unfair because God is the creator of life. It is seen as a blessing to have children and a curse if you are childless. Abortion is an unthinkable...
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...Abortion In the past thirty years, the issue of abortion has prevailed as possibly the most controversial health issue facing our nation. Within the issue clear sides can be drawn. Activists on either side are highly organized, pummeling the public with proof that abortion is either wrong or right. Stripped down, the abortion argument becomes a dispute between those who perceive the unborn fetus to be viable human life and likewise abortion as murder, and those who prioritize the rights of the living mother over those of an unborn fetus. The anti-abortion campaign is one based almost exclusively on religious notions and ideals. In contrast, those who support a woman's right to an abortion draw support from a combination of scientific evidence as well as moral and political issues. As a nation of reason and one that prioritizes the rights of its citizens above all other things, the right to an abortion must be protected. Pro-Life activists contend that a fetus is a human life and to end that life is murder. This belief is one based solely on religious philosophy. Scientific evidence is attestation to the fact that a fetus, especially one early in development, does not exhibit qualities marked by a human life. One of the most controversial issues of the abortion debate is the question of when life begins. Many anti-abortionists argue that life begins at conception. Therefore they contend that any process that terminates a pregnancy after a sperm has fertilized an egg...
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...The Tragedy of Teenage Abortion In society today, teens are taught by the television and the media that pre-marital sex is not a bad thing. This problem is leading to many teenage pregnancies, that then lead to abortion. All over the world teens are faced with many challenges in their everyday lives. Sex is being portrayed as extremely appealing in the media, but what they don't show is the pregnancies and the unborn child that never asked to be created in the first place that is being discarded. Abortion is in no way acceptable, it is murder of an unborn child. Many doctors will say that abortion is not a bad thing, and it's not murder. They have argued that it is just an embryo, and is not yet a child. In the book The Terrible Choice: The Abortion Dilemma, Glanville Williams, a well-known English criminologist, was quoted saying abortion should be treated like a tonsillectomy. It's a minor operation to remove unwanted or harmful "tissue growth". Both tissues are alive, and contain material substances, chemical compounds, DNA and RNA molecules. They may vary a little, but they are mainly matter which is composed of cells which are composed of chemicals (1-2). The only difference between a tonsillectomy and an abortion is that the fetus can grow and develop into a human being much like ourselves. Joseph Farah wrote an article about abortion in The Human Life Review. In this, she quoted Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
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...Abortion: The Beginning and End of Life [Author] [University Affiliation] Abortion: The Beginning and End of Life Abstract In the United States, more than 6 million pregnancies are unwanted annually, with 40% of these opting for an abortion (CDC, 2012). Eight women die every hour worldwide due to unsafe and illegal abortions. The women who go for the unsafe abortions are normally from very poor backgrounds and have no relevant know-how regarding the various family planning methods available. Half of the pregnancies reported annually are unplanned for, and if a woman decides to abort, then the damage is mild. However, making abortions legal worldwide helps reduce the total number of lives of the women who die as a result of unsafe abortions. When a woman dies from undergoing an unsafe abortion, it is a double loss to society because both the mother and the fetus are lost. An abortion carried out by doctors when the woman’s life is at stake has no effect on the society, as it is both ethical and legally accepted within the societal framework. 1.0 Issue- Introductory Analysis It is after a life is lost that abortion begins to intrigue various essential variables. Abortion is a bioethical issue with the attached effects affecting the society at range, in every perspective. Many lives been lost by the women and the fetus; however to be able to synchronize the issue requires analyses of the factors surrounding it. There are some factors that...
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...The issue of abortion is one that has been at the recent forefront of many political discussions in the United States and around the world. There are people spread across both sides of the argument whose opinions vary in intensity and depend on different sources of information to back up their points of view. For the purpose of this paper, abortion will be defined as the deliberate termination of human pregnancy. It is my opinion that abortion, completed early enough in a pregnancy, is not an unethical act and should not be considered to be a decision that is immoral. My argument is based on ideas that are rooted in both utilitarian and deontological ethics as I will show throughout the essay. One of the few religions to condone acts of abortion is Hinduism. This is not to say, however, that Hinduism is blindly accepting of all kinds of abortion. In Hinduism, the belief is that one should make a decision based on what kind of effect it will have on all those involved. This is a very utilitarian way of looking at abortion because it looks at the decision and determines which choice will cause the least amount of harm to the mother, father, fetus, and society (BBC, 2013). Traditionally in Hindu culture, when considering circumstances where abortion is a possible solution to a problem, it is usually found that the procedure is not the appropriate response to the situation and aborting the baby would have negative social and spiritual consequences. I believe this is important because...
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...SHOULD ABORTION BE LEGAL? By MARY W. DOUGLAS FINAL PAPER PHL-103INFORMAL LOGIC ANTHONY BIDUCK-INSTRUCTOR SEPTEMBER 8, 2013 Final Paper DouglasM1 Thesis The definition of abortion is the induced termination of a pregnancy followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. The paper is presented on the moral issues of Abortion. Should abortion be legal? As today’s society becomes more open-minded to an issue normally handled behind closed doors being performed by persons with no medical degree whatsoever, the choice should be left to the individual whether or not to have an abortion. Abortion is an eight letter word that has become a label that society applies to the procedure in which a pregnancy is purposely ended for many reasons. Let us examine the subject of legalizing abortion. Argument Abortion has been a very controversial topic for many years. With women’s rights to vote, the right to burn their bras if they wanted to, and the right to eliminate a developing fetus from a woman’s body has become a great debate. Abortion is a subject that questions the morals of an individual and their decision as to whether to have one or not. Moral philosophy has always investigated the rules and principles...
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...I wanted to approach both Kantianism vs. Utilitarianism for those who are not students of ethics words like utilitarianism and Kantianism may sound little foreign but for those are trying to tackle the world of ethics then these two represent important viewpoints. There are many similarities between utilitarianism and Kantianism but some can confuse some people. However, there are important differences between the two philosophies that I will try to explain. In Utilitarianism this philosophy believes that consequences of action are responsible for people judging that action as morally right or wrong. Thus, a believer of utilitarianism would say that the outcomes of the actions that is deemed morally right would be good. The theory says that people choose actions that help in maximizing happiness and at the same time remove misery, pain and agony. The worth of any human action depends upon its utility or value. Now with the view on Kantianism was put forward by Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher he focused on the duty he believed his philosophy take the position that the morality of an action is dependent upon whether the individual has adhered to the rules or not. Here are some points or highlights why Kantianism vs. utilitarianism. * Attitude towards what is right or wrong is what constitutes the basic difference between utilitarianism and Kantianism. * Utilitarianism says that an act is justified if maximum numbers of people are deriving happiness out of it. This...
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