Abortion Should Be Illegal

Abortion should be illegal
In the year 2000, 1.5 million abortions had been performed in America, but that number has since declined
(Koonin & Smith, 1990). The controversy and debate around the pro-life versus the pro-choice issue is
stronger than ever. Termination of pregnancy is the evacuation of a woman’s uterine contents during
gestation. This can be done naturally or one can have a medical procedure such as vacuum aspiration.
There are different categories of people opposing and supporting the debate- legal, socio-economic and
moral reasons. This essay aims to highlight why abortion is murder and should be punished as a criminal
offense.
Abortion is murder because life begins at conception. The zygote is human life…. there is one fact that no
one can deny; human beings begin at conception (Shettles, 1983). Mammals reproduce by birth, to their
offspring who were conceived after the sperm met the ovum. One way of proving that one is alive is
checking for a pulse, and for in utero babies, one can monitor their heart rate using a fetal doppler. What
better way is there to prove that a living person exists? It would be cruel to deny this child their life since
they are already performing complex body functions while in the womb.
Termination of pregnancy is breaking the seventh commandment- though shalt not kill. The Bible doesn’t
list who should or shouldn’t be murdered, but the general phrase implies that all life is sacred. Murder is
prohibited because all humans are made in God’s image and likeness, Genesis 9:6: Whoever sheds man’s
blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God He made man. Since the unborn are human
beings, killing them is wrong because it is a direct attack on the likeness of God (Bowman Jr, 2001).
Another bad thing about killing a fetus is depriving it of a future of value. The things that bring us joy and
satisfaction in life such as enjoying time with family and friends, getting promoted at work or seeing our
children thrive will be denied to this fetus. That person would have made impactful contributions to
society, maybe even cured cancer! (Savulescu, 2002) To destroy a fetus which would have a future of
value is wrong because every human has an unobjectionable right to life. This right should be
unquestionable and depriving the fetus of it should be reason enough to be considered a crime.
It is wrong to kill innocent beings and fetuses are innocent human beings. The premise is made plausible
by defining the term ‘human being’ as being a member of the biological species homo sapiens and being
a full-fledged member of the moral community. (Warren, 2014) Warren ponders “What characteristics
entitle an entity to be considered a person [in the moral sense]?” Consciousness of objects and events
external and/or internal to the being, reasoning, self-motivated activity, the capacity to communicate,
messages of with an indefinite number of possible contents on indefinitely many possible topics and the
presence of self-concepts and self-awareness. The fetus has several characteristics already and that
warrants the ‘human being’ status. The same way it would be unlawful to kill an adult with the same
characteristics, it is a crime to kill a fetus.
Abortions carry a mortality risk lower than that of child-birth. Induced abortion managed by skilled
professionals is a very safe procedure, especially in early gestation. Its associated mortality is low with
approximately 1 death per 100,000 procedures and the risk of death is approximately 1/14 of that with
childbirth (Raymond & Grimes, 2012). Reasons to have induced abortions can be medical such as fetal
anomalies i.e. Down’s Syndrome, serious maternal illness or exposure to toxins and pathogens. The
reasons may also be non-medical, such as socio-economic grounds or maternal request of pregnancy
termination. (Lee, 2019) This is still wrong even if it poses less risk on the mother’s life because it
terminates the child’s life. The child should not have to bear the brunt of the inconvenience that the
pregnancy has caused. If need be, the child should be put up for adoption.
The right to control one's own body is a key moral right. If women are not allowed to abort an unwanted
fetus they are deprived of this right. The women's rights argument in favor of abortion is: a woman has
the right to decide what she can and can't do with her body, the fetus exists inside a woman's body, a
woman has the right to decide whether the fetus remains in her body therefore a pregnant woman has
the right to abort the fetus (Herring & Wall, 2017). I concur with the right that everyone has a right to do
what they want with their bodies, and to dictate otherwise would be a violation of this right. However, in
the case of aborting a fetus, one would be asked to reconsider as the fetus might also want to be born
thus exercising this right with its body- to live.
There exists overwhelming evidence against termination of pregnancies. Holding the women accountable
to protecting and preserving an unborn life supersedes legal and political stances on abortion. Abortion
should be illegalized in all countries but a nagging thought remains- are all abortions equal even if it was
rape? It would be unfair to not consider that abortions might be justified in cases of rape or incest.
However, one thing is for sure, all life is sacred.
REFERENCES:
Bowman Jr, R. M. (2001). Argument for the Silent: A Biblical Case Against Abortion. Navpress.
Herring, J., & Wall, J. (2017). The Nature and Significance of the right to Bodily Integrity. The Cambridge
Law Journal, 76(3), 566-588.
Koonin, L. M., & Smith, J. C. (1990). Abortion Surveillance. NewYork.
Lee, M. (2019). In Favor of Discussion on the Amendment of the “Abortion Prohibition Law” in Korea.
Journal of Korean Modern Medicine, 34(19).
Raymond, E. G., & Grimes, D. A. (2012). The comparative safety of legal induced abortion and childbirth
in the United States. National Library of Medicine, 119(2), 215-219.
Savulescu, J. (2002). Abortion, embryo destruction and the future of value argument. The Journal of
Medical Ethics, 28(3), 133-135.
Shettles, L. B. (1983). Rites of Life: The Scientific Evidence for Life Before Birth. Grand Rapids, Michigan :
Zondervan.
Warren, M. (2014). On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion. The Monist, 57(1), 43-61.

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Abortion should be illegal

Koonin, L. M., & Smith, J. C. (1990). Abortion Surveillance. NewYork.

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