Abortion is acceptable in our society today. Discuss

I believe that too many women have abortions for reasons which are not just enough for the killing of a human being. I think that the earlier laws were too harsh and impractical and the more recent laws are too lenient and vague. A balance between the two must be established.

Some people believe that a woman has the right to choose whether she will have an abortion or not, but I think that this belief is selfish. Our right to choose is limited by the rights of other people. For example, if this right to choose were applied to another situation it would not be appropriate; very few people would say that an employer has the right to employ someone on the basis of their gender or the colour of their skin. Also, the woman is not the only one affected by an abortion, family members and the father in particular are greatly affected. In addition it is has been said that the woman is the only person who should decide whether she should continue her pregnancy or not and that the woman's partner has no right to prevent her having an abortion. However the unborn baby is just as much the father's as the mother's and that he should have a say in the situation too.

Moreover it has been said that a foetus is not a human being, it is just part of the woman. Whereas, scientists have proved that the foetus is actually separate from its mother. From the moment the embryo is formed a new individual comes into existence, it is different from its parents. The development of technology has proven that an embryo can actually exist outside a female body. All these scientific advances confirm that the unborn baby is a separate human being and therefore I firmly believe that if abortion were to take place this indeed would be the killing of a human being. The terms embryo, foetus, baby, child and adult are just different words for a human being at different stages of life. Consequently if we were to kill an adult, it would just be the same as killing as foetus and I don't think this is should be justified in our society today.

Many women now think that they would have to give up their job, education or freedom if they were to have a baby, but now this is not true. There are laws that do not allow the discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. Even though a woman may have to sacrifice some of her plans, I believe that the unborn's right to live should happen over the mother's right to a certain lifestyle.

Some may argue that the law should not interfere with what goes on in the privacy of a woman's womb. I believe that inside a woman's womb a human being is undergoing the process of growth and development and is entitled to the protection of the law. This can be applied to a completely different situation; for example, the law can interfere with what goes on in the privacy of someone's home if violence is involved.

I believe that many of the reasons for having abortions are totally unacceptable. For example, there have been reports that some pregnancies were terminated because parents decided that their child was the wrong sex. Do you think this can be justified? I think that too many women do not look hard enough to find the possible solutions of the problems that arise with pregnancies. Parents must take more responsibility as the situation has only arisen because of the parents' carelessness whilst having sex. In my opinion, if a woman does not feel she is ready to bring up a child, the best option is to give the child up for adoption, as there are thousands of people who are desperate to foster or adopt children.

However, on the other hand I do believe that there are some circumstances and situations in which abortions are the best option. For example, if the child will have severe disabilities or if the continuation of a pregnancy will cause a high risk of severe injury to the mother or even death, this could be considered acceptable to have an abortion.

Additionally I also believe that it is right to terminate the life of one or more foetuses involved in a multiple pregnancy to preserve the life of other foetuses.

We can also see the hurt that an unwanted pregnancy can cause for example in extreme circumstances, a woman has been raped by one or a group of men, it should then be considered acceptable to carry out an abortion on the unborn baby.

Finally, I think that doctors should not be prosecuted for carrying out an abortion as it is the woman's decision and he or she is only doing what they are told to do by the woman who is pregnant and wants to get rid of the unborn foetus.

In conclusion I firmly believe that after weighing out the points abortion is totally unacceptable in our society today. I feel that if we murder a foetus we might as well murder a small child because it is all the same. I strongly believe that we are being selfish to human life if we accept abortion by preventing the development of an innocent human being. I strongly believe that abortion can not be considered acceptable as the it is also the father's too and he should have a say as it is just as much as his as it is hers. Furthermore my main feeling about abortion is that it denies the most fundamental human right, the right to live.

Declan Gervin Page 1 5/2/2007