So is abortion a gift or a curse? Many will say that it is a gift. After all, the woman can now have more freedom to choose. However others will say that it is a curse because it means that woman can have more casual sex, losing their touch with their morals. This would mean being able to get rid of the “consequences” easily. The consequences being, the pain of childbirth and the resulting child.
To begin with, we shall have to study the pros of having the choice for abortions. To begin with there would be many people who would argue that the right to have an abortion is fine as it’s a mother’s right. After all, even though the foetus is a potential human being, the mother is very clearly already a human being with rights of her own. Next, we know that pro-choice groups are of course a majority of the world and will believe that a minority has no right to impose its views on the rest of the world. After all, if pro-life groups were allowed to put their opinions into action, what about all the other ideas they will input into society? Is this fair? For example, many woman may be single parents and just do not have the financial requirements to support a child let alone herself, she may also not have enough time to look after the child. This will result to the neglect of a child. Neglected children would be undisciplined. This would have knock-on effects as the children may end up causing disruption and problems in modern society. So for this case, it would be better if a child was never allowed into a cruel world where it would not be wanted and in doing so would also save society from future problems. Adoption can be extremely traumatic for the child and the parent(s) especially if the only reason that the child was taken away was because the parents could not get the financial support needed. However there are other more rational reasons for having abortions. For example, what if the woman was raped? Did the bible not say that a person is born out of love? So if the woman was raped, then where was the love? The people of the world would also find it humane for the woman to have an abortion under such extreme circumstances. However in terms of Christianity, would it be acceptable under the condition of rape that abortion could possibly be considered? After all, don’t unwanted pregnancies end up with unwanted children? What about the problem of overpopulation? In several countries, it is illegal to give birth to more than one child as part of a project to slow down the human “population boom”. In some countries the birth of another child will result in the confiscation of water supplies, electricity supplies, basic requirements for life to exist, let alone financial support. So would it not be more humane to have an abortion than to live with another mouth to feed with less materials to feed the family with? Also, there is the argument that if abortion was to be made illegal then many women would take to the “streets” and have “back-street” abortions, which could lead to instant death or death by secondary effects, such as dying from disease due to the conditions of the place where the abortion has taken place or even how the abortion was orchestrated in the first place.
Now to the other side of the argument, which is against abortion altogether. Abortion is considered to be murder as modern science has already proven that the unborn child is a separate human being from the time of conception. This means that it is never just a part of its mother’s body but that it is a human being already. As the woman and child are considered as being two individuals then obviously the child has rights of its own, why should it’s mother who can be viewed as a completely separate individual from the child be allowed to get rid of the child just so she can live an easier life? Is this fair? If so then is that not just the same as going out and murdering people you dislike so you can have an easier life? For instance, people you are in debt to, people who owe you money? Are you allowed to kill them just so that you can live an easier life? Abortion means the easy way out for most women and many will take the opportunity to do away with the unwanted consequences of their irresponsible actions. This isn’t fair to society either; I mean what use is this to society? It would be totally unfair to say that abortion is fine because the unborn child would be severely crippled physically or mentally and will not be useful to society, this would be discriminating against the weak. For example, a physically retarded person can be the most intelligent person on earth to contribute to society; a mentally disabled person can still contribute to society through certain opportunities made especially for these people. For example, there was a pregnant woman had several kids already, of which a few were disabled and to make things worse, the mother herself had a terminal illness. Now would you allow this woman to have an abortion? If you do, then you have just killed Beethoven, one of the world’s greatest composers of all time. Even people with the most terrible of handicaps can live the happiest lives. They may have the chance to know God and live a perfect live in heaven, because if the child dies before it even hears the word of the gospel then we do not know whether it will be accepted by God or not. Every aborted foetus ever, was a potential human being, perhaps a genius, who could contribute to society, for example Jeremiah; he was called upon for God’s works before he was even born. However abortion is not just a simple matter of “religious” belief; it is also by human rights, an act of murder, injustice and denial of human rights. The UN Declaration of the Right of the Child states that children need protection not only after the birth but also before the birth.
So overall, is abortion a gift or a curse to society? In some ways it is a gift and in others it is a curse. Now women can have more freedom and do not have to face the extreme consequences of rape (for example the birth of a child due to rape). While this would mean getting rid of unwanted children too. Instead of getting rid of unwanted children, we as mankind should improve the quality of life in society and perhaps abortion is not a choice," Making the decision to terminate a pregnancy or to bring a foetus to term is by far the most wrenching experience I've ever had. The right to choose is not a luxury; it is a responsibility that demands intense introspection and awareness." S. Boyd
