They have many arguments for abortion some these are that the quality of life for a severely handicapped person is extremely low and that’s unfair to put them through such a hard life. They feel it would also be unfair to ask the parents to look after such a child. It is more humane to abort such a foetus in this position. Another factor is the cost of such a child. Pro-choice groups feel it is better to abort a physically or mentally handicapped person due to the finical burden on the state and the parents. Another opinion of Pro-Choice groups is that a woman who has become pregnant due to rape should not have the child. She should not have to endure the trauma of caring a child she never wanted. The child will remind her of what happened she would most likely hate the child. They also believe that if a young girl becomes pregnant she will not be emotionally capable of looking after and bringing up a child. It would be wrong to punish her by forcing her by forcing her to have the child and bring it up. Lastly they feel that a woman who has children should be forced to have another child just because she is pregnant. An extra child in the family might cause her to have a mental breakdown, which would mean that she could not look after her other children. It might also put extra financial burden on her and family.
These are the reasons why Pro-Choice groups are Pro-Choice. They generally do not do much to enforce these values as the law all ready agrees with them. They do not need to campaign as they already have what they want. The Law (as above) agrees with what they feel about abortion.
Views of those who think abortion is a curse
These people call themselves the Pro-Life groups; they feel that abortion in any form is wrong. Some even so far as to describe it as murder, they say that it is "illegal killing with malice aforethought." It is also planned and so is first-degree murder. It is described as a “crime against humanity.” The most extreme of the Pro-Life campaigners even go so far as to kill Doctors who perform the operation on pregnant women. One such person was “James Charles Kopp” who shot Dr Barnett Slepian with a sniper rifle. He ended up on America’s most wanted list for three years. Quotes from the bible are used to display God’s views on the subject and how the laws should be changed and to support the Pro-Life campaign. For instance Psalm 139:13 “You created every part of me: you put me together in my mother’s womb” is used to say that God knows about each pregnancy, each of which is valuable to him.
Just the like the Pro-Choice organisations the Pro-Life groups
have reasons for what they feel is the right stance to take on this touchy subject. One if theses is about the issue of handicapped foetuses, they feel that if we accept the “murder” of handicapped foetuses then we will soon accept the murder of those handicapped who have already been born. They also feel that termination of handicapped foetuses is wrong because although people who have disabilities would rather not have disabilities this does not mean they would rather be dead. Pro-life campaigners also feel that there are no unwanted babies. There are infertile couples who want children and are desperate to have a child who would take unwanted children from women who would otherwise have had an abortion. They also feel that abortions are wrong because of there traumatic effect on the women. The guilt a women feels as she may feel she has killed her own child. She may be depressed or have a breakdown. The final reason that they feel abortion is wrong is because it may harm the women physically. It could make her infertile or even kill her.
Moderate views
There are of course people who are moderate in that they still think about but their opinions fall in between the extremes discussed above. For example the Church of England feels that “The foetus is to be specially respected and protected (but) the life of the foetus is not absolutely sacrosanct if it endangers the life of the mother.” This viewpoint is sometimes referred to as the “lesser of two evils principle.” It basically states that abortion is only right if the mothers and the foetus’s lives are both endanger if the pregnancy goes ahead. It would be less evil if only the foetus died so it is all right to abort the foetus so the mother can live on.
Another moderate viewpoint is that abortion is only right if concept took place under circumstances such as rape or incest. This again falls under the “lesser of two evils” as it would be less evil to abort the foetus than have it know its father is a relative of its mother and possibility deformed or for its father to be a rapist.
Views of the church and what the bible says
The different Churches have different opinions on the subject of abortion. Most feel that it is against God’s will and is wrong. They use quotes from the bible and other religious texts to justify this. How ever the bible itself does not specifically mention abortion. There are however passages which concern the right to life and the value of it. For instance Genesis1:27, the creation story, it says that God created man in his own image and this is taken to mean that, because God created all human beings, human life has a great value. Abortion would therefore take away a human life which God has created and which only he should take away. Another example is Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. ” This is used to argue against abortion because it demonstrates that God knows and values everything, and because he values human life above all else, abortion must be wrong.
A very string argument against abortion from the religious point of view comes from the Didache. This is one of the earliest Christian writings outside the bible. It is written here that “You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder infant already born.” This is a very clear statement against abortion in Christian texts.
Probably the most protective of religions is the Roman Catholic Faith. It believes that life begins at the moment of conception. Therefore the utmost care must be taken to protect the life from the moment of conception. Abortion is seen as an abominable crime.
Every church and denomination agree that God is the giver of life and is therefore the only being with the right to end it. The thing they disagree on is when the life begins. If the life begins inside the womb then abortion is wrong and if it begins outside then abortion ok it all depends on this one single point.
My own opinion
My own opinion is that abortion is a gift. I believe that under the right circumstance abortion is the right thing for instance if a young girl gets or the child will be handicapped. I believe that it would not be fair on both the child and its parent(s) in these circumstances. To ask a young girl to go through pregnancy or parents to look a severely handicapped child is unfair and unreasonable. I do how ever disagree with some of the ways abortion is implemented by the law. I feel that the women should be made aware of the consequence of her action. She should talk to other women who have had abortions and find out about the feelings they have of guilt and the other feelings they have so that the woman can make an informed decision.
Bibliography
My research came from three different sources:
- The majority came from www.reviseit.com and there essay plan on this subject. It was a very useful set of bullet points on the subject.
- Other things such as the definition of abortion came from a GCSE textbook.
- My last source was the American Libertarian Party web site of a Dr Ruwart.
