The topic of abortion and whether it should be made legal or illegal by the law as raised social, religious, health and even political debates for decades across the globe. The ongoing debates have made it be a contentious subject given that its incidence rates, religious, cultural and legal status differ significantly across the globe. The disagreements associated with abortion are comprehensive, and every camp hold detailed reasoning behind their stand. The extent of the arguments is a reflection that a lot is at gamble ranging from beliefs, principles, and ideologies. Discussions on abortion come from different perspectives, each of which supports a different standpoint. The opinions, however, seem to deviate after the universal agreement that abortion is depraved (Wildung, 2011). It is generally and widely accepted that abortion is immoral in which case it is a criminal act hence the need to abolish it.
Abortion is morally wrong across all cultures and beliefs around the globe. According to Mohler (2004), most Americans believe that abortion is ethically evil just not to the extent that it should be made illegal. Majority of women who go ahead to procure abortion profess that they know it is wrong. Morality dictates that human life is sacred and any act or person that fails to treat is as preservative acts immorally. Human life is believed to commence at conception in the mother’s womb. Upon fertilization, the fetus is therefore regarded as a human and accorded the respect of human life. Any action towards it should uphold the principles of morality that govern human life (Mohler, 2004). Therefore, there is need to consider abortion immoral sufficiently for it to have the magnitude to hold as illegal.
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Abortion does not mitigate the main issues affecting women but barely sidelines them. Abortion is a scrape route that the society uses to avoid the actual women needs. The needs remain despite abortion, and hence the whole idea or objective behind abortion is distorted. Women need programs and policies that support them towards motherhood. Abortion allows leniency in the institution of such programs since abortion cuts off motherhood. For instance, in a case of rape, the issue is usually the act of abuse and not the pregnancy. Logically, in the case of rape a woman should not be allowed to murder an innocent soul; instead, the rapist should be held responsible for forcefully having sex without the woman’s consent. Abortion after conception by rape does not solve the problem of rape. Nonetheless, abortion defiles the principles advocated by feminists and the society at large that humans have control over their bodies even when within the womb (BBC, 2014). Abortion therefore only promotes reluctance in developing policies that will help mothers.
Lately, advocating for Legalization of abortion has broadly increased citing reasons such as that a woman has a right to make decisions on their reproductive systems. Further, proponents of abortion claims that legalization reduces the number of illegal abortions that are carried out unprofessionally causing harm to the extent of death. Pro-choice advocates argue that a woman has a right over their bodies including their reproductive system and hence making abortion illegal would be an infliction to those rights (Wildung, 2011). In the other argument, pro-choicer argues that banning abortion will not end abortion. Instead, it is likely to lead to the increase of unprofessionally and poorly performed abortions which are harmful and fatal. A ban on abortion limits the doctors from performing the abortions, but women will still use other means of abortion (Head, 2017).
The arguments for abortion are however insufficient to justify the legalization of abortion. For instance, the discussion on the right of choice and the freedom for women to control their reproductive system protects women on one side of the equation. Women who would prefer to carry their pregnancy to term and raise their children but face pressure to abort from companions or the society for reasons such as disgrace face a challenge in protecting their needs. In other words, abortion can take place without a woman’s consent but due religious, cultural and legal status in individual countries. A woman may be forced to have an abortion due to unavailability of social support, when a society prefers a particular gender or when a state enforces population control like one-child policy in China. Nevertheless, take a case of a mother and her teenage daughter who wants to commit suicide. The mother takes the child to a psychiatrist despite the child’s choosing to commit suicide. Looking at this is as if the mother is denying her daughter the right to choose what she needs to do with her body, but safeguards her life. Such move is moral, legal and highly encouraged. With the legalization of abortion, such women are left with a weak argument to exercise their right of choice (Denbow, 2013). On the other hand, the failure of a ban to counter abortion does not make it a viable reason to legalize abortion. Besides, the ban can extend to cover women who individually procure means of abortion by having them face the law.
In conclusion, many top ranking organizations such as pro-life and pro-choice have emerged with many issues to support their often civil itinerary. However, by acceptance that abortion is wrong then it needs to be illegal. With acknowledgment of the immorality in abortion then any arguments for abortion are a means of justification. Nevertheless, justifying a wrong does not make it a right. Unless in cases where abortion is a means to save a life or solve a reproductive system risk on either the mother or the fetus; there is a need to illegalize abortion.
References
Denbow, J. (2013). Abortion: When choice and autonomy conflict. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice, 20 (1), 216-228.
BBC. (2014). Ethics Guide: Arguments against abortion. Retrieved on 9 October 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/mother/against_1.shtml.
Head, T. (2017).Why abortion is legal in the United States. ThoughtCo . Retrieved on 9 October 2017 from https://www.thoughtco.com/why-is-abortion-legal-in-the-united-states-721091.
Mohler, A. (2004). The strongest argument against abortion-The fetus. Christian Headlines . Retrieved on 9 October 2017 from http://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/al-mohler/the-strongest-argument-against-abortion-the-fetus-1247103.html.
Wildung, B. H (2011). Our right to choose: Toward a new ethic of abortion . Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.
