For years, the topic of abortion has been debated among the members of the political parties. Oftentimes, the question on whether it is ethical or not comes up, especially regarding if the fetus is or is not a life. Some say life begins at conception, while others would argue that life does not begin until natural birth. No matter where you fall on this issue, the fact of the matter is that the number of people getting abortions is declining. According to Abort73 quoting the Guttmacher Institute, “An estimated 862,320 abortions took place in the United States in 2017 – down from 926,240 in 2014.” It also states that in 1996, an estimated 1,360,000 abortions took place.
The bigger question that arises is that of ethics. According to PewForum, 61% of people think that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 38% say that it should be illegal in most or all cases. While both sides argue back and forth on the issue, the fact of the matter is that our definition of life begins at conception. If we apply this logic to the real world, then abortion should be classified as the death of another life, no matter the circumstances.
There may be some small exceptions, such as if rape or incest was involved, but overall this rate is extremely low, and should not justify legalizing abortion for all cases. According to USA Today, only 1% of abortion cases are because or rape, and another 0.5% is because of incest. While in these rare cases it should be allowed, we would be ignorant to use these to represent abortion as a whole.
Even though your article is well written with sources, i disagree with your saying that all abortion is murder. The baby is not alive until there is brain activity or a heartbeat. It is no one else’s place to tell these women what they can or cannot do with their bodies. It their choice whether they want to give birth to those babies or not and it is no one else’s decision. You cannot judge someone without knowing all the circumstances. Even if they just don’t want to have the baby, it’s not your place to judge. I understand that you believe that they baby is alive the moment of conception but at that point it’s just an egg. Therefore, it is not our place to say what women can or can’t do with their bodies. It is their choice.
Hi Peter,
I liked the beginning of your article because it is very neutral. However, I do not agree with your argument about abortion. First off, I am a female and I would have to raise the child despite what money I don’t have. There is the option of adoption, yes, but it is also a matter of the toll with going through a pregnancy. I am both pro-life and pro-choice. I believe that no one should kill their child but at the same time it is not my body, not my child, not my money and, therefore, I have no right to judge them or choose for them. This book includes both sides: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_GnZCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=abortion+pro+choice&ots=VErIoiBelo&sig=XZHYVSNSTU2ie1YqWgacZaqMxiM#v=onepage&q=abortion%20pro%20choice&f=false
I don’t want to come off as biased, but I truly believe you cannot say that abortion is bad unless you are a woman with an unwanted pregnancy that doesn’t know what to do.
Hi Natalie, I really appreciate this comment. I’m glad that I got a neutral response from somebody with a differing opinion, rather than somebody who has a strong opinion on either side. I know that as a male I may not have the ability to understand all the factors that play into the choice of getting an abortion, but from my point of view, I do think there are alternatives, such as adoption. I also enjoyed passages from the book that you linked because they also took more of a neutral stance, while still maintaining their opinion.
I don’t like getting political often, because it often leads to unneeded arguments, but abortion is a topic I had been against long before I knew anything about either political party. The main reason I believe that it should be treated as a life is because recent science shows that not only does the fetus have it’s own brain patterns, but it also has it’s own unique DNA. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002398.htm . I personally feel like with information such as this, we should remove abortion from the world of politics, and focus more on the science of the situation. Thanks again for posting the comment, and have a nice day!
I agree with your post, in regards that the argument of “what about rape or incest” for abortion would not be a very good argument. These cases are rare and do not happen often. If you cannot afford to raise the baby, adoption is always an option. One does not get to choose whether or not a fetus, human being, should live or die based on ones own personal convenience. Determining whether something gets to live or die based on convenience is pure evil.