Is A Fetus A Person Term paper
While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (is a fetus a person)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!
Is the Fetus a Person?:
It is nearly impossible anymore to find someone who does not have an opinion about abortion, and probably a strong opinion at that. Yet endless debates on the topic usually go nowhere, leaving the proponents of both sides even more committed to their positions and the open-minded observers confused. AThe most important effect of the legalization of abortion on public health has been the near elimination of the deaths from the procedure.@(Bergen) This is why we must help patients who need an abortion. If we aid in legal abortions then women will have fewer illegal ones and, in turn, it will save lives. We must help these women because they face enough hardship from society. Some examples of these hardships are mandatory waiting periods before an abortion can be performed, biased counseling sessions, parental consent laws and, limited public funding for those who cannot afford the procedure. Both sides make a good case; however, I must agree with pro-choice advocates. In today=s society, there are difficult situations which people encounter and have no choice but to abort. Giving the mother of a child the choice of whether to abort or not can increase the chances of a legal abortion. Some of the debates that take place over abortion are is the fetus important?, Should the public fund abortion? And, should partial-birth abortion be legalized? The argument over whether abortion is just or unjust is outdated.
I believe that at this point in time the question is not whether or not abortion is just, but
rather if it is accepted in a given situation. These arguments listed above are the topics of most modern debates of abortion. The most important of these issues is the question Ais the fetus a person?@ This is such an important issue because it branches off into all parts of abortion. The reason why this is such a difficult question to answer is stated best in this quote AThis patently illogical(sic), relying on the one hand on the idea that life=s beginning is the determinate and on the other hand on a definition of when meaningful life begins.@(Gilbert) Until there is a definite answer to the question Is the fetus living or non-living?, this issue will be argued for years to come. This question especially stresses the most controversial issue today which is partial-birth abortion. Unless the mother=s life is in jeopardy partial-birth abortion is murder and should be illegal. Determining whether or not the fetus is a person is truly difficult but, during a partial-birth abortion the child is delivered and clearly has its life taken away. Partial-birth abortion takes away the most beautiful thing in this world, which is the commencement of human life.
The question Ais the fetus a person?@ is being argued continually between pro-choice and pro-life advocates. The reason why there is so much debate over this question is that there is no one answer to it. Not even doctors can give a definite answer to this question. Despite there not being a definite answer to this question, I believe that it is the mother=s choice to determine whether the fetus is a person or not. The bearer of the child is the only one who, in my opinion, can really tell in her heart if the fetus is alive. AAs essential to American freedom as our right to choose how we think , vote, worship, work and, marry, is our right to make decisions about our own bodies. This very basic and necessary right to choose means having access to safe and legal abortion, effective contraceptive options and, quality reproductive health care.@(Bergen) This
quote shows that no matter if the fetus is living or non-living, the woman involved has control over her own body. We must give women their rights or we will be going against what this great nation stands for. The argument that the doctor cannot determine if the fetus is a person is used by both parties of the debate. The pro-choice advocates use the doctor=s indeterminancy to show that if there is no way of knowing whether or not the fetus is a person, then there is no reason why the fetus cannot be aborted.
The pro-life advocates use the doctor=s inconclusiveness to argue that there is no reason why the fetus is not a person and therefore a person should have the right to live. The party for abortion is backed up as well from this quote ABeing biologically alive does not, in our modern view, make the fetus legally a person.@( Gilbert ) Even if the fetus is proven to be biologically alive, then this still does not mean that the fetus is a person. However, anti-abortionists argue that AUnlike the sperm or egg, the diploid zygote possesses unique human genotype and the power of full differentiation, without which no human life can be expressed.@(Henshaw) Basically what anti-abortionists are trying to say here is that the zygote is indeed a person and has traits that can distinguish it from other people. One reason the debate goes nowhere is that each side focuses on a different topic. I believe that if there is no clear evidence that shows whether or not the fetus is a person then no one can make a valid argument. There is no progress because each side is talking about a different thing. Pro-choice advocates tend to focus more on future ramifications rather than the immediate effect on the child, while pro-life advocates focus more on the life of the child. This constant confusion and argument bring both sides to no agreement or conclusion. From my point of view, even though no one can come to a conclusion to this question it is still the key debate over abortion today. Despite the doctor=s argument, that the fetus is a person I still believe it=s the mother=s decision. The only person who has total understanding of the feeling is the mother. She, in my opinion, is the only one who can determine if the fetus is living.
The second question that is debated constantly in society today is whether or not abortion should receive public funding? I think that if we do not fund abortion, then women will have an abortion anyway. Besides the fact that women will have an abortion anyway, they will most likely under go an illegal abortion as anyway. Illegal abortions could also lead to an increase in women abandoning and killing their babies more often. Anti-abortionists look at funding in a negative way because they believe it promotes murder. Not only do they believe that it destroys a human being, but they also believe that it is morally wrong and it is against the church. A doctor by the name of Martin Haskell puts it best in this quote, AFunding to stop abortion will decrease both the amount of abortions and partial-birth abortions.@(Haskell) On the other hand, the pro-choice believers think that there should be funding because abortions are imminent whether there is funding or not. In this quote, the pro-choice stance is represented by AThere is a social cost...
MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 24 May, 2012 from
<http://essaymania.com/143055/is-a-fetus-a-person>
More College Papers
Crucible Theme essay
The story of Arthur Miller s play, The Crucible, revolves around the witchcraft hysteria and human vengeance that plague Salem and split the town into those who use the trials for their own ends and those who desire the good of the society. It is this paradox that Miller finds to be a major theme of
St. Alphonsus essay
Alphonsus, like so many saints, had an excellent father and a saintly mother. Don Joseph de' Liguori had his faults. He was somewhat worldly and ambitious, at any rate for his son, and was rough tempered when opposed. But he was a man of genuine faith and piety and stainless life, and he meant his s
Parole essay
Parole is defined as the conditional release of inmates from prison to serve the remainder of their sentences under community correctional supervision (Silverman 509). This concept was created to encourage good behavior and to reinforce the ultimate goal of the prison system, rehabilitation. In f