Essay on The Ethics Of Abortion

Free The Ethics Of Abortion papers

Amphetamines/Methamphetamines

The medical use of amphetamines was common in the 1950/60's when they were used to help cure depression and to help the user lose weight. An amphetamine is a drug that is a stimulant to the central nervous system. Amphetamines are colorless and may be inhaled, injected, or swallowed. Amphetam

Drinking Age

The drinking age is fine, if anything is should get raised. It is hard to ignore the fact that this law is broken everyday. It's the 90's all teens just want to fit in. Kids are drinking at a much younger age. Now, even 10 year olds and 11 year olds are trying to fit in with us older kids. It

Abortion is a very controversial subject

that has been continually argued over for the past few years and probably

many years to come. The main controversy is should abortion be legalized?

First before we get into the many sides of abortion we must first define

abortion. Abortion is the destruction of the fetus or unborn child while

the child is still in the mothers womb. This can be done by almost anyone

from the mother herself to back alley abortions and even to abortions by

clinics set up especially for this purpose. There are two sides to this

abortion topic the PRO-LIFE which is those who are against abortion altogether

and the PRO- CHOICE or those who believe it is the womans right to choose

if she wants to have an abortion. These two groups offer different solutions

to problem. The pro-life solution is to have the child and basically live

with it. They believe abortion is not an answer. The pro-choice solution

is abortion because of reasons they feel are appropriate. Although abortion

is morally and ethically wrong should it be legal for victims of rape or

incest who have no other alternative?

There is no real answer to this controversy,

there are two sides to it though which have been arguing for many years

over the subject. The first is the pro-life group. This group does not

believe in the abortion factor. To understand where the pro-life stands

we must first understand its beliefs and reasons for its beliefs. Then

we can discuss what their solution to the abortion topic is.

Pro-life believes that rape and incest

are very emotional topics. "They often elicit throughout the population

feelings of revulsion; people draw back from the issue of rape and incest.

People don't know how to handle a person who is in that much pain. There

is no quick fix. That is why it is difficult for even pro-life people to

come to grips with the argument over abortion in cases of rape and incest."

Some of those who are pro-life will allow

abortion in these cases because they don't know what else they can do for

the victim and except it as a rare case. But it is known that allowing

abortion in these cases usually does not help the victim, instead it only

worsens the problem because the victims needs are not being met.

But what the facts suggest is that only

a minority of rape and incest victims actually choose abortion. This is

where pro-life has its biggest problem. Pro-life states that "Abortion

is not usually chosen as the immediate solution for rape and incest victims

but that is the prevailing belief of the general population. A woman has

been raped and made pregnant: "Oh, she's got to have an abortion." No one

has studied the rape and incest victims needs; abortion is presumed to

fill her needs."

Various studies and research indicate that

rape and incest victims fall into a high-risk category of abortion. But

what happens after a victim has an abortion? Jackie Baker a victim states:

"I soon discovered that the aftermath of my abortion continued a long time

after the memory of my rape had faded. I felt empty and horrible. Nobody

told me about the emptiness and pain I would feel deep within causing nightmares

and deep depressions. They all told me that after the abortion I could

continue with my life as if nothing ever happened." (Reardon 21- 22) This

is the story we hear from a lot of aborted women. Today in our society

it is believed by most people that it is the womans fault just as much

as the mans fault, if not more. many people think women are responsible

for contributing to the rape itself. Then the rape victims feel self-blame

and guilt. And even then a rape or incest victims family members or close

friends may reinforce these negative feelings. Or they drop the problem

because they don't know how to talk about it.

We even see the same thing in the abortion

experience. When a person becomes pregnant because of rape or incest there

is a permanent symbol of the rape, at least until it is aborted. Women

who have had abortions fear being rejected by God and loved ones. It is

a very traumatic experience which takes time. The fact is that you are

really telling your loved ones of a death in the family.

Opinion polls have shown for years that

women are more against abortion than men are. The women led the opposition

of abortion. "In 1983 a Los Angelos Times poll found that only 47% of women

(compared with 51% of men) favored the general availability of abortion."

(Pro Life Feminism: Pro-Woman, Pro-Life 6) So what is this telling us?

The facts are very clear men prefer abortion over women by a large percent.

And most women do not agree with abortion. So why does it still exist today?

What pro-life feels is really happening

is that in our society today abortion is becoming the solution to carelessness.

Abortion does nothing to help the victims rape, and that is the problem

they are trying to address in the first place. Instead abortion encourages

the victim to vent their anger out on others.

Pro-life also believes that child birth

on the other hand can be a victory. For those victims who chose childbirth

over abortion it can be a triumph. It can state that the victim is not

going to let rape destroy her life. When the needs of pregnant victims

is closely examined it can be shown that abortion is not the answer and

is in fact only worsening the problem. (Reardon 21-22)

But the worst strain abortion has on the

victim is mental strain. Many victims become confused and overwhelmed by

feelings they thought they would never have, and don't know what to do.

After having an abortion victims thought they had solved the problem but

in fact they had really just started a whole new one. Many victims began

thinking there was something wrong with them and began to doubt themselves

in situations that they would normally be sure of themselves. Others plunge

into deep depressions which they don't come out of for weeks at end. This

is one of the worst side effects of having an abortion and most women don't

realize it will happen to them because they are too busy trying to correct

the immediate problem. .

Pro-life persons don't have any reason

to be ashamed to defend pro-life view in the case of rape and incest. They

feel the ones who should be ashamed are the pro-abortionists who have been

exploiting the problems of the victims.

Pro-choice has a different view to this

whole abortion controversy. Pro-choice believes that it is the persons

right to have an abortion if they want to and that no one should interfere

with that right. Pro-choice has many reasons for feeling this way. First

lets talk about who has abortions and why they have abortions. There are

1.6 million abortions in the United States every year, there is no real

special class of people who have abortions.

Why does pro-choice feel that abortion

is all right? Well pro-choice believes that the answer is what the woman

believes. The most common reason for abortions is when contraception fails.

What is a person suppose to do when the birth control method fails? "The

fact is that contraceptive failure led to 1.6 to 2 million of the 3.3 million

unwanted pregnancies in the United States in 1987. These pregnancies account

for about half of the 1.5 million abortions performed every year." Besides

these reasons for abortion women also give researchers other reasons for

getting an abortion.

In 1987 a survey of 1,900 women at 30 abortion

facilities were asked, why do women have abortions? The women could give

as many reasons as they wanted, and most of the women responded with one

or more of these top six reasons:

1. Concerned about how having a baby could

change her life, 92 percent.

2. Not mature enough or too young...