Abortion When Is The Beginning Of Personhood Essay
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When is the Beginning of Personhood?
During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of the most contentious subjects of controversy in the United States. It discusses human interaction where ethics, emotions, and law collaborate. Many have contemplated upon the meaning of abortion. One argument is that every child born should be wanted. The people in lieu of this theory are often referred to as Pro-choice activists. The opposing argument is that every child conceived should be born, this theory epitomized by Pro-life activists. A public consensus exists that when human personhood starts, that the law must protect person. Many religions, organizations, and individuals have fervently held conflicting beliefs about when this transpires. This naturally leads to differing policies on whether a woman should have access to abortion or not.
This brings us to the scientific aspect of the controversy. The interminable question surrounding the controversy is this: When does a baby actually become a baby? A female’s ovum (egg) and a male’s sperm are both clearly alive. They are living organisms ready to be joined as one to form a baby. It is pointed out, however, that women release a few hundred eggs in a lifetime (Religious Tolerance). Almost all of these eggs are destined to die and be ejected from the body. Little thought is given to these hundreds of deaths. The same idea goes for the sperm. Hundreds of million of male sperm are liberated during a typical sexual encounter—an adequate number to theoretically double the earth’s population in a week or two if each were used to fertilize a separate ovum (Religious Tolerance). Again, little consideration is given to these deaths. Yet, a public consensus exists that they are not yet human persons.
So is that essentially when a human life begins? Or is it when the sperm and egg meet, causing the conception of the baby? It is broadly believed, generally by the pro-life activists, that this is fundamentally when a human begins to form. Among women, approximately 50% of their fertilized eggs develop into babies, which are born, more or less, nine months later. The remnants are aborted or are lost due to a miscarriage.
An innate public agreement exists that an infant is the most precious form of life on earth, and needs to be protected under law. The philosophical and religious principle behind the pro-choice versus pro-life argument is when does human personhood begin? After that event occurs, termination of that life is a form of murder. Many people believe this form of murder can only be acceptable if used as a means to prevent the death of the mother, prevent extremely serious injury to the mother, or in cases of rape or incest. Approximately 14,000 women a year have abortions subsequent to rape or incest (Be Fearless). The whole controversy of abortion is based on the non-existent consensus as to when personhood in point of fact begins.
There is plenty of scientific evidence detailing the processes that start with a sperm and end up with a newborn baby. Yet, some people believe although it is scientifically an actual life, a baby forming, it is still not significant enough to allow the law to make its murder unlawful. In spite of the evidence science can make available to us, it still cannot tell us whether or not the fetus has a soul, or if a zygote has a full set of human rights. Nor can it tell us whether or not an ovum or sperm are people, or when the products of conception become a person. Most importantly, science cannot tell us if abortion is murder.
Most people in the pro-life faction believe that at the point of conception, a human being is formed. A just fertilized egg is a full human being and should be protected as one. Some believe this because of their religion. The views of the Catholic church strongly oppose abortion, as a violation of the sanctity of life. Nonetheless, Catholic women have abortions at the same rate as the general population (Be Fearless). They are taught through their religion that a soul enters a fertilized egg at the instant of conception. So, the cell is now a human being at that time because there is a presence of a soul. Kathy Ireland, a former pro-choice activist, explains how she became a believer of pro-life:
I was once pro-choice. And the thing that changed my mind was, I read my husband’s biology books, medical books and what I learned is simply what it states – this isn’t even morally – this is pure
biology. At the moment of conceptions, a life starts. And this life has its own unique set of DNA, which contains a blueprint for the whole genetic being. The sex is determined. Now people ask the question, well, is it a human being? We know there’s a life because it is growing and changing.
The views of the pro-choice, however, do not feel that the transition into personhood happens at conception. They state that the just-fertilized ovum has no limbs; no head; no brain; no ability to see, hear, smell, taste, or touch; no internal organs, nor do they have self-consciousness. They argue that even at the age of one month, a human embryo cannot be distinguished from that of a cat or dog. They all have different views as to when personhood begins. This does not separate them from the pro-choice assemblage; it merely means they believe in abortion before the stage at which the embryo becomes a person.
Regardless of everyone’s beliefs and views and concerns, abortion is legal and does take place all over the world everyday. It is a choice that every woman in the United States is free to make and is covered under the 14th Amendment (Jussim 41). Even though these women have been given the right, the case is not closed. Pro-life activists carry a strong argument, and continue to advocate their beliefs. They feel so strongly about these beliefs that violence has broken out in some known instances. Abortion not only arouses passionate opinions, but also passionate hatred towards opposing believers. Majority of the violence pertaining to abortion has been against abortion providers. Seven people have died as a result of anti-abortion attacks, and there have been hundreds of incidents of vandalism of abortion clinics.
Pro-choice activists, on the other hand, also carry very strong points. They believe that the child inside them is their property and its life does not begin until its birth. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court decided that as long as the baby lived in the womb, he or she would be the property of the mother (Mabie 130). The case made abortion legal for women, declaring that privacy rights regarding the...
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