The difficulty in this dilemma lies within the question of whether an
abortion falls into a category of protection of a woman’s right’s over the
sovereignty of her own body, or whether it falls into a different category of an
action which is not permissible because, according to some people, the fetus is
a person whose life and freedom is being compromised. The question of rights is
further complicated by the different circumstances where the abortion issue
could be raised. Many people would argue that abortion should not be used as
birth control or as a means to deal with the consequences of promiscuous sex.
However, how does one address the abortion issue in the circumstance of rape or
incest? Many say that in these circumstances, abortion is justified. The
confusing thing is that the outcome is the same in both circumstances. The fetus
is being denied its right to live and grow to its potential as a human being.
Where does one draw the line? What about a case where there is medical
complications? For example: a woman becomes pregnant and goes to the doctor for
an examination. During the doctor visit, various tests are run and it is
discovered that the baby will be born severely deformed and that its quality of
life would be extremely substandard. If the woman were to have an abortion,
would it be justified? What about a situation where a woman becomes pregnant and
she does to the doctor and is told that the baby is deformed and the birth would
most likely kill the mother. The argument justifying abortion in this case goes
back to the right to physical sovereignty over one’s own body. A person has the
freedom to do what he or she wants to concerning their own body as long as it
does not harm or compromise the freedom of another, except in self defense.
Therefore, in the case of the mother who would most likely die in childbirth, an
abortion could be justified because she is acting in self defense. And in the
case of rape, many argue that an abortion is also justified because the woman’s
right to not conceive has been violated, therefore she should not be responsible
for the consequences which came through no fault of her own.
As on can see, the
issue of abortion is on e that is extremely complicated. The problem being that
many of the ethical dilemmas involved in the abortion issue are so closely
intertwined that they are difficult to distinguish from one another. There are
some aspects of the issue that would convince most people that abortion is
justified, however when those aspects are combined with other intertwining
aspects and imperatives, justification oftentimes becomes impossible. In
conclusion, the issue of abortion is so complicated and controversial that it is
unlikely that a consensus could be reached by American society. There are too
many aspects of the issue which peoples views vary to widely. Some of these
issues could be things such as the definition of a person, is the fetus a
person, and if so when does it officially become a person. There is also the
issue of rights. Do the rights of a person outweigh the rights of a non person.
Does the right of a mother’s sovereignty over her body outweigh the right of an
unborn child to live. The answers to these questions are very diverse as a
result of the diversity of the American society. With the issue of abortion,
one’s attitude toward it is going to be based on many things such as religious
background and personal morals. There is no black and white answer to the
abortion issue. Luckily we live in a country where we are able to decide for
ourselves whether something is morally right or wrong. Thus, ultimately, the
choice is ours. As with the many other ethical issues which we are faced with in
our society, it is hard to come to a concrete answer until we are personally
faced with that issue. All we can do is make an effort to know all of the
aspects which are involved so that we may be able to make a sound decision if we
were faced with this problem in our own lives.
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