Essay Example on Abortion Debate: Right or Wrong?

The issue of abortion has been controversial since the time of the memorial. The aspect of bringing life to the world is critical, and that is why the topic receives a lot of sensitive reactions. Notably, the issue with abortion comes mostly with the question of whether it is the right or the wrong this to do. This debate becomes more confusing as different people from diverse backgrounds differ regarding the views. For instance, while other countries allow the legality of abortion, the religious-driven states disregard it. Importantly, the answer to the moral question of abortion relies on the right to life. However, despite the magnitude of the debate on the matter, the root of the problem draws back to the fact that abortion is more of the woman's decision. Morally speaking, the woman carrying the pregnancy has the right to decide on whether to keep the baby or abort it, as it is her body.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In a society that has been male-dominated for an extended period, women have fought for their rights effortlessly. Therefore, downgrading women for their choice to perform an abortion is wrong as it demeans their rightful positions, which they have strived to achieve. In her essay, "A Defense of Abortion," philosopher Judith Jarvis Thompson argues that women have the right to decide on what they do with their bodies. According to Thompson (39), the right of the zygote to life is mandatory but is overpowered by the woman's right to control anything that happens with her body, as well as its life-support functions. She insists that the right of the zygote's life should not be defended at the cost of the woman's willingness. To support her stance, she provides a thought experiment where she asks the readers to imagine his kidneys are being used to save a famous violinist's life. She explains that the other person has the right to refuse with his kidney, which will, of course, deny the violinist the right to live, for he will die. However, she insists that the violinist is not entitled to the other's person's kidneys, and it will take his choice to agree to help (Thompson 40).

Similarly, the embryo in the woman's life has the right to live, but at the same, the woman has no obligation of using her body to support it. Hence, the woman will not be committing any offense when she decides to disconnect her body from the embryo. In this case, abortion should be considered as moral as the woman decided to get rid of life that was depending on her against her will.

Importantly, abortion is permissible in situations where the health of the woman is at risk. Pregnancy is a complicated process that puts a woman in a delicate health phase of her life, where she is prone to many medical risks. An excellent example is when a woman experiences an ectopic pregnancy, which means that the fetus is growing in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus (Taran et al. 693). Ectopic pregnancies are life-threatening conditions or could lead to a lifetime disability (Taran et al. 693). Therefore, women with such pregnancies are usually advised to abort to save their lives.

Again, such risky situations call for the woman's decision to terminate the pregnancy's life to save her own, which Thompson vehemently supports. According to Thompson (41), a woman is entitled to defend her body from any harm, even if it means aborting a pregnancy. To support her premises, she uses the example of the "expanding child." In this example, she imagines a person trapped in a tiny room with a fast-growing child. The person is pushed against the wall and risks death at any moment as the child is overgrowing, occupying all the space. In this scenario, Thompson (41) explains that the child will not get harm if the person does nothing, and after the house bursts out, he will walk out "a free man." Here, Thompson supports her argument that women should choose to get rid of pregnancies that they think are risky for their lives.

Not all pregnancies are a result of consensual sexual relations like marriages; some result from unfortunate situations where the sex is forced, such as rape. In such events, the woman has the right to decide not to choose to keep the pregnancy, considering that it was unplanned and emotionally draining. In this sense, Thompson (50) argues that in happenings like rape, abortion can be the just thing to consider. Here, the fetus does not owe the mother's body to stay alive. Therefore, the mother should be free in making a choice that favors her by helping her to overcome the problem.

One crucial aspect of debating against the morality of abortion is that it is a violation of the right of life to the embryo. However, the most confusing part about this aspect is the question, "can the embryo be considered a person?" Notably, either answer to this question can be used as a supportive argument on both sides of the abortion debate. While scientists will argue that an embryo is human, pro-abortion insists that it is not. Thompson (49) argued that the first phase of conception, the zygote, and embryo, cannot be considered as a person as it cannot survive on its own out of the woman's body. Therefore, abortion should be permissible as it does not involve the termination of life since the zygote/embryo is not yet a person.

Likewise, in her support for the morality of abortion, Mary Anne Warren argued that the zygote/embryo/fetus is nether life nor a person; thus, abortion should be considered as killing. According to Warren (45), five traits constitute human hood; consciousness, reasoning, self-motivation and communication capacity, and self-awareness. Consciousness refers to relating external events with internal feelings, such as feeling pain. Reasoning involves the rationality of the thought process, whereas self-motivation refers to acting independently, such as decision-making. Lastly, communication capacity implies interaction by all means to relay messages, whereas, self-awareness means knowing the identity (Warren 50). According to Warren (51), all the stages in gestation (zygote, embryo, and fetus) lack the conditions of human-hood. However, the fetus, which experiences only consciousness through pain, can be considered as a person as it will still depend on the woman for the other four human attributes (Warren 51). By proving that a fetus is not a being, Warren supported the morality of abortion; thus, women should not be made to guilty when they decide to abort.

Importantly, while women are entitled to decide on whether to opt for an abortion or not, it critical to consider the implications it poses on their health (mentally, physically, and emotionally). The most suitable philosophical approach in supporting this premise is consequentialism. It is a class of moral theories that asserts that the consequences or the outcomes of action depend primarily on whether the conduct was right or wrong (Lee 100). Notably, consequentialists believe that rightful deeds will result in positive outcomes, whereas the illegal breeds into painful events. And again, they think that something is wrong when it ends up hurting someone (Lee 100).

Notably, anti-abortionists argue that abortion is an immoral action that will lead to condemnation and regrets; thus, it should be illegalized. The most common effect is the post-abortion syndrome, where the woman suffers a series of mental distress after aborting (Bazelon). In most cases, the woman ends up suffering from guilt due to the notion of "killing her blood." As a result, she ends up getting depressed; thus, interrupting her usual way of living. However, it is important to argue that psychological experienced after procuring an abortion cannot be compared to keeping an unwanted pregnancy. Rearing a child is a lifetime commitment, which the individual may end up hurting the baby when it is born; hence, it makes sense of allowing women to choose whether to keep or terminate the pregnancy.

Another harm that anti-abortionists insist on is physical health risks. For instance, according to Jasen (424), induced abortion has a viable connection to breast cancer. What happens is that the milk production cells that were being produced during the pregnancy get destroyed after the termination, which, in turn, causes the cells to be cancerous (Jasen, 424). Also, the back-alley abortions, which are performed by unprofessionally, and most women consider due to the illegalization of abortion, could lead to adverse health conditions or even death. All in all, despite this adversity of opting for an abortion, the woman is still entitled to decide on whether to keep the pregnancy or not. Notably, a woman that chooses to abort is usually aware of her actions' outcome and is prepared to deal with it.

Moreover, the consequentialism debate on abortion falls back to the question, "is the fetus a human being to feel pain when it is hurt?" In his essay to defend consequentialism, Tim Chappell, argue that a fetus should be considered as a human being as it entails the genesis stages of becoming a full human being with the human-hood conditions provided by Warren. But again, is it possible to hurt a fetus? According to Chappell, "hurt" refers to an injurious action that the recipient would prefer to avoid (Chappel). He argues that hurt can happen to all sorts of things, but some cannot choose the treatment nor feel pain. Also, he argues that hurting destructs the healthy growth of the recipient. Therefore, a fetus can be hurt through abortion since its normal development is highly interrupted (Chappell). More, so, killing is a crime in most states, which means that women who procure an abortion risk a legal condemnation of "hurting" the fetus.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether the fetus is a person or not, a woman must have the right to choose what happens with her body. Also, no one has the power of using another person's body for life support if the person has not given consent. Therefore, a woman should decide on matters of abortion as her body being used. Forcing a woman to keep unwanted pregnancy is like making her dress clothes she does not like, which also interferes with her right of free will.

Works Cited

Bazelon, Emily. Is There Post Abortion Syndrome? The New York Times Magzine. 2007, January 21. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21abortion.t.html

Chappell, Tim. Consequentialism and Abortion. Philosophy Now. 1992. Accessed on November 21, 2019. Retrieved from https://philosophynow.org/issues/4/Consequentialism_and_AbortionJasen, Patricia. "Breast cancer and the politics of abortion in the United States." Medical history 49.4 (2005): 423-444. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1251638/

Lee, Patrick. Abortion and unborn human life. CUA Press, 2010. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nM7AXBtDSocC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=consequentialism+and+abortion+2010&ots=GiIu81wzYx&sig=3xE9amCvJhbCj8EU4ekyipJPNJE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=consequentialism%20and%20abortion%202010&f=false

Taran, Florin-Andrei, et al. "The diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy." Deutsches Arzteblatt International 112.41 (2015): 693.

Thompson, J. Judith. A Defense of Abortion. Biomedical Ethics and the Law. 1976: 39-54. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-2223-8_5Warren, Mary Anne. "On the Moral and the Legal Status of Abortion." The Monist 57.1 (1973): 43-61. Retrieved from https://www.pdcnet.org/monist/content/monist_1973_0057_0001_0043_0061