Although Abortion is practiced throughout most of the world and has been practiced long before the recorded history, it still invokes passion and controversy. Abortion raises fundamental questions such as when life begins and what it is that makes us human. In America, abortion is a highly charged issue that involves ethical, religious and political debate. It continues to be a very contentious issue with few signs of abatement.
It is understandable that most women feel abortion is a moral decision for them and a totally personal decision, given their situation. This includes their religious beliefs, health, marital status, genetic makeup, age and other factors.
If a woman decides to undergo abortion, after consulting with her physician and her spiritual advisor, should the government veto her decision?
The answer to this is a whole lot of debate in the U.S., many times even bordering on violence.
Those who are against abortion say that the government should be able to override the decision of a woman and require her to continue with her pregnancy and childbirth. These people base their stance on the strong belief that human life begins at the ovum and spermatozoon stage. This makes a pre-embryo, embryo and fetus all humans that are entitled to the basic human right to live, along with all other human rights.
One of the most insidious examples of anti-abortion advocates is their argument for “post-abortion stress syndrome” in spite of the fact that there is no evidence to prove this. A proposed law in South Dakota would ban most abortions on the grounds that “an abortion subjects the pregnant woman to significant psychological and physical health risks.”
The Roman Catholic Church and many other religious bodies also strongly oppose abortion.
People who argue in favor of abortion say that it is totally the woman’s decision and the government has no right to interfere, or should limit its interference to only very rare circumstances. She should be able to have an abortion if she wants to. They base their stance on the belief that a human life begins after conception when the embryo’s heart starts beating, or when the fetus begins to take a human shape, or when it is born, or it half emerges from the mother, or is completely disconnected from the mother and becomes an independent human life.
In the United States, abortion has been made legal. Supporters of legal abortion say that this legalization resulted in a huge decrease in women dying from abortion and that’s because abortion is not a dangerous procedure any longer, since women do not have to go through self-induced abortions and they are done by experienced physicians.
If we go back to our ancestors, Aristotle taught “delayed ensoulment,” which meant that a fetus in the initial stages was nothing but a vegetable soul and evolves into a human soul later in gestation. This was even called ensoulment and was believed to occur at 90 days after conception for a female fetus and 40 days after conception for a male fetus. In those days, since gender could not be determined, abortion and contraception were not condemned. It was only in the later stages of pregnancy that a human soul is destroyed. On the other hand, Jewish faith generally opposed abortion, unless it posed a risk to the life of the mother. Over the centuries, different stances were taken at different times.
Supporters of abortion argue that the bible is also completely silent on the issue of abortion. The word “abortion” does not appear in any of the biblical translations. They go on to relate that according to the bible, life begins at birth – when a baby draws in its first breath and the embryo or fetus is not a human being. The bible gives the definition of life as “breath” several times.
However, anti-abortionists show basis in the bible for their beliefs, by citing passages or quotes that actually do not use the word abortion or pro-life. They say there are several scriptures in the Bible where God indirectly shows that he is pro-life.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
As far as the United States Political parties are concerned, they have taken different sides, with the majority of the Republicans being pro-life and a majority of the Democrats supporting a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion.
Belief that a human being exists at conception is purely a matter of faith, not fact. Several Christian denominations and religious groups now agree that the bible does not condemn abortion anywhere and that abortion should continue to be legal.
The general feeling is that it is important to find common ground – not by going completely against abortion or “favoring” abortion as the taking of an innocent life can never be acceptable. This has to be dealt with in such a way that it reduces the number of abortions. Abortions can be legalized as far health risks for the baby or mother are concerned and not in other situations.
The debates and discussions will continue as long as there is conscience and as long as life matters.
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It's outrageous and erroneous to think only about the health of the mother but never think about the little person that is being form inside the womb. True, that at the time of conception there is only genetic matter, but once that matter starts multiplying and dividing cells, especially once it creates a pumping heart, there is no question that it has become a human being in development. Also, how is it that we accept single-cell organisms as living beings but we are willing to kill with no remorse a single-cell organism that quickly becomes millions? Abortion shouldn't be an option for anyone, but instead teens should be encouraged to practice abstinence, safe sex and giving up their offspring. How is a teen not responsible enough to vote or drink or smoke or drive, but she has the mental and emotional capacity to make such a drastic and responsible decision like an abortion. Abortion or not, her life has changed forever (like it or not, because she will have to live with that human remorse the rest of her life) and saving a life is always better than killing one. Respect for life starts at the womb. The argument that is her body is without basis because part of the genetic material that was used to create that little person belongs to someone else and because the human inside her womb is his/her own person. Religion aside, this is an inhumane practice that has never been acceptable to us as a human race. Abortion has mostly always been practiced for the sake of clearing a so-called mistake or an unwanted consequence to a decision made by two people. As humans we need to recognize our wonderful ability to procreate, respect it and value it as a privilege not a user error that can be so carelessly corrected. A person with a gun has the ability to kill, why do we think is wrong if he does, but we look the other way when the same is done to a baby? If it has a heartbeat, then its human and it should be treated as such. When a Kangaroo gives birth to a joey, it's considered a kangaroo in a very early stage of development, it would be foolish to discard it as trash, reaping its limbs and head off just because is not a full grown kangaroo. How is it that doing the same to a human that is simply in an early stage of development acceptable? Let's stop mascaraing this as a meaningless personal choice and face up the facts; Abortion is HOMICIDE! Actually, if we were to add all the aborted undeveloped humans that have been reaped out of their mother wombs, it would add up to the most horrific and cruelest GENOCIDE we humans have ever participated in.
Abortion is wrong, but God has given me brain to think. What do we do if there is a question of saving the mother v/s the child? We are not God to decide. And NONE of the "spiritual" people have the faith to get an answer from God, ASAP, CASE BY CASE!!!!!!!
Hence this not something that law or newspaper or a site like this can decide.
i do not and will never agree with abortion, but i dont see addressing abortion as the sole thing we should be focusing on in this issue. Too many times we treat the symptoms and not the causes, create medicines that allow us to adapt to our poor lifestyles rather than helping us to change our poor lifestyles! Rather than push abortion and free condomns, why not address the proportionate rise in these services being sought out with the rise in sex being a "normal" thing to do in music, television, movies, etc. No longer can we "pretend" like giving money to a charity excuses the very crude treatment of women coming from some rap artist now and days, nor can we just default to "its always been this way." Yes, it has always been hear, but not in this measure, to the point that its become an "epidemic." This is simple, and "they" (the powers that be...) know it, but they wont move on music videos, etc, like they could (yet) and should due to the fact they are making too much money off of it. But my thing has always been this; you can still make money, but why not just "transfer" the wealth. Instead of making billions off of food that either kills people or gives them a terrible painful "life," why not invest the same resources into natural foods? Instead of being afraid to ban ciggerates partialy due to the million+ dollar industry they create, why not transfer the investment to green energy and simply make it more afordable? these ideas my be "radical," but its a solution with nothing in the way of it but blinding pride (i cant even say greed because you would still make the same money, just now in a different category).
I seriously don't understand why religion really has got to do with abortions. ITS the person with the fetus that has the choice. What if something went wrong with it developing inside the womb and it was a health risk for the person carrying it? What about financial situations? Would you really want your kid living in poverty? Is that what 'God' wants?
Honestly I can see why people will disagree with abortions but personally, I don't see a problem with it.
i am one hundred percent agents abortion, yeah the person holding it has to make the decision but why would they make the decision of having a baby if they don't want it. also yes there are a lot of people that are to young to have a baby and raise it them selves. honestly it is there fault for getting pregnant and they should try there very best to try to give it a chance weather with them or with someone else. god gave us a gift to bare children we are the ones who abuse that ability.