Arguments against Abortion

Background info:
The law in the UK says that abortion is only legal if two doctors agree that:

 The mother’s life is at risk

 The mother’s physical or mental health is at risk
 The child is very likely to be born severely handicapped
 There would be a serious effect on other children in the family
 When life begins: some say that it begins as soon as an egg is fertilised; others say life
only begins when the foetus can survive outside the womb.
 Whether a woman has the right to do as she wishes with her own body: some say she
should because her rights take the place of the foetuses; some others say the unborn
child’s rights take the place of the mother’s.
 Abortion: the removal of a foetus from the womb before it can survive.
 Abortion on demand means that women have the right to an abortion without any
questions about their reasons.
 We should think of the mother not as if she is there to contain the foetus but to regard
her as a human being
 We should think of the mother’s and foetuses rights
 “A pregnancy to a woman is perhaps one of the most determinative aspects of
her life. It disrupts her body. It disrupts her education. It disrupts her
employment. And it often disrupts her entire family life. And we feel that,
because of the impact on the woman, this … is a matter which is of such
fundamental and basic concern to the woman involved that she should be
allowed to make the choice as to whether to continue or to terminate her
pregnancy.”
Sarah Weddington in Roe v Wade
 “...a great deal turns for women on whether abortion is or is not available.
If abortion rights are denied, then a constraint is imposed on women's
freedom to act in a way that is of great importance to them, both for its own sake
and for the sake of their achievement of equality;
and if the constraint is imposed on the ground that the foetus has a right to life
from the moment of conception, then it is imposed on a ground that neither
reason nor the rest of morality requires women to accept, or even to give any
weight at all.”
Judith Jarvis Thomson
 Many people think that we should have a right to control our own bodies and what we
want to do them. If women were stopped from aborting an unwanted baby then this
would breach their rights.
 Every human being has the right to own their own body
 A foetus is part of a woman's body

Anne 9L
 Therefore that woman has the right to abort a foetus they are carrying
 Some people say that it is unethical to ban abortion because it denies freedom of choice
to women and forces 'the unwilling to bear the unwanted'.
 A foetus is not the same sort of thing as a leg or a liver: it is not just a part of a
woman's body, but is (to some extent) a separate 'person' with ‘its own right to
life’.
 “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or
will not be a mother.”
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood
 “This landmark decision... not only protects rights of bodily integrity and
independence, but has enabled millions of women to participate fully and equally
in society.”
Kathryn Kolbert (1992)
 “There are women who are raped and become pregnant; the problem is that they were
raped, not that they are pregnant.
There are women who are starving who become pregnant; the problem is that they are
starving, not that they are pregnant.
There are women in abusive relationships that become pregnant; the problem is that
they are in abusive relationships, not that they are pregnant.”
Megan Clancy
 Some people oppose abortion because it can damage the long-term physical and
emotional health of women who have an abortion
 “We believe in a woman's right to control her body, and she deserves this right no
matter where she lives, even if she's still living inside her mother's womb.”
Feminists for Life
 Another group oppose abortion because they see it as a male plot
 They argue that men see the risk of pregnancy as something that stops men having sex
when they want it. If men are to achieve full sexual freedom (i.e. the freedom to have
sex without responsibility) it is essential that abortion be freely available to
backup contraception.
 So abortion on demand is vital if men are to be able to have women on demand, and so
men are arguing for abortion so that they can continue to exploit women.
 This was one of the reasons that 19th century feminists opposed abortion: they
regarded it as a way for men to have sex with women without having to take
responsibility for any resulting children by getting the women to risk their lives in
what were then dangerous operations in order to prevent the child being born.

My Views:

 The rights point out that a woman has a right to abort an unwanted foetus. Therefore this
rules out all other ages below the period when you turn into a woman. So until you
become a woman, you should not be allowed to abort. The term woman means an adult
female human being. Adult means a fully mature person, animal, plant, or other form of
life, somebody who has reached the age of legal majority, fully developed and mature.

Anne 9L
 In the bible says: “Though shalt not kill.” Deuteronomy 5:17
 As a Christian you are meant to value anybody’s life with a great deal of regard. God says
love others as you love yourself so therefore if an unexpected baby comes up, don’t get
rid of it, conceive it and cherish it in God’s love.
 There are already too many unwanted babies in our over-populated world.  Why add
more?
 Every child is a precious and unique gift from God.  We have no right to destroy this
 Defenceless baby needs special protection since it cannot stand up for its own
rights
 The rights of the unborn child are equal to those of her mother
 The embryo is human from conception with its own DNA.  Left alone, it will
develop into a person
 Children with physical or learning disabilities can lead full and rewarding lives. 
Aborting people because of disability is like telling disabled people that they are
worthless
 Abortion is murder – the deliberate taking of a human life
 Doctors and nurses promised to save life, not destroy it
 The foetus can feel pain and has intelligence
 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children need
protection both before and after birth
 Unwanted babies could be adopted.  Many childless couples are desperate to adopt.
 In the instance of rape and incest, proper medical care can ensure that a woman
will not get pregnant. Abortion punishes the unborn child who committed no
crime; instead, it is the perpetrator who should be punished.
 Abortion should not be used as another form of contraception.
 Those who choose abortions are often minors or young women with insufficient life
experience to understand fully what they are doing. Many have lifelong regrets
afterwards.
 Abortion frequently causes intense psychological pain and stress.

Anne 9L