LaMaya Coleman Logic and Reasoning December 10, 2010 Abortion: Freedom or Choice?

Abortion is one of the most controversial ethical dilemmas faced by several modern societies. This emotive issue is fueled by the debate of whether a mother has a right to abortion versus the rights of an unborn child to live. Therefore, the two views of this issue is abortion rights (pro-choice) or anti-abortion (pro-life). In support of abortion right, feminist argue, My body, my choice, and those against them say, Pro-choice is a lie, babies never choose to die. (Life) This creates the questions of: who has the greater right to life? Should the termination of a pregnancy be allowed? Is the embryo or fetus a human being? Can we grant rights to a fetus? Is it a person? The battle lines about abortion is drawn between strict, religious (pro-life) arguments (which is never acceptable), and those (pro-choice) that call attention to womans right to be able to decide to get abortion or not, as the basic matter. Abortion should be viewed as both a freedom and a choice; not just a choice. A woman has the right to do what she wants to her body based upon her circumstances or if the mothers life is at risk preventing her from following through with the pregnancy. Every woman is not in the same state of mind as another woman may be when they find out they are pregnant. They have a decision to follow through with the pregnancy or aborting the child due to their circumstances. I feel that clinics and doctors grant women freedom to legal abortion clinics in order to make an abortion possible. Some people believe if a woman becomes pregnant she should follow through with her pregnancy regardless of their negative circumstances or outcomes.

Page 2 Womans right in favor of abortion argue the following: women have a moral right to decide what to do with their bodies, the right to abortion is vital for gender equality, the right to abortion is vital for individual women to achieve their full potential, banning abortion puts women at risk by forcing them to use illegal abortionists, the right to abortion should be part of a portfolio of pregnancy rights that enables women to make a truly free choice whether to end a pregnancy. McDonagh, a political science professor at Northeastern University, argues that pregnancy is damaging to women in her book, "Breaking the Abortion Deadlock: From Choice to Consent." She proposes the bodyright argument with the conclusion that if the fertilized ovum, of which may be a living human being, strongly intrudes upon a woman, abortion is acceptable in self-defense. This is meaning that to the point of the fertilized ovum is rightfully considered a person and protected; the fetus should be held accountable for any injury he or she imposes upon the mother. (Life) From my point of view, I can agree that pregnancy does take a toll on a womans body. In some cases, pregnancy could put the mother in danger. For some people, they believe abortion is right if the mothers life is put at risk. Even those who are against abortion can agree with this. I consider it to be ethical for a mother to have an abortion to defend herself from the danger to her mental or physical health. It is acceptable for a person to have the right to defend their selves when they are in danger. In one must protect their self, he or she may even use violence or kill in extreme circumstance.

A person should have the right to seek help from someone else to take the necessary action to protect them such as a doctor who performs the abortion. Those against this, argues that

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the mother has put herself in danger by becoming pregnant. In defending this argument, a mother can say that she did consent to becoming pregnant but did not voluntarily consent to having a defective and life-threatening pregnancy

On the website safemotherhood.org, is an article entitled Every Pregnancy faces Risks, prepared by International Planned Parenthood Federation among others. The opening sentence states: "Every time a woman is pregnant - which happens an estimated 200 million times every year around the world - she risks a sudden and unpredictable complication that could result in her death or injury, and the death or injury of her infant." There are also non-physical threats made to the mother. In some case of damage to mental health, damage to family, damage to career prospects, damage to financial prospects and damage to plans for her life is also arguable upon other people when a woman should have the right to an abortion. I think this acceptable as well but pro-life may consider this as just being completely selfish. Is a woman is raped then I believe that it is ethical to get an abortion. A huge factor most people ask is whether or not the human embryo is a 'person'. Peter Singer, tenured bioethics professor and Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University, defines a "person" as an animal (human or otherwise) who is actively exercising "rational attributes" (self-consciousness, knowing, choosing, loving, willing, autonomy, relating to the world around one, etc.) and/or who is actively exercising "sentience" (feeling pain or pleasure). (Life) According to Singer and his

colleague, since all human infants or newborns do Page 4 not actively exercise rational characteristics or capable of feeling things through physical sense, that they are all not persons. During a PBS interview with Singer, he says But also, of course, newborn babies have no sense of their own existence over time. So, it's not equivalent. Killing a newborn baby -- whether able-bodied or not -- I think, is never equivalent to killing a being who wants to go on living." (Life) If an unborn child is actually viewed as being human then every abortion performed would definitely be look upon as murder. Most pro-choice advocates argue that an unborn is not a person; therefore, it is not fully human. The unborn entity is human that belongs to the species Homo sapiens; but, its genetic code is different from the mothers which is not part of her body. In the New Zealand law, a Court of Appeal judgment on December 20, 1982, proved that the unborn child had no constitutional legal right. Those who support womans rights against abortion (pro-life) argue the following: abortion does not free women, abortion sidesteps oppression of women, abortion damages women, abortion violates feminist principle, and abortion is a male plot. Pro-life believes that the right of life should always outweigh the right of an individual to equality or to control their own body under any negative circumstances whatsoever. Pro-life advocate say that abortion does not free women because abortions do not liberate women. Instead they say abortions allow society to cater to their needs. They argue that if women couldn't have abortions on demand the governments would have to supply more money in supporting mothers.

Page 5 The mother need for equality is not free open access to abortion clinics but to be given what they need to survive to be financially stable as mothers says the voice of my pro-life advocates. Writer, Megan Clancy says 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 who become pregnant; the problem is that they are starving, not that they are pregnant. (BBC) This quote is powerful because most women have common and practical reasons why they decide to have an abortion. In a lot of cases, the issue is not always because she is pregnant. Furthermore, pro-choice advocates believe that an abortion damages a womans body which is truthful. 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. (BBC) A lot of men support abortion for bad reasons. Pro-choice advocates believe that the more women are given free access to abortion clinics the more men may exploit and take advantage of women.

At the heart of the ethical controversy of abortion there are two sides: the status of the unborn child -and the rights of the pregnant woman." I believe everyone has a voice when it

comes to this issue. But, I highly believe that woman have the most powerful voice throughout Page 6 this controversy. The voices that speak mostly to me throughout all the controversy are prochoice. On a better note, pro-life and pro-life advocates should come together for the sake of quality for women. Instead of putting all of their negative energy into protesting against each other, they should be coming together to change the face of society. They must change their attitude and focus on advocating for the better.

Works Cited Life. The Life Information Charitable Trust. 2010. 6 Dec. 2011 <http://www.life.org.nz/abortion/Default.htm> BBC. 2011. 6 Dec. 2011. BBC <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/>