Morality of Abortion - Research Paper Example

My personal moral philosophy of abortion is dependent on the moral principle of utility. The utilitarian theorists assert that decisions should be made after considering a cost and benefit analysis and these costs and benefits should be analyzed on the level of overall society and not on how these actions impact a particular group or an individual. The principle further states that those decisions should be accepted as moral and ethical decisions which result in the highest amount of benefits for the overall society and the lowest amount of cost as compared to alternatives that can be used as replacements. In the case of abortion, abortion is an epidemic that is of the highest concern to the entire society.

If abortion is made legal, the entire society will suffer more losses as compared to benefits. Losses that may result from legalizing abortion are that those who are fear unintentional pregnancies will no longer fear them. People fear unintentional penalties as abortion is not yet legal, they are well aware that if they get involved in sexual activities, they may experience pregnancy and there would be no way to avoid pregnancy as the law does not allow them. If abortion is made legal, sexual activity at different age levels will increase and this will further lead to an increase in the number of people infected by sexually transmitted diseases. Another issue with legalizing pregnancy is that teenagers will stop fearing pregnancy and will continue to indulge in engaging in sexual activity at an age when they should be focusing on their education and personal well-being. According to a fact sheet provided by Guttmacher University, 6% of all abortions taking place are conducted on teenagers aged between 15 to 17, and 11% of these abortions are conducted on teenagers, aged 18 to 19 (Guttmacher Institute, 2012). These figures clearly show that teenagers are getting involved in unhealthy sexual activity at a time when they should be focusing on their education and these figures can further elevate if abortion is made legal.

Abortion is illegal in several nations and different penalties are levied on stakeholders of abortion, these penalties are levied on those who conduct the operation of abortion as well as on those who are getting abortions conducted on them. One of the steps that the government can take to penalize those who want to get an abortion and even to deter individuals from being pregnant in an unwanted manner is to erase any sort of government subsidy or Medicaid for those who are getting these abortions done. This will act as a deterrent and a heavy penalty as the process is very costly. Secondly, a constitutional law, clearly making abortion illegal should be in place. This will act as a penalty itself as the cost of bearing a child and then rearing a child is quite high and this will even impact the rational choice-making period of individuals before they have sexual intercourse. These laws will not only act as deterrents and penalties, these laws will not even impact the prison overcrowding issue in the US.