Abortion: A Right Of a Woman - Research Paper Example

? Abortion: A Right Of A Woman of the of the Introduction Abortion is one of the most debated issues in the world today.Due to its relation to the ‘life’ of the fetus, it has become a matter of ethics and morality. People from different walks of life have contributed their views towards the issue of abortion. Moreover, despite of having no straightforward links with abortion, even people from religious fields have jumped into the debate (Kaczor, 2011, p.5). However, what people have failed to ask is that if it is their right to interfere with someone’s personal issue. After all, abortion is a personal matter as the decision should solely depend on the woman who is pregnant. Sadly, instead of trying to understand the dilemma and the situation under which a woman decides to do abortion, people pass their judgments and declare the woman as bad and evil (Kaczor, 2011, p.5). This is because they think that abortion is as good as killing a person and hence, is equal to murder (Kaczor, 2011, p.5). However, there are many aspects to this point of view and hence, people should show some restrain and decency while judging women who have undergone abortion (Kaczor, 2011, p.5). Moreover, the most important point in favor of abortion is not the quantity of life but the quality of life. If a woman realizes that she is not fit enough, or is not provided properly to take care of a child, then she has complete right to abort the pregnancy. The fetus is an intimate part of woman’s body and she should have every right to take a decision about it. However, as it has happened throughout the ages, women are victim of the patriarchal system and are always deprived of their rights. Saying that abortion is illegal and immoral, is like making women helpless and miserable. Hence, abortion is a right of every woman as it is her body and her life that is involved in the process, and is capable enough to take a right decision about her pregnancy. Immorality of Abortion Most of the people who are against abortion claim their opposition on the basis of the understanding that human fetus is equal to human being (Boonin, 2003, p. 2). They believe that the fusion of the sperm and the egg at the time of conception leads to development of zygotes, which eventually develops into human beings (Boonin, 2003, p. 2). Hence, aborting the fetus is equal to killing a human being. This makes the act of abortion equal to murder. Abortion takes away the right of a fetus to get developed into a human being, and to live a life that it deserves. Also, fetus has all the qualities that are needed to be humans, like the looks of a baby and the genetic codes present in human beings (Marquis, 2006, p.52). Moreover, abortion entails killing of an innocent being that is not even given a single chance of life. Abortion has the same effect on the fetus as it has on the human being who is killed or murdered by someone (Marquis, 2006, p.52). The effect of abortion is that the fetus loses its life, and the loss of life means loss of all the experiences that were waiting to be lived in the future (Marquis, 2006, p.52). When a fetus is aborted, it is deprived of all the enjoyments, activities, growth, fulfillment and maturity (Marquis, 2006, p.52). Hence, killing of fetus also destroys all the potentialities of the fetus. As killing causes the greatest possible loss to the victim of abortion, which is fetus, it is morally wrong to perform an act of abortion (Marquis, 2006, p.52).Moreover, people who are against abortion state that even if the fetus is not aware of its possibilities of future and hence, does not know the values of life when in womb, it will certainly value everything that life will give him at every later stages (Marquis, 2006, p.52). Hence, taking away someone’s life just because it is not aware of its value is a seriously wrong act and hence, abortion is immoral in every way (Marquis, 2006, p.52). B.A. Brody argues that the victim of killing suffers from bad consequences and as fetus is human being, destroying the fetus is equal to murdering a human being (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). Hence, the argument against abortion is strongly based on the understanding that fetus has the equal status as that of human being and hence, should not be killed or aborted. However, the real question is, is fetus really a human being? And if yes, then doesn’t a woman has a right to take a decision regarding something that is completely intimate matter for her and is related to her own body? People who permit abortion think that woman has every right to decide what to do with her body and everything that is related to her body as it is her personal choice. The Right To Abortion People against abortion claim that abortion is akin to murder as fetus has a life. To understand the nature of the fetus, and to understand the real meaning of abortion, it is necessary to understand how the medical world defines abortion. Definition Of Abortion In easy language, abortion can be defined as a “voluntarily terminating pregnancy” (Kaczor, 2011, p.7). However, this does not describe abortion in detail as there are many aspects of abortion that are not included in the definition (Kaczor, 2011, p.7). Bernard Nathanson (1979), who advocates abortion, defines abortion as “separation of fetus from the mother….or the expulsion of the human fetus prematurely, particularly at any time before it is viable or capable of sustaining life” (Kaczor, 2011, p.8). According to Nathanson, as the fetus is in the premature stage, abortion is not killing of the fetus (Kaczor, 2011, p.8). The debate once again comes to the argument regarding the status of the fetus as human being. The Nature Of Fetus One of the foremost and strong advocacies for abortion was made by philosopher Michael Tooley through his article ‘Abortion and Infanticide’ (Kaczor, 2011, p.13). Tooley has based his argument on the basis of the nature of fetus, i.e. on the basis of the identity of the fetus as person or human being (Kaczor, 2011, p.14). The terms ‘persons’ and ‘human beings’ are usually used interchangeably by people (Kaczor, 2011, p.14). However, according to Tooley, these two terms are very different and should be used precisely (Kaczor, 2011, p.14). Tooley says that only those organisms that satisfy the certain conditions of basic moral concept of ‘person’ should have a serious right to life, and right not to be killed (Tooley, 2006, p. 25). Tooley advocates that human fetus does not have a serious right to life as it does not fulfill this condition of being categorized as ‘person’ (Tooley, 2006, p. 25). Hence, he says that act of abortion is morally acceptable and is not a wrong thing to do (Tooley, 2006, p. 25). Moreover, Tooley also believes that personhood is not related in any way to the physiology of an organism. Tooley says that even if the “human fetus develops face, arms, fingers and legs by the 10th week,” is has no right to be called as person (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). This is because he feels that whether an organism is a person or not does not depend on the physiological characteristics of an organism (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). According to Tooley, the physiological condition of an organism is morally irrelevant when considering the question of being called as ‘person’ (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). Tooley says that one can call an organism ‘human being,’ based on the physiological characters, but not a ‘person’ (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). Tooley believes that for an organism to be called as ‘person,’ it has to fulfill the moral conditions relevant to personhood (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). Hence, he says that in an argument regarding abortion, one should avoid using the term ‘human’ altogether (Tooley, 2006, p. 27). Moreover, on the basis of this argument, he also discards the possibility of potentiality while considering abortion of the fetus. Irrelevance of Potentiality According to Tooley, people against abortion defend the fetus’s right to life on the basis of the ‘potentiality principle’ (Kaczor, 2011, p.16). However, Tooley completely discards the potentiality principle (Tooley, 2006, p. 36). He put forward his argument in three steps, by giving an example of an imaginary super serum “developed by scientists to enhance and develop super-feline rationality” and its use on the kittens (Kaczor, 2011, p.16). Firstly, he says that even if this serum has a potentiality to turn any street kitten into a rational being and develop speaking and thinking abilities in it, it does not mean that people are obliged to inject the serum in kittens and make them super rational kittens (Kaczor, 2011, p.16). Tooley says that just because there is a potentiality in kitten to be rational, people are not morally bound to find every kitten and turn it into rational being (Kaczor, 2011, p.16). Secondly, he argues that just because kitten has right to life after realizing the potentiality of being rational, it does not mean that it has right to life before achieving the stage of rationality (Tooley, 2006, p. 36). Thirdly, Tooley says that there is nothing wrong in interfering with the process of development of properties related to serum if it is found that the kitten is injected with the serum accidentally (Tooley, 2006, p. 36). That is, when the properties related to serum are not yet developed, the kitten is still in the stage where it cannot fulfill the conditions of moral concept of ‘person’ and hence, does not have right to life (Tooley, 2006, p. 36). Tooley has given the example of kitten to explain his view point about the human fetus. According to Tooley, the fetus does not have a right to life just because it has the potential to grow into a person. Moreover, for fetus to enjoy its potentiality, one cannot expect a woman who is carrying a fetus, to destroy her own life. The Domination Of Patriarchal System While debating about abortion, people always forget that abortion is not a social issue but is a matter of personal choice of a woman. Abortion is a matter of right of a woman and not a matter of social debate (Farrell, 2008, p.7). Women are helpless in many ways. Birth control does not assure avoidance of pregnancy (Sherwin, 2009, p.234). Market does not have a contraception that assures full safety and reliability (Sherwin, 2009, p.234). Hence, it is no surprise that “half the pregnancies that occur in the United States are not planned” and out of those pregnancies, 40% end up in abortion (Farrell, 2008, p.7). Hence, it is only when women consider themselves unfit or unprepared for pregnancies that they resort to termination of pregnancy through abortion (Farrell, 2008, p.7). Moreover, the Catholic Church’s and other religious institution’s movement against abortion also displays the domination of patriarchal system and suppression of women’s rights (Sherwin, 2009, p.240). Instead of considering women capable enough to take decisions about her own body, she is forced to adopt to the thinking patterns of males (Sherwin, 2009, p.240). Hence, people who are against abortion try to suppress the rights of woman under the mask of morality and ethics. No morals or ethics will say that to save the life of a fetus, a woman’s life should be destroyed or a woman should be forced to have a child that she does not want. Conclusion Abortion is a personal right of a woman. Fetus is a part of woman’s body and hence, she has every right to decide whether to have a baby or to abort it. Moreover, as fetus is not yet a person, abortion does not mean killing a person. It simply means that woman does not want a child and hence, has not allowed the fetus to turn into a baby. No person has a right to suppress or discard the decision of a woman under the name of morality, ethics or religion. References Boonin, D. (2003). A Defense Of Abortion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP. Farrell, C. (2008). The Abortion Debate. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company. Kaczor, C. (2011). The Ethics Of Abortion: Women’s Rights, Human Life, And The Question Of Justice. New York, NY: Routledge. Marquis, D. (2006). Why Abortion Is Immoral. In H. Kuhse & P.Singer (Eds.), Bioethics: An Anthology (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Sherwin, S. (2009). Abortion Through A Feminist Ethics Lens. In E.Soifer (Ed.), Ethical Issues: Perspectives For Canadians. New York, NY: Broadview Press. Tooley, M. (2006). Abortion And Infanticide. In H. Kuhse & P.Singer (Eds.), Bioethics: An Anthology (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Read More