Three sides of abortion debate - Essay Example

Abortion is a sensitive issue that has diverse views such as preventing grave injuries to the woman, substantial risks to the child in the event that it is born, among others. This poses questions on levels and grounds on which a woman is allowed to undergo abortion. The legal right of a woman to undergo an abortion has not resolved many ethical issues that surround the procedure of abortion (Fry, Veatch and Taylor, 2010). There are three stances people have on abortion include pro-abortion, middle ground that abortion can be accepted, and anti-abortion, and the arguments for these stands are discussed.

There are individuals who support abortion on the basis that it is not wrong, and does not need the involvement of undesirable consequences. To look at this argument in another way, it tends to neglect the rights of the fetus or even acknowledge the fetus as a person. There are individuals who consider abortion as the right of a woman hence she is solely liable to the way she controls her body. Moralists who take part in judging actions argue that abortion is simply a deliberate failure to conceive a child, and with availability of contraceptives in mind, abortion should be too.

By contrast, there are those who think that the fetus being a person, has limited rights that has no significant weight on the interests of the people already born who include the parents and children of that particular family. All the same, people supporting abortion do so on the fact that the overwhelming principle behind abortion is the woman and her rights to choose what to happen to her body. Using people’s language of choice, they have conveyed and approved abortion regardless the pressure a woman will face, which includes constrains baring her from making a genuine choice.

There are those who invoke the principle of sanctity of life in all circumstances hence maintain the fact that abortion cannot be justified ethically (Preston, 2007). Referring to the right of a woman to undergo abortion, some people consider it wrong in all circumstances due to its failure to recognize the right of the fetus, as well as the challenge it puts on sanctity of life. By contrast, other people argue that by permitting abortion, the respect the society feels for vulnerable humans diminishes thus leading to a society that is involuntary euthanasia.

There are individuals who consider an embryo as human beings, having full moral status, from the time of conception. Abortion, therefore, being viewed as an act of killing, is considered similar to murder. In that case, individuals having this view in mind propose the idea of allowing women to participate in abortion without having legal repercussions despite the difficulties women undergo together with her family members. Therefore, these views are at most times, based on convictions of religion or morals of life that usually has intrinsic values that are unassailable.

These values cannot be diminished by any impairment that is involved, especially for the individual living that life. At the same time, there is an argument that abortion treats human beings as merely a means to an end; hence, abortion is seen as discarding a fetus that a woman has no interest. While many people undergo abortion on the fetal abnormality grounds, and this encourages prejudice towards a person who is handicap and insidiously creating the impression that vulnerable people are those that have conformed to ill-defined stereotype of normality.

Regarding to opposing abortion, there are individuals who oppose abortion in general, conceding it as justifiable in exceptional cases such as when an individual is a rape victim, or exploitation of a girl, or a mentally incompetent woman. Moreover, the risks posed to the life of the mother may be a justifiable exception for an abortion if it is the only option. In view of the fact that many people have argued that abortion may be justified in one way or another by those conceded by anti-abortionists, it is undesirable to allow abortion based on demand.

Doing so may result in undesirable effects chiefly encouraging irresponsible attitudes towards contraception. To look at this in another way, it leads to devaluation of lives of viable fetus and trivialize potential psychological effects of abortion on women including health professionals. What is more is that these arguments are based on the premise of an embryo starting off with no rights with a special status from the time conception takes place viewing its potential to develop while acquiring rights and status while developing.

There is the notion of the fetus developing its rights and other practical issues that include possible distress to a pregnant woman, doctor, or other children in the family, which encourages abortion at an early stage; this is acceptable as compared to having an abortion at a late stage. Finally, there are people who propose the practice of abortion on pragmatic grounds with a belief that women will always seek it. Overall, the society should allow abortion services to be provided in a way that it is safe and can be monitored and regulated.

All women who undergo abortion need emotional support; stable environment to recover and care that is nonjudgmental (Ricci and Kyle, 2009). To sum up briefly, it is essential for doctors to make assessments on the potential impact of abortion on the woman and the existing dependents. Blanket rules should not be applied to such sensitive and difficult decision, hence the greatly require individual need of a woman. It is never easy to decide to terminate pregnancy, hence when making such a decision, doctors and patients must have sufficient information supporting the act.

Reference Fry S. Veatch R., and Taylor C. (2010). Case Studies in Nursing. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Preston N. (2007). Understanding Ethics. NSW, Australia: The Federation Press. Ricci S. S. and Kyle T. (2009). Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Shanghai: Wolters Kluwer Health.