Conservative and Liberal Positions on Abortion - Essay Example

It does not think that the act of abortion is legitimate under all circumstances. The position considers that the mother and fetus have certain rights. The conflict of rights is created because of the different considerations for the mother, fetus and society. However, the acceptability of the action depends on the severity of such conditions. For example, if it is feared that there are chances that the fetus will bear deformed, a moderate position will allow abortion in such cases. In this case, the reason behind the acceptance of abortion is that it will cause tremendous pain and suffering to the mother and the fetus.

The loss or pain caused by giving birth to a child would be greater than the tragedy and loss of abortion. In other words, a moderate position on abortion is the rational view of abortion. It requires doing what is best for the mother and the fetus. Hence it is a better alternative to conservative and liberal approaches. The moderate approach strikes a balance between liberal and conservative positions. I agree with this position because, many times, there are situations when it is necessary to abort the child.

People also tend to abuse abortion. They take it for granted and use it at the cost of the rights of the fetus or the child. This harms the sanctity of life. Many people have compared such an act with murder. Since it has been proven that the fetus gets life after four months. Unlike the liberal approach, the moderate approach assumes that the right to abortion for women should be until four months only. After that, abortion should only be allowed if there are severe medical issues; it is feared that the child will be deformed or in cases of rape and incest.

Similarly, the moderate approach is better than the conservative one because it thinks abortion should not be allowed under any condition. This approach can lead to fatal consequences. For example, if the woman dies in the process of childbirth. This would lead to the loss of two lives. Hence, in this case, a rational approach would be to allow abortion under specific scenarios and let people use the option to benefit themselves and the entire society. The moderate position on abortion takes into account various ethical frameworks.

It considers the deontological framework in a way that calls for abortion in cases where the motives of the action are pure. It needs people to weigh the pros and cons of the action before taking the final step. As a result, the motives behind the moderate approach are more often than not pure, and hence the deontological framework justifies the decisions taken under the deontological framework. Rights-based ethics also explain the middle position on abortion. Since a part of a woman's body is involved in the process of childbirth, she has a right to abort the child if she wants to.

If she feels that the entire process of childbirth is too painful for her body or it will cause her stress, then she can use right-based ethics to justify her decision to abort the fetus. Even consequential ethics allow the parents to abort the fetus. For example, suppose it is considered that a family's overall standard of living would fall after the birth of another child. In that case, the parents can choose to abort the child, which can be justified using the consequential approach. Similarly, suppose it is felt that the child's birth can lead to medical issues for the woman or a deformed child that can cause stress and pain to the family. In that case, they can also use the consequential ethics approach to validate their action of aborting the fetus.

The conservatives would argue that the process of abortion is not justified on religious grounds. All religions of the world call for the sanctity of life, and the process of abortion, on the surface of it, seems to be violating this fundamental religious concept. Similarly, conservatives can use deontological and utilitarian approaches to support their argument. They might argue that the ultimate result of abortion would be the loss of life, and irrespective of the motives behind the action, the action is cruel and, therefore, should not be practised.