Human Rights-Abortion: A Woman's Right to Choose - Essay Example

Human Rights- Abortion: A Woman's Right to Choose

Introduction

Across the globe, the extent of access to safe and legal abortions by women has been a sensitive topic of discussion. In most countries, it has been restricted by law and also condemned by the society. Even in countries where the law permits abortion, it is a real struggle to access facilities that can help one procure a safe abortion, probably due to lack of proper regulation, poor health services and facilities, and dwindling political will. However, it is only in a few countries where abortion is illegalized in absolute terms. Most countries allow abortions in special circumstances, such as to save the life of the mother, or when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. These are major instances that have made the topic to be of high emotional sensitivity as it arouses deep opinions among various communities. But first, before shedding any personal opinions, it is to recognize that having the access to equitable access to abortion facilities and services is a human right. In situations when women are allowed to carry out abortions legally and safely, none of them is forced to abort their child. But in situations where abortion is illegalized and unsafe, women are forced to carry pregnancies they do not want to term, causing them serious psychological and health consequences, which might include death. Women are aware of this, and they do not hesitate to find alternatives. By having the government to ban abortion, it only removes safe abortions from the equation but does not stop them from procuring abortions whenever they want.

According to data, approximately 13 percent of the global maternal deaths (680,000 to 780,000women) are attributed to unsafe abortions. It is due to such disturbing figures that women have joined organizations across the world and for decades, have tried fighting for the legalization of safe abortions. These claims are validated through data and support from the international human rights law. This law compels that women should be given the right to make independent decisions on all reproduction related matters, with abortion being one (Bbc.co.uk). In the United States, the year 1973 became one of the most important years for women’s rights. This was the year when abortion became constitutionally legalized at the federal level across the whole country after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision. However, according to Ertelt, there are conservative rights and religious leaders who have been doing all they can to ensure that they have reversed this decision. For the Republicans especially, they have been seizing every chance that they have to amend their statute laws so that they make it more difficult for women to access abortion services or even access contraceptives. By the end of 2012, this became one of the most widely discussed topics in the US. There is a heated situation in the country where women and their supporters are arguing that their rights are being undermined in the US, especially by the Republican Party by always trying to impose laws that entirely ban or make it quite difficult for women to carry out an abortion. The following apart of the paper gives an overview of the pro-life and the pro-choice arguments that surround the debate on abortion..

Pro-life Arguments

The proponents of the pro-life divide base their argument on the consideration of abortion as murder. By this, they usually refer to the fetus as a potential human being and eliminating it is equal to murdering a real person (Karakoulaki). Killing, therefore, they argue is not only a wrongful act according to societal norms, but it is also illegal. Additionally, they also give arguments on the rights of fetus, that considering the fetus as a potential human being, it follows that human rights, including the right to life, should also apply to them. However, this just triggers one of the most debatable arguments with regards to when human life begins. Pro-life proponents argue that the life of a human being begins at conception since it passes the following criteria: it can carry out physiological metabolism, reacts to stimuli, it grows, and has the ability or potential for reproduction (Karakoulaki).

Others also propose that abortion leads to the violation of feminist principles because by killing a human being, abortion, by extension, implies the murdering women. They believe that a woman should have absolute rights to control what happens to her body and that she should be given this right regardless of where she recides- even if it is within her mother’s body. A more fanatic interpretation of this argument is that abortion was the creation of men, which they intended for making women available whenever they want, including for chauvinist reasons (McDonagh). This is, however, a very serious allegation that they still need to prove. Lastly, pro-life advocates have argued that abortion has the effect of endangering a woman’s health and that it has a connection with psychological illnesses and breast cancer. However, these are hypothetical claims that do not have any scientific base.

Pro-choice Arguments

On this end, pro-choice proponents have remained steadfast to one of their main arguments that it is fundamental for women to be in full control over their bodies. Nobody, either an individual or h government should dictate what they do to their bodies; otherwise, it violates their freedom of making personal choices (Petchesky). They also argue that it is important in achieving gender equality. With the access to safe and legal abortion services, more women will be in a position of achieving socio-political and economic parity. Most advocates of pro-choice divide tend to view abortion as a civil liberty issue, in which case the government should not infringe on that right. Being disallowed to procure abortions at will could mean that women’s civil liberties are being violated, and consequently, they are rendered unequal to men. Third and lastly, which perhaps make a little more sense, is that banning abortions will, in the long run, be endangering the lives of women. This is because it will only force them to seek underhand alternatives, including illegal and unsafe abortion practices that could have disastrous ramifications such as the deaths of more women.

From the two sides, one can clearly not that a critical difference results from different interpretations of when life actually begins. Pro-life proponents have argued that life begins from the moment one is conceived whereas the pro-choice advocates argue that life begins when one is born. However, the moral aspect of human beings argues in favor of the fact that all human beings should be accorded inherent dignity, and that the unborn should also have inherent dignity as well, thus killing them by the means of abortion is morally wrong. However, most human treaties avoid defining when life begins and therefore do not give a stand on whether the fetus should be treated as a human being. Instead, they adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that argues that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” (Spindelman 776) a statement that intentionally uses the word “born” to imply that life begins when one is born.

Debate on Abortion in the United States

As earlier stated, abortion became legalized in 1973 following the Supreme Court Decision “Roe v. Wade” at a federal level. And in addition, the Bolton Supreme Court Decision decreed that in circumstances when the mother’s health was at stake, the woman’s right to abortion the baby could not be restricted by any state (International Planned Parenthood Federation). However, despite these landmark rulings, there are still a few conservatives who will not stop attacking the constitutional validity of abortion rights. For more than enough times, they have sought to overturn the initial ruling by ascending to a few bills as state laws, which means that despite the lawfulness at the federal level, there are still too many restrictions at the state levels.

It is not surprising that the position of US clergy is against abortion, solidly behind their proposition that human life begins when one is conceived. Yet, it cannot be ignored that there is too much attention given to Christians and their denominations because they have a lot of influence to the public. They are too many that their impact due to the inclination towards their faiths cannot be overlooked. Politically, the abortion debate has taken a significant part in the last elections. The conservatives have clung to their Christian principles while the more liberal have stressed on women’s rights. The Republicans have been at the front insisting that they were pro-life, forming a strong shield during their campaigns as they battled the Democrats who are in favor of the Roe v. Wade ruling (Johnsen-Morrison). One of the most fanatical pro-life advocates, Rick Santorum, is a Roman Catholic who believes that abortion should be illegalized even when it involves rape or incest. He also expresses his thoughts that even doctors who have engaged in abortion should be prosecuted for the crimes they have committed. Asked if he would still hold the same opinion if it were his daughter who had been raped, he says he would, in fact, abide by her to support that baby because even if it conceived in a broken way, it is still a blessing from God.

Conclusion

To sum up the whole of this debate, it is evident that there are a lot of arguments for and against abortion rights. However, it would be hard to deny the fact that it is, or at the least, it should be a woman’s choice whether or not to procure an abortion. America is a land known for its civil rights movements, and it is not fathomable to discuss women’s rights with the exclusion of the right to abortions. If not impartially applied, it will cause detrimental effects to the efforts made towards achieving gender equality. Giving women the right and access to safe and legal abortions will also be one way of solving some of the problems that exist in the US healthcare system. This is not forgetting that this debate will go a long way into determining how much of Christian voters each party obtains during elections. It is also worth noting that for as long as there are restrictions on abortion rights in the US, women’s rights and gender equality is still far from being recognized.