The Problem With the Principles of Abortion and Moral Controversy - Essay Example

Details: Due Extended Definition Essay about Abortion Abortion has long been a controversial and heated issue in society. In the past, political candidates have lost or won elections based on their views about this contentious subject. Abortion is the process whereby the growing or stillborn fetus is ejected from the uterus by the use of force. There are several reasons why young women undertake this process. Many have to do with their financial, as well as physical circumstances at the time of conception. Various religions condemn this practice in spite of the fact that the mother in question may have sincere reasons for subjecting herself to such a traumatic experience. Many religious individuals view persons who believe in this practice as sinful and unaware of its true repercussions (Reagan, Koop, & Muggeridge, 67). The reality is that no self respecting human being would undertake to go through such a painful procedure unless the benefits in her situation would outweigh the hazards once it was performed. The truth is that, in many cultures, women are already judged as prone to committing sins. This is in addition to their status, as second-class individuals. Any decisions that women make are subject to change if their husbands or male relatives later rule otherwise. This is a reality in the area of abortion where the woman’s body takes the blows. However, male ‘experts’ get to make the decision as to whether she should abort or not. Fundamental Christians, in particular, misunderstand the rationale behind abortion. They feel that this is a choice young women make because they are afraid that their lives will be fettered. They believe that the women in question fear the loss of their freedom should they choose to keep their babies. The truth is that no mother would willingly sacrifice her child if she had a choice not to do this. Nature itself stands as a vanguard against such animal like behavior. Even the wild beasts will tend to their young until these cubs can appropriately look after themselves. The judgmental attitude of followers of fundamentalist sects serves to reveal shortcomings in their own characters. These churches flout their own rules by unfairly judging the individuals who cannot help their circumstances. These hapless people are forced to consider risky operations in order to sustain their existences. If anything, such people deserve empathy and compassion, but not judgment. The concept of personhood of the fetus that is often at the center of abortion debates should be extended to the mother as well as the fetus. The moral concept also hardly has a basis to feature in abortion debates especially when the woman in question conceived through rape or incest. These are ugly realities of life that many experts do not wish to consider due to their insidious nature. However, the reality is, they do exist. Children are conceived when these unmentionable behaviors are forcibly enacted on women. Trauma from such incidents is hardly addressed by those against abortion. They rush to find out if conception occurred in order to begin defending the right of the unborn child. The reality is that it is the wounded woman who will have to nurture the infant as well as take care of it. In cases of violent assault, it is a given that the father(s) of the child will not extend assistance. On top of seeking ways, to recover emotionally and physically from the attack, the woman in question has to begin considering how she will sustain this unwanted child. She may not even be able to provide for herself as she may be dependent on her guardians or unemployed. Forcing a human being to shoulder such a burden is tantamount to asking her to spend time in prison for the crime enacted on her. It is a callous and unfeeling action that can only be proposed by ignorant individuals who by the benefit of their wealth or sex, have the resources to ensure that such vicious attacks will never be visited on them. They are comfortable in their ignorance of what it feels like to be other people and so do not feel the need to empathize with their woes. If proponents of the ‘criminalization of abortion’ were exposed to this vicious attack at one time in their lives and forced to bear the consequences of that action, it is probable that abortion would be a right in every country. The concept of personhood embraces the theory that if the fetus is not reckoned to be an existing thing, then it is not entitled to the same rights as other human beings functioning outside the womb. This means that abortion will be permissible. In debating the personhood of the fetus, the focus is not on supporting the mother’s life or the child’s but in establishing when a fetus becomes a bona fide human being. Such arguments have been utilized to support religious groups in their belief in the sinfulness of abortion. However, they can also be utilized in promoting rational and logical thought. The human being is accorded qualities such as the ability to think and feel the ability to perform acts and to communicate with others. These qualities, however, are also shared with non-human species such as animals and birds. Thus, they undermine their usefulness in defining the essence of personhood in humanity. Chimpanzees, Koalas and Gorillas all bear fingerprints. They are not, however, allocated the moral and legal rights associated with personhood of this. Finger prints are a weak ingredient to utilize in defining what is human and, therefore, not susceptible to abortive practices and what is not. Furthermore, embryos that have just developed after the fusion of egg and sperm have no resemblance to anything remotely human. Therefore, they cannot be included as a legitimate part of humanity in this assessment. There are varied characteristics that have been supported as clearly defining what personhood entails. In this argument, these characteristics will then be utilized in distinguishing humans from non-humans. Consciousness and the ability to feel pain is one of these qualities. The developed capacity to solve new and potential problems is another characteristic. Self-motivated activity that is independent of external control and the capacity to communicate are other attributes that contribute to ‘humanness’ (Sproul and Bailey, 131). Self awareness, whether individual or ethnic is a last feature that has been proposed as a determiner of humanity. In the argument, a being need not have all these qualities but only needs to show some of them to be ruled as a functioning human being. One problem of using these human traits as a means by which to evaluate the presence of personhood is that it does not apply everywhere. Patients in comas do not show any signs of being aware of their environments and or consciousness, yet they are still assessed as being human. The definition of the qualities of personhood cannot be used to decide when a fetus becomes human. The physical, psychological, and rational characteristics are not sufficient in defining humanity. Fetuses seem to be a cluster of cells in some respects and human beings in others. Even anti abortionists no longer, use this criteria to determine the validity of fetuses. The problem with the principles of abortion is the quandary of deciding the fetal characteristic that settles this moral controversy. To demonstrate the problem of establishing of rights of the fetus, a study was carried out. All sections of ethnic representatives of the population were represented. The photo of a nine month pregnant woman was shown to all participants. These respondents were then privately asked to indicate how many people were in the photo. To ensure that none got influenced by their neighbor’s decisions, the answers were written down rather than verbally given. Out of more than one thousand, only a handful of participants said they saw two people in the photo. Hardly any nation on earth will prosecute an individual for second-degree murder for causing a miscarriage should they cause a pregnant woman to spontaneously abort. Once a fetus exits the womb, however; there are monumental changes in what will be undertaken to preserve its life (Baumgardner, 193). It has gone through a change that determines that preserving its life no longer contradicts any rights of its biological mother. The practice of determining that a fetus has as much right as other human beings will culminate in danger for women. A situation where women are relegated to being inanimate containers that simply brings things forth. Giving birth to sick, premature or abnormal offspring will also become a prosecutable crime. Women will be indicted for engaging in behavior that jeopardized the health and well being of their infants during their pregnancies, should their children be born with defects. It will be irrelevant if the said defects are the result of genetic makeup or eating, exercising, and alcoholic habits of their mothers (Kaczor, 202). As the mother is an authentic accessible person, her ethical and official rights supplant those of any potential person. The rights of any person presently alive and breathing outweigh those of any prospective person, whenever the two conflict. Works Cited Baumgardner, Jeniffer. Abortion & Life. New York: Akashic Books, 2008. Kaczor, Christopher. The Ethics of Abortion: Women’s Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice. London: Routledge, 2010. Reagan, Ronald., Koop, Everett., and Muggeridge, Malcolm. Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984. Sproul, Richard., and Bailey, Greg. Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue. Harrisonburg: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2010. Read More