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An abortion is he premature termination of pregnancy ending in the
death of the embryo or foetus. However abortion can also be defined as
the death of the embryo or foetus without human interference. This
essay will be discussing induced abortion and the effects they have on
both mother and unborn child. The ethics and morality of induced
abortion has become the subject of an intense debate in the past fifty
rears. No matter how you look at it, abortion is simply he murder of a
living human being and therefore should not be tolerated.
When is life, life? This is a very relevant question and one which
should be answered as scientifically accurately as possible. According
to the Oxford Australian Student’s Dictionary the tern life is defended
as a period during which something exists or continues to function.
According to the same source human is defined as having the qualities
that distinguish mankind, not divine, or animal, or mechanical. One
scientific argument is that by three weeks the unborn’s heart starts
pumping it’s own circulatory system and by sic weeks brain activity can
be recorded. If doctors measure death by brain death then life should
at least be measured by brain life. Going back to the Oxford Australian
Student’s Dictionary it says that life is a period during which
something exists or continues to function. Since the embryo’s heart
functions at three weeks then that’s when life should become life. The
Catholic church would take this even further and say that life starts
at the point of conception. This is quoted from What’s wrong with
Abortion? By a new Zealand Bishop in 1989, “Because of their creation
in the image of God every human being is special, unique, and has his
or her origin, nature and destiny to fulfil. Rich or poor, strong or
weak, young or old, born or unborn, every life is sacred.” Despite all
this there is a very successful argument for abortion. This involves
the rights of women. They claim to have the right to keep the
government out of such personal issues. If the woman chooses not to
have the baby, then that’s her choice. But many do believe, especially
Catholics, that aborting the pregnancy is simply killing and innocent
life.
Everyone knows that killing another human is wrong. No just because
the law forbids it, but because it goes against all our moral and
ethical beliefs about the importance of human life. Why then are people
allowed to terminate the life of an unborn child? The Catholic church
states that all life is sacred no matter what, whether born or unborn
makes no difference. An argument from Abortion Equals Murder published
July 18th 2005 states that abortion is not just murder, but absolute
torture. The writer explains that no precautions what so ever are taken
to make sure the baby is anaesthetised. They go onto say that during
the three main methods used during abortion, the baby is kill in
probably the most horrific and painful way possible. Arguments against
this state that since the baby is not “alive” then it does not feel any
pain. In Abortion Arguments it explains that the foetus is within the
mother’s body and she produced it, therefore she should have the right
to terminate it as she does any other part of her body. “The case of
Roe vs. Wade, presented to the supreme court in 1973, made the option
of abortion legal to women across the nation. The struggle still
remains on the moral ethics behind it. Is abortion the murder of an
unborn child? Many argue that the rights of the mother exceed the
rights of the foetus, and that while the foetus is a living organism it
does not constitute for a human being. With these aspects in mind the
concept of abortion is justifiable.” This was also quoted fro Abortion
Arguments. How anyone can justify the killing of an innocent child is
beyond reason, and mothers who have abortions can also be harmed.
What people may not be aware of is that abortion is also potentially
dangerous to women. “The proportion of women sho are reported as having
complications has fallen from 5.8% (1970 - 74) to 0.6% (2000). However,
within this small percentage, infection (9.4%), haemorrhage during
surgery (46.9%), and perforation of or trauma to the body of the uterus
(3.1%) are still a concern.” This is from page fourteen of The Abortion
Issue. According to that only a small percentage of women suffer
complications, however a large percentage of those are very serious,
even life threatening complications. Page seven of Whose Life is It?
also claim that abortions can be dangerous, not just physically but
mentally, with many women becoming severely upset or depressed. Page
sixteen of The Abortion Issue states, “So we can find the woman who
tried to pick p her pre-abortion life style struggling with depression,
tearfulness, anxiety, guilt, anger and sadness”. There are very few
arguments about this issue as such a high percentage are reported every
year. If anyone is considering abortion then they should do a lot of
research.
In Australia in excess of sixty thousand unborn babies are killed
each year. Since 1977 will now over one million babies have been
killed, legally. That’s more then in all major wars from 1899 to 2000.
Arguments supporting abortion in rape cases have been used and
supported but that still isn’t considered morally and ethically right
by most, especially the Catholic church. Abortion may seem like a quick
fix at the time, but there can be many harsh consequences and such
actions are completely immoral and unethical and go against everything
taught about the importance of human life.
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