Ethical Reasoning: Choice of Abortion

“ Many people are very, very concerned with the children in India, with the children in Africa where quite a number die maybe of malnutrition, of hunger and so on, but millions are dying deliberately by the will of the mother. And this is what the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child – what is left for me to kill you and you kill me – there is nothing between”, Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said in her Nobel Lecture on December 11, 1979 (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, n.d.). One of the most contentious issues of today’s generation that has received serious debates and needs to be considered is the term “Abortion”. Oxford English Dictionary defines this term as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks (n.d.). No matter how it is done or how many weeks the fetus is in the womb of the mother, abortion is still unethical.

There are always two opposing sides incorporated in the term abortion. The first side favor those who feel it is ethical to support abortion. They include women who think that it is their right as a mother to do abortion. They are called pro-choice supporters, those who protect the interests of a mother rather than the interests of a human being inside the mother’s womb. They believe that women have the right to choose rather than dwell and worry from the mistakes they have done from the past or crime that was committed against them such as being raped or harassed; that is why they resort to abortion. They believe that a right to abortion is a right to control one’s body (Cline, n.d.). This accords with the ethical standard based on moral rights as universal rights can be enjoyed by every person on earth without distinctions or discriminations. (Articulo, et al., p.67).

The other side, which is more ethical, favor those who feel exactly opposite to what pro-choice supporters advocate. They are called pro-life activists who do not support abortion whatever the reasons are. They are the ones who believe that abortion is unethical for it contradicts one of the ethical standards based on moral right – the “Right to Life” as the most fundamental moral right. They believe that it is more important to protect the life of a human inside the mother’s womb than protecting the integrity of a mother. “After 18 to 25 days, long before a mother may be even suspicious that she is pregnant, the heart is already beating” (Perry Sanders, 2003). With that they realize that the fetus inside the mother’s womb is alive, which is an inviolable sanctity from the time of its conception, and affirm “it is always wrong to act in a way which directly intends to harm or to kill an innocent human person” (Goodwin, 985, p.7).

Abortion is not as easy as ABC – it is necessary to ponder everything over and try to find a solution to the problem that is most ethical. No one approaches it carelessly. In order not to regret about the adopted decisions, it is extremely important to take the issue seriously. Avoid abortion for it may lessen the chances of a woman to conceive easily in the future; weaken woman’s reproductive system; increase the chance of having breast, uterine and cervical cancer. All these factors imply additional costs for treatment and kill any chances for a child in the future – his chance to become a successful individual, a leader, or a good president of a nation (lifestyle.iloveindia.com, n.d.). As quoted by Mother Teresa of Calcutta (n.d.), “any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”

References

Anti Essays. (n.d.). Abortion An Unethical Issue. Retrieved from http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/85700.html.

Cline, A. (n.d.). Ethics of Abortion: Is it Moral or Immoral to Have an Abortion? About.com Guide. Retrieved from http://atheism.about.com/od/abortioncontraception/p/AbortionEthics.htm.

lifestyle.iloveindia.com. Reasons Against Abortion. Retrieved from http://en.rafed.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8980:reasons-against-abortion&catid=135:pregnancy&Itemid=989.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta. (n.d.). Notable Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/abortion_quotes.html.

Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/abortion?view=uk.

Sanders, P. (2003). “Is abortion really wrong?” The Joy of Life. Retreived from http://www.thejoyoflife.org./artman/publish/article_8.shtml.

Thinkexist.com. (n.d.). Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/abortion/.