One major right that many citizens passionately disagree on is whether or not abortion should be legal. One of the biggest arguments for people that support the idea of “pro-life” is that they believe that life begins at conception; therefore they believe that abortion is akin to murder because it is the act of taking life. While on the other hand one of the largest arguments for pro-choice is that a woman’s body should be under her control, and once the government starts putting laws against those reproductive rights, how far will it go beyond abortion?
There are so many reasons that this is a hot-button issue between people considering the differing religious and moral beliefs that people hold about human life. A lot of people believe that with abortions being legal, that people use them as an alternative to using contraception, even though a woman can get pregnant even with responsible contraceptive use.
Even if Abortions were to become illegal in all of the U.S. it probably wouldn’t stop them from happening completely, but instead could just cause women to go to more extreme and less safe alternatives of getting rid of the unwanted child.
What a woman wants to do with her own body, before the fetus becomes able to exist independently from the mother, should be her choice and not the governments, because for the people that don’t agree with abortion, they do not need to have them, but their opinions shouldn’t be forced upon others if no one is being harmed, but when the issue is based upon when life begins, it is hard to determine which side is correct.
A lot of arguments stem from deciding when exactly a fetus my be labeled as "human", with human traits. i just read about Ohio's run for the "heartbeat bill" which states that if a heartbeat is detected the baby is protected, and they are labeled as a human being. However, others like Mary Anne Warren argue that an individual must be conscious,able to reason, self motivated, able to communicate and self awareness. Both of these i believe are extremes to each side but it is an interesting argument. I do have to say that i am with you though as for the autonomy that women should have over their own body. I think that if for some reason or another a women were to decide to get an abortion its probably for a good reason. And i think it may be equally as bad to bring a child into this world without an appropriate set of parents to care for them. After all, dumpster babies aren't that uncommon for mothers without a choice.
ReplyDeleteThis topic was always causing volatility in my high school, especially considering it was a private, Catholic high school.
ReplyDeleteMy views when it comes to being pro-life and pro-choice are basic: what will the quality of life be? For the child? For the parents? For family and friends affected?
I admit, I'm an atheist who relies on science. However, I grew up in a Catholic family and spent kindergarten up through 12th grade in a Catholic education.
I believe religion shouldn't always be the decider in this case.
I think it is fine for devout believers to say "I am pro-life", but I also think they should allow exceptions.
What if the parents are heavily drugged? Or alcoholics? Or have no possible means of support? Should that baby be born? I don't think so, simply based on the quality (or lack thereof) of life it would have.
What if the fetus is tested and found to carry Tay-Sachs? Or AIDS? Those will undoubtedly affect (and/or ultimately end) its life. Should we knowingly allow the child to be born under such circumstances?
I think most people should set religion aside, at least partially, and think to themselves, “If I was that child, would I want to be born?” Would I want to be born to an alcoholic mother that drank through my pregnancy? Would I want to be born to high school teenagers that barely make enough money to buy groceries? Would I want to be born to parents who heavily smoked meth? Would I want to be born with Tay-Sachs and die by the age of 7?
I’m not saying other individuals can’t be religious even though I choose not to be. All I’m saying is that sometimes, there might be other priorities over religion, and in this case, it’s the quality of life.