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CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS ESSAY – PART II 5

Topic: Should abortion be legal?

Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy before a child is born. Abortion is the termination of a human pregnancy before it results into the birth of a child. The issue of making abortion legal has been argued for a long period of time. Bothe the proponents and opponents of the legalization of abortion have put forth arguments and counter-arguments on the same topic. It is one of the hottest topics that continue to elicit mixed reactions from across the divide. All the same, abortion should not be legalized because every human being has a right to life yet abortion infringes on this same right to life of the unborn (Mooney, C. 2014)

The three reasons from the Procon.org website that support this position are:

• The decision in Roe v. Wade was wrong and should be overturned

• Women should not be able to use abortion as a form of contraception.

• Abortion is murder

The decision in Roe v. Wade was wrong and should be overturned supports the position that abortion should not be legalized because there is nothing private about aborting. Besides the same constitution states that it is a fundamental right of life for everyone therefore for one to willfully terminate pregnancy is to infringe on the right to life of the unborn child. The unborn child is a person because life begins at conception therefore that right to life is protected under the constitution and it should not be violated (Mooney, C. 2014).

There are various forms of contraception and birth control. They range from the use of pills, condoms, coils, withdrawal, emergency pills among others. Abortion should not be used as a means of contraception. By engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse during unsafe days one is willingly risking pregnancy and therefore abortion should not be used as contraception methods (Schwarz, S., & Latimer, K. 2012). It is advisable that the alternative birth control methods be used for those who are not ready to bring up children but want to engage in unprotected sex. Moreover, it is immoral and evil to kill an unborn child just for convenience when the same can be avoided using alternative birth control methods.

Another premise that supports the view that abortion should not be legal is the fact that it is outright murder. Every human being has a right to life and nobody should take away that right at will. Legalizing abortion is tantamount to legalizing the killing of innocent human being because life begins at conception therefore the unborn has life and the right to life applies to them in equal measure as the living human being. Abortion therefore becomes willful murder of the innocent unborn and it can not be accepted at all.

The three views opposing the position that abortion should not be legal are:

• The US Supreme Court has declared abortion to be a “fundamental right” guaranteed by the US Constitution

• Abortion is justified as a means of population control

• Personhood begins after a fetus becomes "viable" (able to survive outside the womb) or after birth, not at conception.

Declaring abortion as a fundamental right” by the courts is interesting because one can not have a right to take away the life of another person. If a woman is granted the right to terminate her pregnancy at will that constitutes to murder of an innocent human being because the unborn baby has a right to life that begins at conception (Schwarz, S. , & Latimer, K. 2012). If this view is to be believed then it will mean the mother of the unborn holds the right to life of the unborn and she can end it at her will which is a fallacy. The only condition that makes that view true is the assumption that it is only the living human beings that have the right to life but the unborn person’s right to life is a privilege of the living who can decide to let them live or kill them.

Population control is very important in view of quality life especially due to scarce resources. It is under this premise that abortion can be justified as a means of population control despite the many available birth control methods that are available. Believing this view leads to a reduction in the population as more ageing population dies due to age and diseases yet there is reduced birth caused by abortion. The only condition that can justify this view is that the world is full and overpopulated therefore there is no need to add more population on earth.

Finally it is interesting to hold a view that that only the person who can survive outside the womb or after birth can be considered as a person. Life begins at conception therefore the unborn is equally a person and has the right to life. For one to believe this view is like saying that there is no life inside the womb of the mother and that life only exists outside the womb of the mother. Therefore the woman carrying the pregnancy can terminate it at will because it is only once the child is born and outside the womb of that mother that it can b considered as a person. The condition under this view is that life begins at birth and before birth there is no life therefore the mother can do whatever she wants with the pregnancy.

Some of the biases that would have been likely experienced during the evaluation of the premises for and against the position in this scenario include religious and personal. Religious biases would apply because it is ungodly and against religious teachings to kill a person and because the unborn has life that begins at conception, it will be murder for one to legalize abortion. Secondly personal feelings of having not been aborted can contribute to the bias by sympathizing with the helpless unborn child who can not defend themselves.

The effects of enculturation or group identification that may have influenced these biases include religious beliefs that don not approve abortion. The beliefs are so strong that abortion is considered an outright murder and there are no two ways about it. Another influence is personal value for life. Having been brought up to be alive to this day it becomes difficult to understand why abortion should be legalized because had the same happened may be we would not be alive today because our parents would have decided to abort us way before we were born so it is all about putting ourselves in the shoes of the unborn babies.

After playing the “believing game”, the thinking about the topic has changed even though the position abut the issue still remains the same that abortion should not be legalized. For instance it is it is now clear that the opposing view also holds some valid points such as cases of unwanted pregnancy can lead to crime rates because if those children are not taken to school because of lack of finances they may end up engaging in crime as a means of making ends meet. Besides, children diagnosed with severe complications can prove to be very difficult to take care off especially for financially challenged parents.