Abortion

Abortion
Abortion is one of the most controversial issues discussed in today’s society.

This issue has caused a great deal of turmoil in the world. Some protestors have
even killed other human beings over the issue. People’s religion has had some
input on this issue, but this should not be the only factor when looking at this
serious controversial debate. There are many questions that one must ask him or
herself when deciding to be either for or against abortion. In this position
paper I am going to talk about some issues that may not be black and white. My
position on this issue is against abortion, and I am going to attempt to show
that. Abortion is wrong in many instances. It is wrong anytime except in the
case of a dying mother, incest or rape. It is wrong because people choose to
have sex. They know the consequences before they had sex. For example, a person
is playing Russian Roulette. This person knows that there is a possibility that
they may die from this. In the case of pregnancy, the people that choose to have
sex, they know that there is a chance at getting pregnant. The people that have
an abortion when they have become pregnant by there own choice, not by incest,
rape or threatening the mother’s life, are using it as a birth control method,
which is wrong. One of the major issues is determining whether or not the fetus
is a person, and if so, when? My view is that it becomes a person at the time of
conception. At that specific time, it has 46 chromosomes and is determined
whether or not is it going to be a boy or girl. Furthermore, all other
characteristics are decided at that moment. One of the issues discussed in class
was the time of conception. A point mentioned in class was that any time a sperm
or egg was destroyed or killed, then abortion was occurring, for example,
masturbation or menstruation. The point that is trying to be made is that if
killing the fetus at conception is wrong, which has potential to be a person,
then killing the things that have potential to become a person, like sperm and
eggs, is wrong also. I do not agree with this point. My reasoning is the sperm
or egg does not have all 46 chromosomes, it has only half. Half of the
chromosomes does not make a person. Alone, the sperm or egg cannot become a
person, but at the time of conception it is possible. I cannot sufficiently
rebut the idea of the potentiality of the sperm or egg. I do understand that
these both have the potential to become a person. A point related to the
previous one is the use of contraceptives. The use of contraceptives brings up
the issue of why aren’t these as wrong as an abortion. This raises again the
idea of the potentiality of a person. As I previously mentioned, I do not see
something with half of the chromosomes needed to become a human, a human. John

Noonan says that the fetus is a person, therefore it is wrong to kill it. The
problem with this is that all people do not believe a fetus is a person,
therefore it is okay to kill it. For example, Mary Anne Warren does not believe
the fetus is a person. She thinks that there are certain traits or
characteristics that an organism must have in order to be characterized as a
person. These are: (1) "consciousness (of objects and events external and /or
internal to the being), and in particular the capacity to feel pain; (2)
reasoning (the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems);
(3) self motivated activity (activity which is relatively independent of either
genetic of direct external control); (4) the capacity to communicate, by
whatever means, messages of an indefinite variety of types, that is, not just
with an indefinite number of possible contents, but on indefinitely many
possible topics; (5) the presence of self-concepts, and self awareness, either
individual or racial, or both." The problem with these traits as determining
the time at which a fetus becomes a person is that these traits describe things
that are not just human, but also children that are two and three years of age.

For instance, these characteristics say that a new born baby that is alive and
breathing on its own, is not a person and therefore it is okay to kill it. This
seems highly ludicrous to say that a new born baby is not a person. Also, as I
said before, these traits include other things than the species Homosapiens. I
am referring to the monkeys, chimpanzees or gorillas. I do not see these animals
as humans, even though many scientists believe that we evolved from monkey or
chimps. There is also evidence of monkeys or chimps speaking to other humans.

This is a whole other issue. Regardless of whether or not these chimps are our
ancestors, which I believe not to be these characteristics may also characterize
other organisms to be humans. Another issue raised is who has more right to life
or right to choose, the mother or the potential baby. I have no complete feeling
about this issue because I have not researched it enough to come to an educated
decision. I do lean toward the right of a fetus. I can see the opposition’s
view though. Why should some potential human being be able to tell me or anyone
else what to do? I do think that they should have some say in there own life.

Although, in the case of a mother dying if she continues on with the pregnancy,

I do not see a problem with terminating the pregnancy. I do believe that they
should explore all the options first.

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