Abortion: Is it Murder?

The Merriam Webster dictionary explains abortion as "the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus".(Abortion) To explain this definition an embryo, and a fetus they are simply different stages of an egg forming into a baby. The powerless baby should have the right to live and if the mother does not want to keep the baby then she is obligated to find a home for the baby after she has safely delivered. She is obligated to because the baby relies on only the mother after they are conceived and her actions will determine the health of the baby. The infant deserves the right to life because of the moral golden rule that says to "treat others as you would like to be treated", and the infant would not do anything to damage the mother for that reason the mother should treat the infant the same way.

Some believe that it is the mother's right to choose whether or not she delivers the baby safely but this is not true because it was her decision to have sex. Not to imply that the only reason to have sex is to produce a baby, but if every precaution is taken then the chances to conceive a child are next to none. If it is against one's belief to use protection then they should practice abstinence, until they are ready to take on the responsibilities associated with having a child. In the case of rape or incest there are things a woman can do after to prevent the pregnancy.

Explanation of the Argument

A fetus is simply the baby the surrounding amniotic sac, and the placenta.(BabyCenter) This stage of the babies life they are called and fetus many people forget that there is a living human in it. It is considered murder to kill someone so the standards should be the same for a human inside the womb. A fetus is not considered human by the law which is why it is still legal to terminate a pregnancy. If angry father killed an unborn child because he wanted the mother to get an abortion he would get charged for murder, but if the mother makes the decision to kill the baby its not. Does this mean that the raged father shouldn't be prosecuted if it's before the legal period women are now allowed to get abortions. The father would obviously be prosecuted for his horrendous actions, so shouldn't a mother be treated the same for doing the same thing.

The morally accepted golden rule as stated before says "treat others as you would like to be treated" and since the child would not consciously hurt the mother she should not, hurt the child. One argument that should be considered is Singers argument on euthanasia since euthanasia is similar to abortion, his argument states that it is not ethical to euthanize patients that have a willingness to live. Since all unborn infants have a willingness to live Singers argument stands for abortion, therefore it is unethical to abort a child according to Singer.

A mother that finds out she is pregnant is morally obligated to deliver the baby, whether she wants it or not. If the mother did not want to have a child then she should have took the appropriate steps to avoid conception. There is only a 2% percent chance of a woman getting pregnant if a condom is used correctly, and combined with a contraceptive the chances of conceiving are so minute that someone would have a better chance of winning the lottery.(Trussell) If there is ever a reason that somebody cannot the get the proper protection from pregnancy then they should abstain from intercourse until they get protection, or become ready to have a child. If a mother that didn't protect herself from pregnancy does decides to get an abortion then it is causing the child to go through unnecessary harm because the mother made the decision to risk having a child whether it was on purpose or not.

Don Marquis argument against abortion states that it is not right to get an abortion because it robs the child to their potential hopes, dreams, and accomplishments in the future.(Marquis) Regarding this statement imagine what all of the aborted babies could of accomplished if they where allowed to live, since there are about 1.37 million abortions a year there could have been any number of doctors, professors, and world changing people that where cut short.(Abortion Statistics) Although it would seem that Marquis would be against contraceptives, and spermicides since it robs the sperm, and eggs from their future, this is false because he says they do not have a "valuable future".(Marquis)

In summary abortion is an unnecessary action for something that can be resolved if people would just put thought in to their decisions and realize that what they are doing is unethical. The helpless baby should be allowed to live even though the mother does not want it because she is the only thing that the baby has, and because the baby should have the same right to life as everybody else.

Possible Objections and Responses

A pro-choice argument says that a fetus is not a human because it can not be supported without the mother therefore it is not living, and since the fetus is not living it can be aborted without being considered murder. But in reality a baby toward the end of the pregnancy the fetus can the womb, and this does happen in cases that require it for reasons such as the mother's inability to carry the child for any longer. Although it can be rocky at first most premature babies can survive thanks to modern technology. Therefore the argument should be reconsidered because it possible for the fetus to live, which means it should be considered murder.

Abortion is a very safe procedure, and there is only ".5% risk of serious complications".("Abortion.") This proves that abortion is a very safe procedure, but the stat left out of this argument is that the babies die. Many people feel that abortion is justified, and they just try not to think about the fact that they are murdering a life. One argument states that women feel they would loose the right to control what happens to their body if they loose the right to have an abortion.("Abortion.") However this is not true because they had the right to decide to whether or no to have sex therefore the baby is their responsibility because they are the ones that caused them to be conceived. It would be immoral if somebody didn't wear the proper protection because abortion should never be used as a contraceptive.

Works Cited

"Abortion." Merriam-Webster. 1547. 9 Dec. 2008 .

"Abortion Statistics." The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. 2008. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. 9 Dec. 2008 .

BabyCenter LLC, ed. "Fetal development, What your baby looks like this week." Baby center. 9 Dec. 2008 .

Lowen, Linda. "Ten Arguments For Abortion and Against Abortion." About.com. 2007. 9 Dec. 2008 .

Marquis, Dom. "Why Abortion is Immoral". Rep.No. 1-3. U-Web Student Web Service. 9 Dec. 2008 .

Trussell, J. "Trussell J." Contraceptive Technology. 2007. 9 Dec. 2008 .