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Abortion

 

            Abortion is the most difficult and controversial moral issue. Both sides (pro-life and pro-choice) have important moral insights. The insights however may outweigh one another depending on personal outlooks. The moral status of abortion may be defined as the act which a woman performs in voluntarily terminating, or allowing another person to terminate, her pregnancy. It also can be defined as the legal status which is appropriate for this act. Different states have passed different laws stating their position on the issue, but the debate boils down to one contentious question, which is, is Abortion murder? (Hinman 1).
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             Much of the debate in regard to abortion has centered on the first premise, that is whether the fetus is a person or not. If the fetus is a person, then it has the rights that belong to persons, including the right to life. (Ryan 1) If the fetus is human then it has the same human rights as the mother, when society legalizes abortion, it is sanctioning murder. (Szumski 13) .
             The fetus feels pain, when an abortion was taped it showed the outline for the child in the womb thrashing to resist the suction of the devise. The child shows sensitivity to the suction devise which helps to prove that the fetus is a human being. It not only moves to scurry to the top of the uterus, but it has brain waves and a heartbeat. In this tape you can see the child moving rapidly as its breathing increases at the first sign of danger. If it is not human, how then do you explain the pain it felt that was clearly being expressed by the opening of its mouth in a silent scream? (Edwards 41) Some philosophers however such as Judith Jarvis Thomson and Jane English--have argued that, even if the fetus is a person, abortion may be morally justified. In other words, they dispute the truth of the premise, "It is wrong to end the life of an innocent person." (Ryan 1) Other people that do not believe that a person exists at the time of conception, or pro-abortionists, argue the fact that it is not consistent with either biology or legal history.


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