The debate on abortion: Pro-choice

There are two sides of the story, one is pro choice and one is pro life. The individuals who consider themselves pro-choice believe that a woman should be able to abort her baby if she wishes to. The individuals who consider themselves pro-life believe the woman should not abort under most or all circumstances. My question is should the public have the right to decide what is right for all pregnant woman even though they do not know of their struggle? Is the woman even considered? And do they think about the drastic consequences of their actions?

The argument put forward by the pro-life activists is abortion is murder, killing a human being. But is a foetus a human being? Within six months of living in the womb an unborn baby’s brain is still not fully developed. A baby only learns how to think and control its emotions until after birth. This means a foetus cannot feel sad or hurt if it dies. Most women have abortions before or at ten weeks, when the baby is very undeveloped. If a woman where to abort within a few days of pregnancy she would merely be killing fused DNA of a man and woman. If a foetus is considered a human being and woman ‘should’ be charged for pre- meditated murder after abortion, should those who have unplanned miscarriages be charged with manslaughter? After all her womb is killing the baby. What if she trips and the baby dies? Is she then accountable?

If a foetus were a human being it would be one on life support. A person on life support can be killed with the family's consent. Since the baby is living in her womb only the mother gets to decide its fate. If the pubic decides she cannot have an abortion they are saying they own the baby. They should pay her half the financial costs and take care of her when she is pregnant. This is the role of the father which they are claiming to be when they decide it is not right. They are just like a father of an unborn child saying you cannot abort but I will never give you any help whatsoever. There is the doll in some countries such as New Zealand but in America it is not so. The father only has to pay child support when the baby is born meaning the woman will have to work when she is eight months pregnant. If the public decided how to raise your child would you then not expect them to pay? Would you even let them chose how to raise your child?

Should woman be charged with murder because they aborted a baby? Many people argue a foetus is a living thing. This is correct although they are not yet classified human until they are born. They believe that killing this living thing is murder, but many things are classified as living. Animals are living and they have a fully developed brain meaning they can feel both emotional and physical pain. Hunters kill many ducks and deer for sport but are not punished. House hold pets are killed causing grief to families but the killer is not charged with a crime. Why? Who are we to say a foetus is more valuable than someone’s beloved cat or dog?

When deciding whether abortion is right it is important to consider the woman not just the unborn baby. Bringing up a child is hard for a teenage girl. She must face many difficult decisions even though she herself is not yet fully developed. This decision can have bad psychological effects on the teenager and child. There is the option of adoption but many parents want to give birth to their own child. There are approximately two hundred and ten million orphans world wide. Too many women have given birth to unwanted children. These children grow up with deep emotional pain they do not deserve.

This issue becomes more difficult when the mother is a victim of incest or may be a low percent of the population but it is still important to look at, as say one percent of a million abortions is still ten thousand or incest is a ruthless crime many women and men will never fully recover from. Although the scars are gone the emotional trauma often remains. On top of this there are people who will not believe them,blame them ,side with the rapist and do many other hurtful things which makes rape/incest worse. Apart form that pregnant teenagers are often stared at, called hurtful names and discriminated against. Is it fair to put this must pressure,responsibility and pain on someone going through the torture of rape or incest? Should they not have the right to recover? Why does a person in a car accident get time off work to recover but she does not? There are also young men who do not want to become fathers. Should they pay child support even when the mother herself did not want the baby? Is it okay for the public to ruin their relationship?

We all agree that child abuse and neglect is unacceptable. These parents should not be able to have children. Yet if an abusive mother falls pregnant can she not abort the pregnancy? What if she decides to keep the baby? What if she tortures this innocent child? How is living a tortured life better than dying in the womb? In New Zealand a little four year old girl was spun around in a washing machine (with the door closed) hung on the clothes line and smashed into a brick wall. She was beaten to death. This is just one example of the horrendous child abuse some kids face. If this could be prevented the world would be a better place. However if abortion was illegal it would happen more often and so would be a lot worse than the death of a foetus.

It may not be right but it is not wrong ether. Abortion saves a lot of hurt and pain for both mother and child. It is not our place to decide someone else’s fate because we believe it is righteous. It is a human right to chose whether to have a child and abortion should not become illegal. Many people believe they are thinking of the child’s well being when deciding abortion is always wrong but do not consider their lives after birth. Just because a child lives it doesn’t mean his/her life will be fine. You may say what if they lived? They could have a good life. But is it worth taking that chance? Is all the pain and suffering worth it? Imagine you are one of these women. What if you were raped? Would you be making the same decision you are today?.

Yes it is horrible to see a foetus die and it is a tragedy but keeping a foetus and damaging a young girl is also wrong. Legalising abortion is the wrong way to tackle the situation. We need a good solution and both sides agree the oppositions side is a bad solution. Contraceptives is not a solution at all as the figures show that it does not and will not solve the problem. People do not think and yes it is their fault. Clearly we need a solution. We cannot force young girls to bear children and abortion is not a proper solution. Adoption does not work, most children are left in orphanages and this will never change because most people do not adopt children they make their own.

Should women be allowed to abort their babies? I believe they should as no better solution has been given. I think it is more important to protect our youths than unborn children.

References

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