Abortion is one of the most debated issue of the medical as well as the moral world and it still has not found its stance. Morally the act is considered wrong whereas demographically and economically and to a certain extent socially it is justified.
It is the act of the sexual intercourse which leads to pregnancy. A fetus though alive it is not subject to all the human rights, its development should not pose life threats to the person its dependent on. Webster’s Dictionary lists a person as “being an individual or existing as an indivisible whole; existing as a distinct entity.” A fetus on the other hand is a dependent entity so is it liable to the same rights as an independent human ? Pregnancy also poses various life threatening situations for the mother, therefore, the life of the mother should also be put to consideration before abortion is stated to be morally wrong.
Anti-abortion activists are fond of saying “The only difference between a fetus and a baby is a trip down the birth canal.” This flippant phrase may make for catchy rhetoric, but it doesn’t believe the fact that indeed “location” makes all the difference in the world ( Elroy ). Some even consider abortion immoral on the grounds that the sexual activity which leads to pregnancy is a conscious concentual move between two individual, therefore, its consequence pregnancy should be accepted with the same conscious consent, but while saying this they fail to realize that some sexual activities are also forced and pregnancy could have also resulted from contraceptive defect out of the consent of the individual.
Therefore abortion should not be considered immoral but the choice should be left to the consent of the mother who has all the rights to consider her life, as a human being, before considering a new life which would be dependent on her for a period of time. How can one life be morally justified at the cost of another life ?
References
- http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortionanswers.html
- http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/2048397677-6594632/content~content=a911356179~db=all~order=page
