This message is a message of hope: an unborn child is a human person whose life has value and deserves to be protected by humankind. In our society today, there is a divide amongst Americans over whether abortion should be legal or illegal undeterred by the US Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision on Roe v. Wade declaring an abortion a “fundamental right.” People supporting abortion consider themselves “pro choice” supporters. They believe that choosing abortion is the woman’s right and that it should not be limited by governmental or religious authority. On the other end of the spectrum, people opposing the procedure identify as “pro life” supporters. This group concludes that abortion is unfair and immoral because you’re denying the right to life to an unborn baby, but also there are couples who cannot biologically conceive that are waiting to adopt. Numerous arguments in the world today stem from these two opposing beliefs. No mother should ever have to resort to abortion; every child has a right to life and is welcomed and loved no matter the circumstance.
Abortion is, in fact, murder. It is even stated in the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act. , stating that under federal law, anybody intentionally killing an unborn child should “be punished… for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.” This is exactly what abortion is doing: killing an innocent human being. The US government considers unborn babies human beings, and so should all of society. https://www.congress.gov/108/plaws/publ212/PLAW-108publ212.pdf
According to the law of biogenesis, a fetus conceived by human parents, and growing according to the instructions in its own human genetic code, is by definition human(https://prolifeaction.org/fact_type/pro-choice-arguments/ ). Therefore life certainly does begin at conception, making unborn babies human beings with a right to life. A baby’s individual genetic identity must be protected. Some people argue that a fetus or embryo does not look like like an adult yet, but neither does a newborn baby. Human fetuses or embryos are no less human simply because they are smaller and more delicate. Though they appear unusual, there is still a demand for society to notice all stages of humankind.
Most people do not know this fact, but fetuses feel pain during the abortion procedure. Maureen Condic, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, explains that the “most primitive response to pain, the spinal reflex,” is developed by eight weeks gestation, and adds that ‘There is universal agreement that pain is detected by the fetus in the first trimester’ (https://reason.com/archives/2013/07/12/do-fetuses-feel-pain ). According to Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand, MBBS, DPhil, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology and Neurobiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, “If the fetus is beyond 20 weeks of gestation, I would assume that there will be pain caused to the fetus. And I believe it will be severe and excruciating pain”(https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10Fetal-t.html ).Bernard N. Nathanson, MD, the late abortion doctor who renounced his earlier work and became a pro-life activist, stated that when an abortion is performed on a 12-week-old fetus, “We see, in an ultrasound imagE, the child’s mouth open in a silent scream… This is the silent scream of a child threatened imminently with extinction”(https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22nathanson.html ). No human should have to feel this pain for an irresponsible person’s “unplanned pregnancy.”
Women that get abortions are at an increased risk for psychological damage. Various studies have found this to be true. A peer-reviewed study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health found that “Young adult women who undergo… abortion may be at increased risk for subsequent depression” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18539697 ). A peer-reviewed study published in BMC Medicine found that women who underwent an abortion had ‘significantly higher’ anxiety scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale up to five years after the pregnancy termination(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1343574/ ).A peer-reviewed study published by the Southern Medical Journal of more than 173,000 American women found that women who aborted were 154% more likely to commit suicide than women who carried to term(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11197911_Deaths_associated_with_pregnancy_outcome_A_record_linkage_study_of_low_income_women ). A Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology study of men whose partners had abortions found that 51.6% of the men reported regret, 45.2% felt sadness, and 25.8% experienced depression(https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/jscp.1998.17.4.425 ). These studies show psychological damage can be dodged if women would choose for their baby to have a chance at life.
Another option women should resort to is giving their unwanted babies to people who cannot conceive. In the United States, the percentage of infants given up for adoption declined from 9% before 1973 to 0.5% in 2014. The lack of women putting their children up for adoption has caused the number of US infant adoptions to drop from about 90,000 in 1971 to 18,329 in 2014(https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db12.htm ). The increased abortion rate has reduced the number of adoptable babies. The argument of “there is not enough people looking to adopt a baby” is not valid. Around 2.6 million Americans are seeking to adopt children(https://adoption.com/wiki/Persons_Seeking_to_Adopt_Statistics_2011 ). Why not take the route of helping someone? It doesn’t hurt to help.
The unalienable right to life recognized by the Founding Fathers of the United States is infringed by allowing abortion. It is stated in the Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”http://uscode.house.gov/download/annualhistoricalarchives/pdf/OrganicLaws2006/decind.pdf The right to life that the Founding Fathers proposed for all human beings is taken from the unborn babies if abortion is performed. Although not all people are christian, abortions also defy the Bible. The word of God states in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/jeremiah/1-5.html The Bible also continues to say in The Sixth Commandment of the Bible’s Old Testament, “Thou shalt not kill.”, applying to all human beings, even unborn babies.
Authorities of all aspects from parents to the government encourage taking responsibility for your own actions and accepting the consequences. Everyone knows the consequence of having sexual intercourse, even when contraceptive methods are used: pregnancy. If women become pregnant, they cannot blame anyone but themselves. They should accept the responsibility that comes with producing a child not have the right to kill an unplanned baby. The unborn baby does not deserve to be punished for a mistake made by adults. There are various ways to get help to take care a children, or the woman has the option of adoption. It is immoral to kill an unborn child for convenience.
One of the biggest questions pro choice supporters challenge is the choice of abortion in cases of rape. Research shows that women are likely to suffer more if they resort to abortion. One large-scale study of pregnant rape victims found that approximately 70 percent chose to give birth.http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html Many sexual assault victims see giving birth as a selfless, loving act that helps bring healing from the horrific experience of the rape itself. However, cases of abortions caused by rape are very rare, so these rare cases do not justify all of the other cases of abortions for other reasons.
Another proposed argument for abortion rights is the case of having a child with disabilities. However, children with disabilities have the same right to life as any other human. Nothing will prevent them of enjoying life except an abortion. It is commonly seen that parents of disabled children say that their lives are blessed by the experience of caring for a disabled child, and those children grow up valuing their own lives just as much as anyone else.
It is said that a fetal heartbeat can be detected by an ultrasound as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. According to the New York Times, the Ohio House of Representatives just recently passed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country. This bill would penalize doctors for performing an abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Challenging Roe v. Wade, the bill would cause someone that performed an abortion on a fetus with a heartbeat to be charged with a fifth-degree felony. The only exceptions the bill allows is during a medical emergency or if an abortion would save a woman’s life. In cases such as rape or incest, the bill still applies.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/health/ohio-abortion-ban-heartbeat-bill.html If all states would take action to stop abortions from happening like Ohio, then these babies would have fair and equal rights to life. But in order for that to happen, the first step is to inform people.
Because an unborn child is unseen, it is easier for society to disregard abortions. However there is no valid reason to kill an unborn child in order to avoid hardship just like it wouldn’t be right to kill a toddler for the same reason. Abortion is not the answer to solving the deeper problems that contribute to unplanned pregnancies. If anything, they pile on top of the problems. Instead of arguing about it, society should help women face these problems, inform people about other options, and give insight to make the world a welcoming place for these babies.
