I believe that women should have the
right to an abortion. I respect the view of the pro-life side of the argument
regarding the sanctity of life. I do believe that abortions should be avoided
when possible. However, I also support everyone’s right to a choice. I do not
think that it is right to force the same choice on every woman by withholding
an existing alternative to childbirth after becoming pregnant. If a woman becomes
pregnant but is not ready to raise a child or to go through the pain of
childbirth, she should not be forced to give birth. It is her body and her
life. If you find the decision to have any abortion unethical then by all means
do not have any abortions yourself. That is your personal choice, just as it might
be the personal choice of another woman to have an abortion for one reason or
another.
It is especially important to consider
the right to an abortion in the case of rape. If a woman is raped and the rape
leads to pregnancy, the choice of an abortion should not be withheld from her
just because many other people find the idea of abortion to be unethical. In
the case of rape she did not even choose to have sex, so removing her only
choice in the matter, her right to an abortion, would be society’s way of forcing
her to become a mother completely against her will. If anyone should have the
right to an abortion, it is definitely women who have conceived children from
rape.
But even in cases less extreme than
rape, a woman should not be forced to give birth to a child that she is not
ready to have. Maybe the decision is not the most ethical one and maybe she
will have life-long regrets for not giving birth to her conceived child. But
that is her personal decision to consider, not society’s choice to make for
her. I do believe that abortion should be avoided when possible. If a woman
does not wish to become pregnant, using the proper protection to avoid unwanted
pregnancy should be the priority. But if a woman does become pregnant when she does
not wish to give birth to a child, it should be her choice and not society’s
choice.
What is your response to the counterargument that abortion is murder? Because society does have a vested interest in preventing murder.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is a grey area and therefore up to the individual to decide. It could be argued either way due to the fact that the child is somewhere between conception and birth. It is definitely something for anyone to consider, after all it is certainly not a good thing to abort an unborn child, but it is also different than murder in the sense that you are not killing a born, fully-conceived, living person. I would say that the fact that an abortion will prevent a potential life's conception is definitely something consider, but I would not call anyone who has an abortion a murderer.
DeleteI agree with you in that when it comes to rape, the woman should most definitely have a choice. They might choose to carry the child, who knows? But they might also not want that constant reminder of the awful event she went through. Who's to say if the woman keeps the baby and raises it, that she will love it? Maybe the baby will resemble the rapist and the woman cannot bring herself to love her baby. Maybe the baby won't resemble the man but knowing it's a product of an unwanted sexual encounter could be enough for the woman to neglect or even abuse the innocent child. I'd say, and other can disagree, it would've been a heck of a lot better for the child to not have been delivered at all.
ReplyDelete