Argument Against Abortion Essay: A matter of Ethics

Most people who believe in the argument against abortion hold that life begins at conception, and as such, abortion then is first-degree murder, which is punishable in any society. None of the civilized societies allow killing without punishment and abortion falls into this category. The arguments in support of abortion are not persuasive in that they have basis on unwanted pregnancies, full control of women’s bodies, and the medical safety of the operation. These factors have better solutions than murder. The central question underlying the issue of abortion is when life begins. The science of genetics and embryology clearly explains that life begins at fertilization and thus abortion is murder. On the other hand, politicians and supporters of abortion argue that life begins at birth and thus abortion is no crime. Feminists in the 1970s viewed the illegalization of abortion as denying women their civil rights and dignity (Siegel, 2014). They argued that a woman should have full control of her body including when to give birth. This paper will show why abortion should be criminalized all over the world.

The wrong of killing is explained not in terms of the loss to friends and family but by what the killing does to a victim. It imposes a misfortune of early death to the victim. The misfortune is what makes killing wrong (Marquis, 2013). Premature death deprives the victim his/her life. This is depriving the victim his/her future. By undergoing an abortion, a woman deprives the child a future. No right gives one the permission to deprive one a life. There is no difference between abortion and murder. The unborn baby has been deprived life just the same way as an adult who is murdered. It is hypocrisy to legalize abortion while illegalizing murder. Legalizing abortion is legalizing murder to some extent. It is like saying one is allowed to kill provided the victim is unborn. There is no way murder can be legalized to some extent.

A major reason why women choose to undergo an abortion is unwanted pregnancies. As estimated by the “Center for Disease Control and Prevention” (CDC), 37% of the pregnancies between the years 1982-2010 were unintended (Mosher & Jones, 2012). The fact that the pregnancies were unwanted means that these women did not use any contraceptives or the contraceptives used failed. In this century, there are many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies. There are short term and long-term contraceptives that women can use to prevent early and unwanted pregnancies. A woman should be able to plan her life and monitor her priorities. If a woman’s priority is to develop her career, there is no reason why she should be engaging in unprotected sex.

The argument that the pregnancy was unintended then cannot be a pre-requisite to abortion. If a woman does not wish to get pregnant, she can fulfill her sexual rights and use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancy. If a woman is taking no effort to prevent the pregnancy, then why take the effort in terminating the pregnancy? There are those cases of contraceptives failing. However, research has shown that many women are willing to adopt children. A report by the “U.S. Department of Health and Human services” shows that in the year 2015, 243,060 children were adopted from foster care (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). There are enough women willing to adopt children to cover the contraceptive failure cases

As argued by the 1970s feminists, women have a right to their body. They have a right to decide when to get pregnant. Most of the women rights groups in existence today argue that unplanned pregnancies deny women a chance to realize their full potential (Mosher & Jones, 2012). They argue that as the woman is taking care of the young baby, the man will be working towards his dreams. By getting pregnant, it shows the woman had control over her body since she engaged in a sexual act. It is then not understandable why after getting pregnant she then argues that it was unplanned. If the sexual encounter was unplanned, why then not use contraceptives? It is good that today, there are emergency pills that one can take. The medical fraternity has given women enough resources to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Pregnancy affects the woman more than the man, and the rising cases of single mothers just explain the scenario. Arguably, most of these single mothers still understand the risks of pregnancy and fail to protect themselves. Women want to have control over aborting after failing to control getting pregnant. If women are allowed to get pregnant and abort at will, then cases of unwanted pregnancy will be on the rise. The right to get pregnant does not take away the responsibility of bringing up a child. The argument that pregnancy denies women a chance to actualize their full potential cannot hold given that women understand the responsibility of rearing children and they should control pregnancy rather than abort. In addition, many women actualize their potential and acquire a great future after giving birth. It only takes nine months for a child to be born and this is little time to cause changes in the future of a dedicated mother. After giving birth, a woman will be more serious since there is a child to take care off as compared to aborting which might result to medical complications or even death.

Contrary to popular belief, medically induced abortion is not safe. Several complications can arise after a medically induced abortion. After a medical induced abortion, the intended reactions do not always occur. Such reactions have a basis on the personal and social context meaning they are different. Humans react differently to medicine. Research has indicated that women who undergo an abortion are at the risk of acquiring mental complications such as anxiety, mood swings and substance abuse (Biggs, Neuhaus & Foster, 2015). The study also revealed that with comparison to other traumatizing events, abortion has some independent effects on the mental health of the victim. This disagrees with the argument that medically induced abortion is safe. It causes more harm than the fear of the upcoming baby to the mothers.

In the perspective of Christians, love is the answer to all evils. People should love one another as God loves them. In this case, mothers should love their unborn babies and preserve them until birth. Undergoing an abortion goes adjacent to the commandment of God saying that one shall not kill. The first instinct in every human being is protecting life. However, abortion goes against this natural law by depriving the unborn child life. While laws and regulations are against murder, they tend to disregard the aspect of life before birth. When one kills a murdered, it is considered as human slaughter. However, when one aborts an innocent fetus, it is considered necessary. There is some kind of inequality since killing the innocent is considerably okay to preserve the future and dignity of the mother.

In all moral terms, murder has a liability, and by definition of death, abortion deprives the unborn child his/her life. Abortion is a murder and no country or state in the world allows its citizens to kill at will. Arguing from all angels, abortion is a crime, which the society should abstain from. The counterarguments given by supporters of abortion do not explain why it is good to abort. Rather the arguments against abortion clearly show why it is wrong to abort. In this case, it would be agreeable to conclude that supporters of abortion are just playing politics with the lives of both the unborn babies and the mothers. Many women lose their lives in the process of aborting, and supporters never care to consider this fact. Click here for more information..
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