AbortionEssay Preview: AbortionReport this essayIs Partial-Birth Abortion Moral?Abortion, is the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life. When the expulsion from the womb occurs after the fetus becomes viable (capable of independent life), usually at the end of six months of pregnancy, it is technically a premature birth.
IntroductionThe practice of abortion was widespread in ancient times as a method of birth control. Later it was restricted or forbidden by most world religions, but it was not considered an offense in secular law until the 19th century. During that century, first the English Parliament and then American state legislatures prohibited induced abortion to protect women from surgical procedures that were at the time unsafe, commonly stipulating a threat to the womans life as the sole exception to the prohibition. Occasionally the exception was enlarged to include danger to the mothers health as well.
Religious Point of ViewIn all three of the worlds major religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, abortion is not permitted. These religions advocate that abortion can only take place if there is a threat to the life of the mother. Another stipulation entails that, after three months of pregnancy abortion can not take place, for after that time period the fetus is given life.
In a passage from the bible (2 Kings 24:2-4) it is stated that, “The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him. He sent them to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lords command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.” (Manasseh, Israels chief executive, had committed one particular sin–advocating the killing of children.) The laws of religion condemn the ending of any human life, no matter what form it is in.
The prophet was not born with all of God’s will, for he was created to change the world when the Lord took him captive. It was all one single will done.ӅGod created the earth and the heavens ―to make the stars, that is, and all the clouds; Пthe earth was created for God’s purposes ”God knew the time is come when man and women will all be free. The word was spoken in a place called Babylon, ‛The Lord took possession of Jerusalem, and called Him King, and after a little while, set his people in the same ways. He sent his people in two places, first the land of Egypt and then the land of Palestine. He then ordered that the Jews should be killed on the day they turned to flight to escape from him. They were to be murdered and laid to waste, but not one of the three cities of Egypt was to be spared. In this way God said to them, “Behold, the blood of the Prophets, which is shed out of your bones in Jordan, is the blood of the Prophets of God, the blood of the saints who had the body of Christ.” Therefore, the people of Judah shall die in this manner. And as for the others, all three were sacrificed to the Lord, —for God’s people took possession of Egypt & Palestine before their eyes. They are living in the wilderness, which had been prepared by Solomon to receive the fruit of the Spirit on good Friday mornings. The Lord commanded all Israel, the Gentiles, both Jews and Moslems, to be killed and laid to waste, for it was only those who would not obey the Lord-who do not understand and who obey the Lord-that do not obey the Lord, he made the nation utterly helpless to the power of that wickedness which the Lord willed to bring about. The Lord chose the wicked with the purpose of bringing them out of their homes ’as it is mentioned in two passages in the Bible, which say the people were not yet to be saved but the Lord had chosen them. The people of the East revolted in their desperation, and a great war ensued with them. ᷈the remnant of Israel and their leaders were killed in combat with the Israelites. God saved them (the Hebrew word for “God saved them,” is “Heaven”), and they survived with his loving presence. By Moses, “the word ‘in the name of God,’ is used of God, ‣’the words saved their souls’ were the things heard in his mouth, the name of Christ, which Jesus Christ crucified, and he gave his life to all mankind.’The
Abortion, as a practice, is strictly prohibited, even in the most liberal of religions. Although the opposition would argue that it is against the concept of “the freedom to choose, but the religions are very clear on this front. The pro-choice movement states that it is a womans choice whether or not she wishes to give birth to the child in question, for it is her body and therefore, her right to choose what to do with it. But the religious leaders have reiterated the word of God, which is very clear on the subject.
Legal Point of ViewNo matter how you look at it, partial birth abortion is murder. If we look at the legal viewpoint, where the battle for life now stands, we see that the laws have followed the whim of the government in office. Legislative action in the 20th century has been aimed at permitting the termination of unwanted pregnancies for medical, social, or private reasons. In the late 1960s liberalized abortion regulations became widespread. The impetus for the change was threefold: (1) Infanticide and the high maternal death rate associated with illegal abortions, (2) A rapidly expanding world population, (3) The growing feminist movement. By 1980, countries where abortions were permitted only to save a womans life contained about 20 percent of the worlds population. Countries with moderately restrictive laws-abortions permitted to protect a womans health, to end pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, to avoid genetic or congenital defects, or in response to social problems such as unmarried status or inadequate income-contained some 40 percent of the worlds population.
Abortions at the womans request, usually with limits based on physical conditions such as duration of pregnancy, were allowed in countries with nearly 40 percent of the worlds population. In the United States, legislation followed the world trend. The moderately restrictive type of abortion law was adopted by 14 states between 1967 and 1972. Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington legislated abortion on request with few restrictions. In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Roe v. Wade, declared unconstitutional all but the least restrictive state statutes.
Noting that induced early abortions had become safer than childbirth and holding that the word person in the Constitution of the United States “does not include the unborn,” the Court defined, within each of the three stages of pregnancy, the reciprocal limits of state power and individual freedom: (a) During the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant womans attending physician. (b) After the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. (c) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State, in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it chooses, regulate and even proscribe abortion, except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.
Analysis and ArgumentsOpponents, supported by the religious institutions the world over, in particular the Catholic church, of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, argued that a fetus is entitled as a “person” to constitutional protection, and attacked the decision on a variety of fronts. State legislative bodies were lobbied for statutes narrowing the implications of the decision and circumscribing in several ways the mothers ability to obtain an abortion. A nationwide campaign was instituted to amend the Constitution to prohibit or severely restrict abortion. “Right-to-life”