Arguments against abortion in the United States

Cons of Abortion

After three decades of legalized abortion in the United States, it is still a controversial topic (Earll, 2003). Many abortion supporters do not understand why the nation is still divided on the topic after all this time. According to Sammon (2002): \"Abortion is one of those issues that will be argued forever with never an answer agreed upon by competing factions. It\'s a debate that manages to combine medicine, technology, morals, politics and religion all in one bitter brew.\" This paper aims to determine what drives this ongoing opposition to abortion.

Abortion Issues

A 2002 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans consider abortion to be morally wrong (Earll, 2003). According to a Los Angeles Times survey, fifty-seven percent of Americans \"consider abortion to be murder.\" Many Americans who are opposed to abortion base their view on a moral code derived from Judeo-Christian teachings, particularly the Ten Commandments statement, \"You shall not murder.\" Basically, the majority of public opposition to abortion is based on the notion that it is morally wrong to kill a pre-born baby -- the end result of abortion.

The abortion controversy is one of the most divisive and controversial issues of this century, which has become a legal and political power struggle that has yet to find a permanent resolution (Garlikov, 2002). While pro-choice supporters argue that every child born should be wanted, pro-lifers believe that every child conceived should be born. While pro-choice supporters believe that women have a right to choose, pro-lifers believe that every human has a right to live.

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that as long as a baby lived in the womb, he or she would be the property of the mother (Garlikov, 2002). As a result, almost every third baby conceived in America is killed by abortion. These are babies that never even had a chance to live. Thus, while many people believe that abortion is a woman\'s choice, abortion should be prohibited because it is immoral.

According to DePlato (2003): \"Our culture has not only cultivated the abortion debate, but it has made it possible. Fifty-years ago there was a reason why abortion was infrequent. That culture not only saw abortion as immoral, but it also saw it as unbecoming for any woman to conduct herself in such a selfish and irresponsible way. The question of that day was responsibility and consequence for irresponsible actions. Furthermore, that culture did not tolerate such a belief that women were the victims for irresponsible actions; instead they believed women should be held accountable, along with the male, for the act of conception and thus the birth of a child.\"

When abortion began to be seen as the right of \'choice\' for women, regardless of consequence or prior actions, the debate no longer involved concern responsibility or accountability (DePlato, 2003). As a result, the debate about abortion is completely a question of \'choice\'. However, this debate is really not about \'choice\'; it is really about irresponsible behavior and not facing the consequence of this behavior. Women have the right to choose between right and wrong, but they should also take responsibility for their actions.

Conclusion

In the most basic of terms, abortion is murder. An embryo is a human being from the moment of conception. According to Shettles (1986), \"Scientists identify the first moment of human life as that instant when a sperm cell unites with an ovum or egg cell.\"

Most pro-choice supporters argue that the fetus is not actually a person until the first or second trimester. Pro-choice people do not think abortion is murder because they view the aborted fetus a mass or cells or tissue.

However, pro-life supporters argue that abortion is the taking of innocent human life, which is wrong under just about any circumstance. An unborn baby is much more than potential life. An unborn baby is a meaningful human life that is invaluable. After conception, no event occurs in the development of the fetus that indicates a change in the fetus from being inhuman to becoming human (Foster, 1985).

Human life starts with conception. A middle-aged person, a teenager, and an unborn baby all exist in stages of human life. Killing the unborn baby is no more justifiable than killing teenagers or adults. In this light, abortion is something that should be prohibited by law because it is murder.

According to Foster (1985): \"There is no morally relevant difference between deliberately killing a human being who has been born and deliberately killing a human being who is still inside his mother.\" Abortion has become morally acceptable to some simply because it is now legal. Legality does not mean that it is just, as slavery was once legal in the United States. Killing an innocent, defenseless human being is unacceptable and morally wrong. Killing innocent people is both immoral and illegal in the United States; thus, abortion should also be illegal.

The abortion debate is a constant battle in America. The opposing sides in the debate each strongly believe in their arguments. The pro-choice supporters view a woman\'s right to choose as central to the debate. The life of the baby is the key concern of the pro-life advocates. The main con pf abortion is that it is murder and should be illegal except in instances when the mother\'s life is endangered by the pregnancy.