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ABORTION

Zeina Mallat (1900003)

University of Georgia medical program

MD2150E FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOETHICS AND MEDICAL LAW GROUP 8003620

Dr. Anano Kiria

January 11,2021

University of Georgia

2020-2021
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Definition:

abortion is a procedure to end an established pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to

remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus before it becomes capable of

independent life. The procedure is done by a licensed health care professional.

Ethical dilemma:

Ethical dilemmas such as women's autonomy rights may conflict with fetus' right to

personhood, and doctor's moral obligations to society. In liberal jurisdictions, previable

fetuses may not have legal rights of personhood; therefore, appropriate action would be to

respect pregnant women's decisions regarding abortion. Hence, we see two different views on

the subject pro life (against) and pro choice (with).

Pro-life point of view:

pro-life is the belief all human life is created equal regardless of size, level of development,

education, and degree of dependency. Therefore, taking the life of a preborn baby is a

violation of the fundamental right to life. While the term pro-life was birthed from the

abortion wars of the 1970’s, the pro-life movement has grown into a thriving community of

those who meet political issues with the mindset that all human life is valuable. Whether you

are a preborn baby, a newborn, an elderly person, or someone with disabilities and special

needs, your life matters. At its core, the pro-life movement is about the value and equality of

all human beings

Also, despite being accused of being conservative and religious dogma, the pro-life

movement is composed of an incredibly diverse population. The movement includes, but is

not limited to, both feminists and atheists.

Pro-choice point of view

The belief that every woman should have the right to make decisions over her own

life and body. Denying a woman an abortion is denying her the right to bodily

autonomy. According to Planned Parenthood, a strong pro-choice organization, these

:terms are defined much differently

Generally, people who identify as pro-choice believe that everyone has the basic “

human right to decide when and whether to have children. When you say you’re pro-

choice you’re telling people that you believe it’s OK for them to have the ability to

choose abortion as an option for an unplanned pregnancy — even if you wouldn’t

”.choose abortion for yourself

Directly below this statement, Planned Parenthood defines pro-life individuals as

”.those who are mostly concerned with the life of the “fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus

:pro-choice arguments

• A woman has the right over her own body and no women can call herself free until she

can consciously choose whether to be a mother or not.

• There are a thousand factors why a woman would seek abortion whether its unplanned

pregencies, rape victims, health issues, mental illness, or financial instability and once a

woman decides to get an abortion, she should be provided safe and legal means to do so.
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• A fetus in the first trimester is still not fully developed and completely dependent on the

mother meaning it cannot survive outside ts own. Thus, aborting it is not murder.

• Politicians and men in power introducing bills and laws regarding reproductive health and

abortion should be stopped unless it is favouring women’s best interest such as legalizing

abortion, providing safe clinics, and abolishing women prosecutions when seeking

abortion.

• In marriage, unplanned pregnancy can happen even during safe sex and bringing a child

to life if you can not provide necessities financially and psychologically is crueller than

not bringing it at all. Pro lifers who claim to care so much about ‘life’ are contradicting

themselves because life is not just being born but living with dignity.

• In teen or single mothers, so many young women lose their potential success and

education due to conception at a young age and knowing that women are also leaders in

society’s growth, hindering abortion would be deteriorating society’s improvement.

• Studies show that banning abortion does not necessarily stop abortion but in fact women

would seek unsafe and uncertified practitioners and clinics.

Pro life and anti abortion arguments:

 Abortion is wrong because aborting a fetus is taking away a life.

 Some extreme pro-lifers argue that even in the cases of rape, incest, or mother’s

health at risk, abortion is still morally wrong and completely forbidden

 This is totally disregarding one’s mental physical and psychological health. Rape,

assault, or abuse victims are already suffering so much trauma and pain and are not to

fit to bring a preborn child to term let alone raise a child. Hence if forced upon

pregnancy it is basically disregarding one’s autonomy.

 ‘Aborting a fetus is murder and no matter what a mother should make sacrifices to

bring the child to term.’ this is beyond controlling and as a matter of fact internalized

misogyny. Just because the woman is the one bearing the child does not make it

entirely her fault a pregnancy occurred, a male’s sperm was involved.

Statistics:

 1 in 4 Women will have an abortion by the age of 45.

 The majority of women who receive abortions (23-25%) do so because they feel the

timing is wrong or that they cannot financially provide for their child. 

 A very small percentage of women (<0.5% as of 2004) get an abortion because they

have conceived from rape.

 Around 4% of women who receive abortions do so because of health-related issues.

Women’s rights arguments in favour of abortion:

 women have a moral right to decide what to do with their bodies

 the right to abortion is vital for gender equality

 the right to abortion is vital for individual women to achieve their full potential

 banning abortion puts women at risk by forcing them to use illegal abortionists

 the right to abortion should be part of a portfolio of pregnancy rights that enables

women to make a truly free choice whether to end a pregnancy

Bodily rights:

Many people regard the right to control one's own body as a key moral right. If women are

not allowed to abort an unwanted foetus they are deprived of this right.

The simplest form of the women's rights argument in favour of abortion goes like this:

 a woman has the right to decide what she can and can't do with her body

 the foetus exists inside a woman's body

 a woman has the right to decide whether the foetus remains in her body

 therefore, a pregnant woman has the right to abort the foetus

The issue brings many ideas about human rights into brutally sharp focus.

 every human being has the right to own their own body

 a foetus is part of a woman's body

 therefore, that woman has the right to abort a foetus they are carrying

Pro-choice versus pro-life:

 Pro-choice arguments usually appeal to the mother’s right to bodily autonomy, and it is

because of the mother’s right to bodily autonomy that abortion is generally morally permissible.

Pro-life arguments usually appeal to the fetus’s right to life, and it is because of the fetus’s right

to life that abortion is generally morally forbidden. But these two positions are not monoliths.

Some people who are pro-life believe there are important exceptions regarding abortion. A

moderate pro-life position says that abortion is generally morally forbidden, except in cases

where the mother’s life is at risk, or when the pregnancy is caused by incest or rape.
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:References

BBC - Ethics - Abortion: Arguments in favour of abortion. (2014). BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/mother/for_1.shtml

Piper, K. (2020, November 2). Pro-Life and Pro-Choice: What Does It Mean? Focus on the Family.

/https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/pro-life-pro-choice

Chima, S. C. (2015). Ethical and legal dilemmas around termination of pregnancy for severe fetal

anomalies: A review of two African neonates presenting with ventriculomegaly and

holoprosencephaly. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26620620/#:%7E:text=Ethical

%20dilemmas%20such%20as%20women’s,pregnant%20women’s%20decisions%20regarding

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Scarfone, M. (2020, September 23). If you’re pro-life, you might already be pro-choice. The

Conversation. https://theconversation.com/if-youre-pro-life-you-might-already-be-pro-choice-

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