Abortion
When is life, life? This is a very relevant question and one which should be answered as scientifically accurately as possible. According to the Oxford Australian Student’s Dictionary the tern life is defended as a period during which something exists or continues to function. According to the same source human is defined as having the qualities that distinguish mankind, not divine, or animal, or mechanical. One scientific argument is that by three weeks the unborn’s heart starts pumping it’s own circulatory system and by sic weeks brain activity can be recorded. If doctors measure death by brain death then life should at least be measured by brain life. Going back to the Oxford Australian Student’s Dictionary it says that life is a period during which something exists or continues to function. Since the embryo’s heart functions at three weeks then that’s when life should become life. The Catholic church would take this even further and say that life starts at the point of conception. This is quoted from What’s wrong with Abortion? By a new Zealand Bishop in 1989, “Because of their creation in the image of God every human being is special, unique, and has his or her origin, nature and destiny to fulfil. Rich or poor, strong or weak, young or old, born or unborn, every life is sacred.” Despite all this there is a very successful argument for abortion. This involves the rights of women. They claim to have the right to keep the government out of such personal issues. If the woman chooses not to have the baby, then that’s her choice. But many do believe, especially Catholics, that aborting the pregnancy is simply killing and innocent life.
Everyone knows that killing another human is wrong. No just because the law forbids it, but because it goes against all our moral and ethical beliefs about the importance of human life. Why then are people allowed to terminate the life of an unborn child? The Catholic church states that all life is sacred no matter what, whether born or unborn makes no difference. An argument from Abortion Equals Murder published July 18th 2005 states that abortion is not just murder, but absolute torture. The writer explains that no precautions what so ever are taken to make sure the baby is anaesthetised. They go onto say that during the three main methods used during abortion, the baby is kill in probably the most horrific and painful way possible. Arguments against this state that since the baby is not “alive” then it does not feel any pain. In Abortion Arguments it explains that the foetus is within the mother’s body and she produced it, therefore she should have the right to terminate it as she does any other part of her body. “The case of Roe vs. Wade, presented to the supreme court in 1973, made the option of abortion legal to women across the nation. The struggle still remains on the moral ethics behind it. Is abortion the murder of an unborn child? Many argue that the rights of the mother exceed the rights of the foetus, and that while the foetus is a living organism it does not constitute for a human being. With these aspects in mind the concept of abortion is justifiable.” This was also quoted fro Abortion Arguments. How anyone can justify the killing of an innocent child is beyond reason, and mothers who have abortions can also be harmed.
What people may not be aware of is that abortion is also potentially dangerous to women. “The proportion of women sho are reported as having complications has fallen from 5.8% (1970 - 74) to 0.6% (2000). However, within this small percentage, infection (9.4%), haemorrhage during surgery (46.9%), and perforation of or trauma to the body of the uterus (3.1%) are still a concern.” This is from page fourteen of The Abortion Issue. According to that only a small percentage of women suffer complications, however a large percentage of those are very serious, even life threatening complications. Page seven of Whose Life is It? also claim that abortions can be dangerous, not just physically but mentally, with many women becoming severely upset or depressed. Page sixteen of The Abortion Issue states, “So we can find the woman who tried to pick p her pre-abortion life style struggling with depression, tearfulness, anxiety, guilt, anger and sadness”. There are very few arguments about this issue as such a high percentage are reported every year. If anyone is considering abortion then they should do a lot of research.
In Australia in excess of sixty thousand unborn babies are killed each year. Since 1977 will now over one million babies have been killed, legally. That’s more then in all major wars from 1899 to 2000. Arguments supporting abortion in rape cases have been used and supported but that still isn’t considered morally and ethically right by most, especially the Catholic church. Abortion may seem like a quick fix at the time, but there can be many harsh consequences and such actions are completely immoral and unethical and go against everything taught about the importance of human life.
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