Introduction
The moral issue of abortion in the US remains relevant, especially nowadays, as Roe v. Wade has been overturned. With over 250,000 abortions conducted in 2019, abortion represents one of the most regularly executed medical procedures among reproductive-age females (Kortsmit et al., 2020). Civil disagreement enhances political, cultural, and social discourse on this topic by allowing opposing viewpoints to be publicly expressed and subjected to solid critique and rational analysis. The moral issue of abortion discussed in this thesis mainly reflects on liberal and conservative viewpoints, their contradictions and disparities, as well as my convictions.
Critical Reasoning Analysis
Importance of the Issue
Abortion is a constitutional and ethical problem that is equally fundamental to me as it is to society. Above all, I cherish the freedom of expression that allows for the logical quest for greater insight into political, ethical, and constitutional concerns like abortion. Promoting and respecting women’s human rights and safety in reproductive decisions is a serious concern for me. I believe that a woman who wishes to terminate a pregnancy must have access to the necessary amenities and care to end her pregnancy safely.
Common Points of View
Arguments for and against abortion are wide-ranging and exhaustive, with primary approaches being conservative or “pro-life” and liberal “pro-choice,” with some intermediate perspectives combining both. Abortion, often known as induced abortion, is the intentional termination of pregnancy via surgical or medicinal means (Vaughn, 2019). Conservatives believe that abortion in the majority of cases is not ethically justified. To be precise, in cases of threat to the mother’s life, abortion is mostly justified. The conservative school of thought holds that a fetus has the same moral value as a born human being. Abortion, therefore, would imply the murder of an innocent person with the same rights as any other adult citizen. The idea of human traits serves as a counterargument to the fallacy of the conservative approach. However, the embryo’s development from conception to delivery is a continuous process with no prominent landmarks along the route that would indicate a transformation into consciousness. Identifying the precise time when a fetus develops personhood characteristics may be challenging. This argument flows smoothly into a liberal view of the moral side of the problem.
The liberal perspective is that abortion is legal in most cases. The liberals’ reasoning, like the conservatives’, is founded on a particular viewpoint of the moral condition of the unborn. The liberal, on the other hand, claims that the fetus cannot be associated with a person and hence does not have absolute moral rights. According to this viewpoint, a woman has the right to make a decision but not the fetus, which makes abortion acceptable in the eyes of liberals. The conservative can raise an analogous criticism to the liberal’s argument. The liberal statement assumes that a fetus is a person after birth but not a person any time before giving birth. Thus, abortion is unethical in any other circumstance but allowed for just a short period right before delivery, raising the question of whether the periods are suitable and make a meaningful difference.
Personal Position
My stance on the matter is more liberal in nature. Hence, I support the “pro-choice” campaign and believe passionately in women’s freedom to make reproductive decisions. The rationale is based on a desire for gender equality. More specifically, the conception process involves both mother and father, indicating equal responsibility for the period of pregnancy. However, prohibiting abortion would remove women’s autonomy, not men’s, transferring responsibility to the mother.
Conclusion
Given the polarization of this subject in modern America, it is not rare that many people have conflicting views concerning abortion. The philosophical, governmental, and religious perspectives on abortion differ from one place to another. The act is legal in certain areas, including rape, and physical difficulties, if the woman’s life is in jeopardy or incest. Nonetheless, abortion remains a contentious moral, ethical, and legal problem, affecting millions of lives.
References
Kortsmit, K., Jatlaoui, T. C., Mandel, M. G., Reeves, J. A., Oduyebo, T., Petersen, E., Whiteman, M. K. (2020). Abortion surveillance — United States, 2018. Surveillance Summaries, 69(7), 1–29.
Vaughn, L. (2019). Doing ethics: moral reasoning, theory, and contemporary issues (5th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.