ABORTION:WHO DECIDES YOUR MORALITY?Gennifer George

Liberal Arts Capstone

What is an Abortion?

Defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “any of the various surgical methods for terminating a pregnancy, especially during the first six months.”

Pro-Choice

Making an abortion illegal, doesn’t stop abortions. Approximately 78,000 women DIE each year from unsafe abortions

where they are illegal. The number of abortions does not change regardless of whether

abortion is legal or illegal. Religious ideology has absolutely no place in the law.

The United States is founded in part on a separation between church and state. Why then does religion have any say in what is legal or not?

The majority of law-makers in this country are men. Men cannot ever get pregnant, so what makes them remotely

authoritative of a women’s reproductive system? An abortion is a medical procedure that should be between a

woman and her doctor. Would you see your local politician for a toothache?

Pro-Life

Abortion is murder. A child is a life even at conception, and

abortion takes that life. Abortion should not be a form of

contraception. There are perfectly acceptable forms of birth

control available to men and women. Use them.

The emotional trauma of an abortion may last a lifetime.

The Moral Arguments

Morality depends upon reality What is determines what is seen as right.

Does a 15 year old child who was raped by her step-father have a moral obligation to bring his child into the world and raise him/her?

Deontologists View Morally wrong for another human being to suffer in

order for another human being to be fulfilled. The moral law, or “Categorical Imperative” must

be followed in all aspects of life, regardless of the effect on a person’s happiness.

Abortion would be morally wrong.

Morality Continued

Utilitarian View Takes the circumstances into account in

relationship to happiness to use the “Greatest Happiness Principle.”

Abortion does not equate to happiness, however, depending upon the situation, it could be the “greatest happiness principle” for all involved.

Conclusion

Abortion is always going to be an emotional issue with two very different arguments. Happiness is subjective, and not everyone

can be happy about the same things. Only the pregnant woman contemplating

an abortion can decide whether an abortion is right for her.