...Individual Rights More Important Than Human Life? By Talha Sajjad English 161: Academic II Dr. William Ford University of Illinois at Chicago May 3rd, 2010 There are protests and demonstrations held every day, yet somehow abortion is still legal in the United States. In the decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women have the right, given to them by the Constitution, to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy (Infoplease). Hundreds of protesters gather outside clinics that offer abortions and try to present their position on the issue, but it seems as though their cries and complains are never heard. The main question that we must decide on is this: is it just to take away human life before it even has the chance to be lived? Several countries around the world have outlawed the practice of abortion. When deciding the abortion issue, its women’s rights as citizens of the United States versus the religious beliefs of a majority of citizens. What is more important, the sanctity of life or allowing murder on the basis of one’s right to choose? Given the abortion procedure allows women sexual and reproductive freedom, it has unconsciously led to a trend where abortion is being used as a method of contraception. In the United States, 49% of the pregnancies are unintended and American women used abortion as a tool to terminate almost half of these pregnancies (Infoplease). Abortion was not meant to be used in accidental pregnancies...
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...Abortion – Moral or Immoral? I would argue that abortion is immoral. Abortion is a debate that continues day in, day out, year in, year out. We have laws that have been set into place, yet the debate continues. The opposing sides in the debate each strongly believe they are right. The pro-choice supporters see a woman's right to choose as central to the debate. The pro-choice advocates see the life of the baby as the most important concern. Very little middle ground exists on the issue of abortion. I. When Does Life Begin? [1] "Development of the embryo begins at Stage 1 when a sperm fertilizes an oocyte and together they form a zygote." — England, Marjorie A. Life Before Birth. 2nd ed. England: Mosby-Wolfe, 1996, p.31 "Human development begins after the union of male and female gametes or germ cells during a process known as fertilization (conception). "Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being." — Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2 [2] The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th ed. Keith L. Moore, Ph.D. & T.V.N. Persaud, Md., (Philadelphia: W.B...
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...What is wrong with abortion. Abortion is an on-going phenomenon that has been shaping the world for many generations, breaking up families, disappointing religions, and has psychological distress; basically, it's the "removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order end a pregnancy” (Abortion). Abortion is tragic because it's a form of murder, it goes against religious teachings, and it avoids responsibility. In the Hills like White Elephants, the theme was about abortion, we examined how two people were affected by phenomenon or subject. The man and woman were set on getting an abortion, but since the man kept on pestering the women about the subject, she started getting mixed feelings about if she should get an abortion or keep the...
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...Hemingway. The topics of suicide and abortion are points of similarity between the two, illustrating Susan’s and the man’s selfish thought processes and decision-making. The stories do have considerable differences, however, in how they present and develop selfishness within the characters and the storyline itself. Both stories involve the decision to end life. In To Room Nineteen, Susan struggles with the home life she and her husband have created, seeking to temper her feelings with intelligent reasoning. Slowly she distances herself from her family until she finds herself on the brink of suicide, feeling hypocritical for “worrying about the children, when she was going to leave them” (Lessing 890). As she lay down with the gas filling the room, “she was quite content”. In Hills Like White Elephants, the man is working to convince his partner to undergo an abortion: “They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway 663) While she does not seem happy with the idea, he continues to reassure her that “We’ll be fine afterward. Like we were before. … It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (663). In To Room Nineteen, Susan’s life is “grounded in intelligence” and ruled by “sensible discrimination” (Lessing 866). Susan’s journey from a tolerant and logical outlook bordering on martyrdom to selfishness and suicide is progressive; a result of revelations for Susan that she needs more than a life that is “like a snake biting it’s tail”...
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...Abortion Fact #1: Every abortion kills an innocent human being. Every new life begins at conception. This is an irrefutable fact of biology. It is true for animals and true for humans. When considered alongside the law of biogenesis – that every species reproduces after its own kind – we can draw only one conclusion in regard to abortion: every single abortion ends the life of an innocent human being. Fact #2: Every human being is a person. Personhood is properly defined by membership in the human species, not by stage of development within that species. A living being's designation to a species is determined not by the stage of development but by the sum total of its biological characteristics. Fact #3: Beginning at conception, every pregnancy involves two or more bodies. No matter how you spin it, women don't have four arms and four legs when they're pregnant. Those extra appendages belong to the tiny human being(s) living inside of them. At no point in pregnancy is the developing embryo or fetus simply a part of the mother's body. Fact #4: It is just, reasonable, and necessary for society to outlaw certain choices. Any civilized society restricts the individual's freedom to choose whenever that choice would harm an innocent person. Therefore, it is impossible to justify abortion by simply arguing that women should be "free to choose." Fact #5: The right to not be killed supersedes the right to not be pregnant....
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...poet toward the theme of her subject matter-abortion. The poet uses varying points of view to convey the complexity of the issue being discussed, and the tone therefore becomes a complex thing in itself. Within the poem there is a tone of didacticism, censure, accusation, and understanding that is portrayed through the voice of the poet. The use of the pronoun “you” at the beginning of the poem universalizes the audience for whom the poem is intended, and makes it less personal. The poet is speaking directly to you, and its effect is a tone that is almost accusatory. YOU will not be able to forget. YOU will “remember the children that you got that you did not get”. The poet uses a paradox with the previous line to comment on the miracle of life, the wonder of conception. “The children that you got” was the life growing in the mother’s womb, and the mother got a child, she was carrying that miracle inside of her until she decided not to carry it through. She got a child, but she did not get it in the end. So despite the miracle, the mother has thrown it away. The poet shifts the tone to a graphic, uncomfortable feeling with a description of what an aborted fetus usually looks like, “damp small pulps with a little or with no hair”, and draws an almost didactic contrast between the dead and the potential lives of the fetuses, “the singers and workers that never handled the air.” The poet is teaching a lesson, it seems, about what abortion does to the future. Perhaps that fetus was...
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...and the legal system and the health care system. This is because they value life and their main aim is to protect the life and well being of people in all aspects. This will be an analysis of ethical issues and their relation to the cycle of life. The cycle begins from beginning of life, to sustaining and improving quality of life and ends with death and dying. In each cycle there are controversial issues involved (Meilaender, 2013). In the beginning of life there are various ethical issues that are relating to it. They are family planning, abortion and prenatal ethics. This paper will only focus on abortion. It is described as the intentional termination of a pregnancy before a baby is born. To many people, it is termed as an unethical practice. It is said that abortion is first degree murder and anyone caught in the act should be prosecuted. The main problem is that health care practitioners are the ones who help women have abortions. They do this criminal act at a small fee. This shows that both the person having the abortion and the health care practitioner do not respect life. They are terminating a pregnancy which means they have killed and innocent life (Maier, & Shibles, 2011). There are some cases where abortion can be legal. This is when a doctor prescribes it only and only if the child or the mother’s life is in danger. This is the only time when abortion is legalized. Abortion brings about many ethical issues. They can...
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...Robin Cypress CWV 101 April 26, 2015 Professor Bob Greene Abortion – From A Christian’s Perspective The ability to bring a life into the world after having carried and nurtured it in your womb for a woman is considered a gift and blessing to most, however there are times when the decision to bring a life into the world is clouded by another issue such as rape or fetal abnormalities at which point it becomes an ethical dilemma as to whether to bring that life into the world or to end the pregnancy and the life of the child. This paper will address the ethical dilemma, core beliefs, resolution, evaluation and comparison from the Christian perspective that should be considered during this process. Living life is a gift that God has given each of us and regardless of the circumstances to how we came here or what will be faced along our journey, until God decides to end it, He is the only one who should be capable of making that choice. Ethical Dilemma From the moment that a pregnancy is confirmed, feeling of the first movements, hearing the heartbeat, seeing them waving from the sonogram, to the actual birth, bringing a child into the world for many is an exceptional experience. It is not until you are faced with the possibility that something is wrong with the child such as a lifelong medical condition that you face a difficult decision as to whether to keep the child or terminate the pregnancy. For some the decision is an easy one because they feel within...
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...have at least one abortion by the time they are 45 years old.” These women all have abortion and give up the joy of being a mother. They also take away the life of an innocent baby (AbortionNO). “Abortion is the tearing of unborn life from limb to limb to end a pregnancy.” (Crossed) Abortion is killing. At the moment of conception, a new and unique human being comes into existence with its own genetically distinct DNA. It may be a different sex and have a different blood type than the mother. (AbortionNO). Abortion is never the way to handle a pregnancy because there are many side effects, there are other options, and it is murder. Abortions go back to the 1800’s. It used to be a matter no one would speak of. “Choices once unanimously considered criminal and rejected by the common moral sense are gradually becoming socially acceptable; it’s the culture of death” (Paul). Abortion was a back alley process, but now it is accepted by people and considered a women’s “choice”. There are also laws allowing these killings to happen. This has become a very controversial issue in today’s society. Some believe it is a women’s right to do what she wants with her body. While others think that life is started at the time of conception, which is why having an abortion is killing a life. “The very right to life is being denied or...
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...The Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks There are a good number of issues in the world that stand unsolved. The debates on some of them are on for ever and ever but a feasible solution has never risen in the horizon. The most prominent among these perennial issues is abortion. It is a topic that has been subjected to serious debate across all the parts of the world. However, so far we have arrived at a convincing answer to believe abortion to be secure and justified or as a heinous crime of the humanity. We have mixed responses, as the topic sways between religious and social perspectives. Gwendolyn Brooks in her poem “Mother” pays tribute to the unborn souls, whose lives were brought to an end by abortion. She begins the poem by addressing the mothers, who have been subjected to abortions. She say that though the mothers have aborted children but the memory of those unborn ones will never fade away from their memory. “The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair, The singers and workers that never handled the air”. Mothers can not forget these little ones that they carried for awhile. Brooks is very creative in her presentation of the concept. She says that as the children aborted were not given a chance to realize their full potentialities, the world can not be sure of what they would have become, if you were allowed to grow. Hence, she calls them as ‘singers and workers’. A touch of satire and irony is very much seen in her presentation of the topic. She says that these...
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...the theme of meaningless is contributed to many literary elements, in which setting, symbols, and characters will be discussed in this paper. In Hills like White Elephants, the story is primarily a conversation between an American man and a girl nicknamed Jig. The rift between the two characters is shown by the way the course of the conversation, in which it is merely just talking because neither of the characters is truly communicating with the other. Both the American man and the girl are talking but not listening to the other’s point of view. Although it is not mentioned by name, the operation they speak of is an abortion. The American man is frustrated and tries to convince the girl, his girlfriend, to have the operation anyway he can. He tells her things will go back to the way they used to be if she has the abortion. The girl’s mind keeps changing and she ends up telling him at one point that she will do it just to get him to shut up. After he still persists, the girl asks him “would you please, please, please, please,…stop talking” revealing her frustration with the man and also the strength she is going to need to help resolve her conflict. The girl’s nickname of Jig gives hints that the two just dance around each other with the issue at hand and don’t say anything meaningful. The setting of Hills like White Elephants is a train station,...
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...ABORTION The type of abortion procedure used in elective pregnancy termination is primarily determined by how far a woman is into pregnancy. During the first trimester, you will usually have the option of having a medical abortion procedure or a surgical abortion procedure. Before considering the options, it is recommended that you obtain a sonogram to determine if the pregnancy is viable and for accurate pregnancy dating.The Court established a right of personal privacy protected by the due process clause that includes the right of a woman to determine whether or not to bear a child. The Court dramatically increased judicial oversight of legislation under the privacy line of cases, striking down aspects of abortion-related laws in practically all the States, the District of Columbia, and the territories.The Court held that through the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, only a pregnant woman and her doctor have the legal right to make the decision about an abortion. States can restrict second-trimester abortions only in the interest of the woman's safety. Protection of a "viable fetus'' (able to survive outside the womb) is allowed only during the third trimester. If a pregnant woman's life or health is endangered, she cannot be forced to continue the pregnancy. In the five years before Roe, 16 states with 41 percent of the nation's population had liberalized their abortion laws. When the decision was announced, almost every state legislature was beginning its session...
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...progenies in the world terminate in induced abortion. More precisely, the number of induced abortion is nearly 50 million every year（Berer, M., 2000 ）. Induced abortion means “abortion brought on deliberately by drugs or mechanical means” (Stedman, T. L.，2008). It can be defined as an abortion that is preceded initiatively, which is opposite to spontaneous abortion. According to World HeaWHO (1993), every year the number of woman who chooses abortion is about 1.5 million in United States. Almost half of American women get unplanned pregnancy, and 54% of these end in abortion (Finer LB &ump; Zolna MR, 2011). Nearly one fifth of pregnancies end in abortion (Jones RK &ump; Kooistra, K, 2011). The laws on abortion have developed varied in countries since there are different social and moral perceptions due to the different cultures. In Great Britain, only medical professionals are able to provide abortion（rethinking of abortion p13）. While it comes to Northern Ireland and the Irish republic , the law only allow women to get information of abortion and have abortion outside of their states (rethinking of abortion p19).Abortion is always a sensitive topic when it is regarded as killing a person surrounding with social and political discussion. It seems that the debate between anti-abortion and the opponents is increasing heated (BEYOND CHOICE P19).Woman tend to choose illegal abortion when it is unavailable for legal abortion, even it is unsafe with poor conditions and...
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...Yimeng Zhang Professor Haru D. Dewi English 21011 10/01/2013 Abortion: An Unknown Adventure In ancient time, women had relatively low possibility to do abortion, because technology was not enough, which means women need take high risk to do that. As time went by, the science and technology developed more completely and mature in our modern society. Even though the success rate of abortion has a qualitative leap, abortion is still an adventure. Abortion not only brings physical injury and psychological trauma to women, but it deprives the lives of innocent babies. First of all, abortion causes serious physical injury to women. There is a potential risk on abortion, because no one can make sure that it is one hundred percent success. From National Right to Life News, it declared that “a large-scale, record-based study conducted in Finland by Gissler and colleagues established post-pregnancy death rates within one year that were nearly four times greater among women who aborted their pregnancies than among women who delivered their babies”(“Abortion’s Deleterious Effects on Women” 19). It represents do abortion is much more dangerous than babies delivering. Furthermore, the most dangerous situation is that women may lose the ability to have children, that’s to say, you can’t be pregnant again. It is not alarmism. Because the uterus is easily hurt during the process of abortion, and then the zygote will be hard to implant. Even though the surgery is successful, a series of sequelae...
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...It is estimated that 45-55 million abortions take place in just one (NHS, 2012), 87% of these take place in the first twelve weeks of prgnancy, making the average age for abortions taking place to be 9.5 weeks. However it is also shown that in teenagers the foetus is aborted at a younger age than would be with an older woman, this is thought to be because of pressure in decision making and the fear of parents of younger women finding out about the pregnancy. In the UK you can have an abortion until the foetus becomes viable (could live indepently) which is 24 weeks according to , you could therefore call this a pro-choice country where freedom reigns. Abortion became legal in the UK in 1967 under the name of the Abortion Act. Although it may seem a woman could have an abortion when requested, however two doctors must agree that at least one of the reasons are valid so that an abortion can take place legally. The first reason is that prgnancy is putting the mother's life at risk, the second being that the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother's mental and physical health whilst an additional child will impose on the resto the family and cause a risk to the mother's health and finally that the child to be born is severeley handicapped. According to the mother's age is not always considered if the other's life is in danger. Consequently if the abortion needs to take place urgently, a second doctor's consent is not needed (Abortion Act, ) however a young mother under the...
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