Abortion

Abortion

Abortion, the termination of pregnancy before birth, resulting in, or accompanied by, the death of a fetus (Webster Dictionary). Some abortions occur naturally because the fetus does not develop normally or because the mother has an injury or disorder that prevents her from carrying the pregnancy to full term. This type of spontaneous abortion is commonly known as a miscarriage. Other abortions are induced-that is, intentionally brought on-because a pregnancy is unwanted or presents a risk to women's health (Day, 2006).

Induced abortion is the focus of this paper and has become one of the most intense and polarizing ethical and philosophical issues of the twenty-first century. Modern medical techniques have made induced abortions simpler and less dangerous. In the United States, the debate over abortion has led to battles in the court.

As noted earlier, abortion has become one of the most widely debated issues of our time. There are pro-choice supporters-individuals, who favor a woman's reproductive rights, including the right to choose to have an abortion. Also, there are the pro-life advocates who oppose abortion except in extreme circumstances, as when the mother's life would be threatened by carrying a pregnancy to full term. Then on the other hand are pro-choice defenders who believe the fetus is only a potential human being until it is viable. Until this time the fetus has no legal rights. The rights belong to the woman carrying the fetus, who can decide whether or not to bring the pregnancy to full term. Finally, are pro-life supporters, who believe the fetus is a human being from the time of conception (Day, 2006). The fetus has the legal right to life from the moment the egg and sperm unite.

A variety of ethical arguments have been made on both sides of the abortion issue, but no consensus or compromise has ever been reached. In the public policy debate the most vocal pro-choice and pro-life champions have radically different views about the status of a fetus. Embryology, the study of fetal development, offers little insight about the fetus's status at the moment of conception. When a fetus becomes viable is constantly changing, with every passing year, medical advances make it possible to keep a premature baby alive at an earlier stage. The current definition