Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro And Con.

Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro and Con.

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in the world nowadays. Currently, abortion is legal in America, and many people believe that it should remain legal. These people, pro-choice activists, say that it is the women's right whether or not to have a child. However, there are many groups who are lobbying the Congress to pass laws that would make abortion illegal. These people are called the pro-life activists.

Both pro-life and pro-choice activists refer to religion to back up their point of view. Pro-life supporters claim that human life begins at conception. Therefore, abortion is a murder of a person. Conversely, pro-choice activists say that personhood at conception is not a provable biological fact, it is a religious belief. For example, Mormon churches believe in personhood at conception. However, Judaism holds that it begins at birth, and abortion is not a murder. Islam claims that abortion within 40 days after conception is not a murder, because the fetus is not given soul yet.

Some pro-life supporters refer to their opponents as "pro-abortionists", because they support the right to choose a legal abortion. Member of pro-choice organizations point out that "pro-abortion" is inaccurate, as it implies favoring abortion over child birth. Pro-choice activists support reproductive freedom, which means that an individual woman should be able to make her own choice.

"Right to Life" organization is trying to stop abortions, their opinion is that abortions should be outlawed in the United States. Their argument is that the right to life must be protected. In contrast, their opponents point out that laws have never stopped abortion, but only relegated it to the so-called back-alley butchers. They state that illegal abortion would kill more and more pregnant women in America.

Pro-life supporters have a strong argument against abortion: it is morally wrong. Pro-choice activists, however, claim that under certain circumstances abortion is morally right. For instance, abortion is considered by them to be right when we need to preserve the life or health of the mother; or to terminate pregnancy brought about by rape; or, for example, to prevent a child being mentally or physically disabled.

Whose right is more important: the one of an unborn or the one of a woman? Pro-life supporters say that the right of the unborn supersedes any right of a woman to "control her own body". But the founder of the American Birth Control League, Margaret Sanger, has an opposite opinion, "No woman can call herself free who does not own and controls her own body." This concept became fundamental for pro-choice women.

"Right to Life" activists want to pass a "human life amendment" to the Constitution, declaring the unborn to be full persons from the moment of conception. It is a biological fact that the heart begins to beat around twenty-two days from conception. Pro-choice supporters dispute that if a "person" were defined as beginning at conception, then abortion would be the crime of a murder. Women's bodies, rights and health would be subordinated to the protection of the embryo. Pro-choice organizations predict catastrophic consequences of such an amendment. For instance, no abortions would be permitted for any reason, including rape or incest. Each miscarriage would have to be investigated.

"Right to Life" movement activists claim that abortion should not be permitted for rape, because it is wrong