Where there is a woman's body, there will be controversy. For years, the existence of an embryo and its weight of life on a mother has been heavily debated. A person's views on abortion show what rights they assign to an unborn child, and how those rights are weighed and compared to the health and life circumstances of a mother. Abortion commonly uncovers political stances, and in politics, the rights and qualities of society are heavily conversed and pondered.
On a personal level, I have always resided with the ideology that a person should be allowed to choose what's best for their situation, meaning pro-choice has always been what I’ve considered to be morally correct. Between the perspectives of pro-choice and pro-life, there’s been an argument for years, especially after the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, bringing whether abortion is inhuman or acceptable, and if a person considers it to be murder or not, to be an extremely relevant question in the current state of the world.
Perspective #1: Pro-Life
Those who identify themselves as pro-life are those that prioritize the health and life of an unborn child. An article written by the Advocacy team of Focus on the Family named “Abortion Ethics: Is It Ever Okay?”, depicts the reality between perspectives, demonstrating it thoroughly through scientific research and real quotes from surgeons and other medical professionals, while relying closely on pro-life. The advocacy team states that an abortion is not true medical care. This perspective argues that in no instance is abortion ethical, meaning it’s believed in any circumstance, the chemical or surgical removal of an embryo is considered murder. Obviously, this proves pro-life considers abortion to be morally unjust, as no act involving the purposeful loss of a life is justifiable in any situation. This perspective believes, backed by certain scientific data, that at the very moment an egg is fertilized, the development process and life begins. Within the text, the author cited an infamous Princeton article that proves that “human life comes into existence with the formation of the one-celled zygote”(Focus on the Family), playing into the belief that abortion is murder and inhumane.
Perspective #2: Pro-Choice
Individuals who believe that people have the right to their own reproductive health, rights, and medical preferences such as a procedure like abortion, are often referred to as “pro-choice”. They believe that abortions are involved within medical preferences, as well as reproductive health. Similar to pro-life, they believe in their own choice of scientific data that supports their beliefs, and only their beliefs. Bonnie Steinbock, from the Hasting Center of Bioethics believes, “a one-celled zygote, is not a person” Steinbock), meaning that it does not consist of individuality nor pain receptors, making the aspect of surgical or chemical removal of the zygote, is not considered to be murder. Since the embryo has no sense of true life or experience, performing an abortion would be nothing more than removing waste from the body, making it morally justifiable as no true life is lost.
Similarities and Differences
Both of these views have the same ideology in mind: they both hold deep values for life, yet when it comes down to the true identities of each of these perspectives, they have little to no similarities. One thing that is true about each side is they only choose to believe scientific data that relates to their opinion on the issue, ultimately discounting the rest to remain true to what they believe. While pro-life values life as a whole and attempts to keep it continuously moving as possible, pro-choice is known to be one that promotes the wellbeing of the mother and the quality of life for the fetus. Pro-life is fully against abortion, no matter the circumstances and views it as damaging to society, and alternatively, pro-choice is for abortion and sees it as justifiable within reason.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Both of these perspectives have pros and cons as well as strings and exceptions tied onto them. Strength-wise, pro-life, easily suggested by the name, values any sort of life no matter how small and views every stage of fetal development as crucial and worthy, however this concept of keeping zygotes and small embryos alive fails to acknowledge the mother’s health as well as the infant's living circumstances. This stance believes life happens for a reason, discounting the effects of rape and financial troubles. This stance values the child over the mother, meaning if the mother could die from birth, they suggest to go through with the delivery.
Opposingly, pro-choice cares for the health, whether physical or mental, of the mother and infant during pregnancy. This stance offers that the already living mother has the right to decide her own outcomes for her child-to-be as well as herself. It values the importance of living a fulfilling life and allowing for the safety of the child. Unfortunately, this is often taken advantage of as people use abortion as a way to discard their own un-thoughtful actions, such as having unprotected intercourse without preparation for parenthood, having multiple partners, or having intercourse underage. In cases, pro-choice can encourage more instances of rape as the attacker believes their actions may not have consequences as abortion is easily accessible.
Compromise:
There is not much middle ground within the subject of abortion between pro-life and pro-choice, but there is one distinct place where both parties could be mostly satisfied with the result. Vitro fertilization is the act of taking an egg from a biological-female’s ovaries, and in a laboratory setting, fertilizing the egg with a biologically-male’s sperm. From this, the egg can be placed into the uterus of another woman, usually resulting in impregnation.
However, there is no scientifically proven way to remove an embryo that has already received fertilization and is growing, and enter into an external party's body and allow it to grow, meaning the egg being removed would have to remain unfertilized prior to transfer. Despite this, I believe this could be a way to prevent harm on both sides. For pro-life, the fetus can grow and develop in a willing body who is ready to be a mother, or someone who is willing to give a child to another being. On the other hand, for pro-choice, it is completely optional, and if a being is not willing to bear the life of a child, they have no obligation to. Without the loss of a life, this makes for both sides to remain pleased whilst keeping their own beliefs around the subject.
Sources:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abortion/
Abortion Ethics: Is It Ever Okay? - Focus on the Family
https://www.thehastingscenter.org/briefingbook/abortion/
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