History of Abortion

Pre-history To 5th Century.

Abortion is an issue that has been with us for a long time. It can be traced back as far as the 5th Century. The Egyptian Ebers Papyrus contained the first recorded instance of induced abortion, which is presumed to have occurred at around 1550 BC. There is a Chinese record that shows the number of royal concubines who incurred abortions in China between 500-515 BC.

5th Century To 16th Century.

This was the “early period” during which the Church treated abortion of the pre-quickened fetus as anticipated homicide, homicide by intent, or quasi-homicide.

17th Century To Present.

During the fight for women’s suffrage in the U.S., which occurred around the mid-to-late 19th century,many feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed abortion.

During the second wave of feminism which occurred around 1970, abortion and reproductive rights were the unifying issues among various women’s rights groups in Germany, Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.

The issue of abortion has generated and continues to generate controversy wherever and whenever it is brought up. There are numerous movements and organisations that have come up to speak out against it, that is the pro-life groups while at the same time other groups have been steadfast in declaring there support for abortion.

Governments have also not been left behind in this argument, with many Western countries legalising abortion while others have refused to even entertain that thought.

How Views On Abortion Have Changed In The United States

Before 2005, Americans had generally been known to be pro-choice, meaning they advocated for an independent stand for eveyone. They generally believed that people, and especially women should be left to decide whether or not they want to incur abortions. Since it is their bodies and their lives that are at stake, they should be left alone to make up their minds on what they want.

This stance however changed after 2005, with numerous polls conducted countrywide indicating that there were now more people supporting the pro-life group compared to the pro-choice group. Polls carried out by Gallup and CNN indicated a close contest between the two factions, but the pro-life group emerged ahead in most of the polls.( Baird, R.M. and Rosenbaum, S.E. (2007). The Ethics Of Abortion Pro-life Vs. Pro-Choice)

Gallup, for example has been carrying out polls on the abortion debate since 1995, but it was in 2007 that it managed to release results that were different from those of the previous years.

A survey by CNN in May 2007 revealed the following results:

45% of Americans were pro-choice with 50% being pro-life.

Gallup has released a number of results concerning the same survey and although the figures varied, they point towards the same direction. It is a close call, but currently the pro-life faction leads by 46% compared to the pro-choice group that enjoys 45% support.

Other polls have managed to narrow their surveys so that women, men and the general population can voice their opinions about the abortion issue. Generally, most Americans have been shown to be either pro-life or pro-choice. This, however is still dependent on circumstances which are varied and different from person to person and place to place.

These circumstances or conditions include things like:

Rape or incest

Stage of a pregnancy

When the life or mental health of the mother is in danger

Gender

Political affiliation(Democrat, Republican or any other party affiliation)

The health or mental status of the child, for example if he/she would be born with a physical or mental impairement.

When the mother or family cannot afford to raise the child

Abortion is currently legal in the United States and it has been so in every state since January 22 1973 following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, although this continues to attract a lot of criticism mainly from Catholics and Evangelicals who are strongly opposed to abortion.

Reasons Why People Would Be Pro-abortion

Pro-abortionists usually offer a number of reasons for their continued and steadfast support for abortion. These reasons are varied and actually depend on a number of factors, but they can all be grouped into three broad categories:

Moral factors

Ethical factors

Religious factors

Moral factors

Moral Factors

Sentience

This is the argument that it is the development of actual sentience and consciousness and not just there pre-conditions that makes any being be accorded moral status. It claims that only those beings that have the ability to feel pain and experience pleasure that can be considered to have a moral status.

Most abortions are usually carried out when the foetus has not yet developed these sensations, and therefore since it cannot feel any pain it is morally correct to abort.

ii) Personhood

According to this theory, a person is generally defined as someone with the ability to reason, interact socially and have a sense of responsibilty and self-awareness. They must also be able to communicate and engage in self-motivated activity. It is wrong to kill a person, but foetuses do not possess any of these attributes and therefore it is not morally wrong to kill them.

iii) Potentiality

This is normally extended from the concept of personhood. It argues that a foetus is not a fully developed human being. If left to grow it can mature into a human being but in its current state it cannot exhibit any traits associated with humans, and therefore cannot be considered to be human. As a result, there is nothing wrong, at least morally, with killing it.

Ethical Factors

This greatly manifests itself in the fact that people, and women in particular have a number of rights over their bodies and they are independent at the same time.

The women involved usually have interests, rights and preference that must be given proper consideration.( Petchesky, R.P. (2008). Abortion and Woman’s Choice : The State, Sexuality, and Reproductive Freedom)

Women, just like any other human being are protected by constitutions by being afforded rights and freedoms. They should therefore be allowed the space and time to exercise their freedoms and rights when it comes to their bodies and the right to abort, just like they do when it comes to other rights like the right to vote and to associate with others.

It is therefore ethically correct to allow women to abort if she wants to, and it is ethically wrong to force a woman to carry a pregnancy she does not want and then give birth to a baby she does not want as well.

Religious Factors

Pro-abortionists usually point to the fact that there is no instance in the Bible where it is said that it is a sin to commit abortion. Strangely enough, Judaism seems to support this stand. It argues that a foetus is merely a potential human being, not a person, and therefore there is no sin in killing it.

In addition to this, it also says that a foetus’ life is subordinate to its mother’s and that the mother is actually more innocent than the foetus. There are also religious organizations that joined together to form the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Health which appear to support the notion held by the Jews.

These organizations include the United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church(USA).

Reasons Why People Would Be Against Abortion

Moral Factors

This is mainly supported by the argument that humans are not classified as humans simply because they have legs, hands, eyes, speak or walk vertically.

It is a direct response to the notion that since a foetus cannot do those things that are associated with being human it is not human and therefore there is nothing wrong with killing it. It says that what is growing in the womb of the woman is alive even if it is a single cell, and at the same time the nature of the life that is growing in the woman is human.( Brodie, J. (2006). The Politics of Abortion)

It is not a bird or a fish. A person who cannot see, walk, talk, grasp or hear is still a human. The absence of physical features cannot rob him/her of humanity and therefore just like it is wrong to take away his life, it is morally wrong to kill a foetus.

Ethical Factors

It is legally and ethically wrong to intentionally take the life of a human being, since in the view of anti-abortionists, a foetus is alive and human even though it cannot do the things that normal human beings do. Life begins at conception. At the same time, the right to controll and use their bodies whichever way they want to does not guarantee women the right to commit murder. (Garfield, J. (2009). Abortion : Moral and Legal Perspectives)

It should be used to encourage them to exercise controll over their bodies by using contraceptives or abstaining from sex altogether. In case of rape or incest proper medical care can be offerred in order to prevent pregnancy, therefore this should not be used as an excuse to carry out abortions in the name of unwanted pregnancies.

Religious Factors

This is supported by one of the most important commandments of all: Thou Shall Not Kill. Anti-abortionists point to the bible and the sixth commandment as the absolute proof that abortion is wrong religiously and morally. God outlaws murder, and abortion is murder, therefore it is a sin.

There is no instance in the bible where the killing of an unborn infant is mentioned, but anti-abortionists still use several verses and quotes to support their claim. These include the following:

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? (Job 31:15).

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God (Psalm 22:9-10).

The Roman Catholic Church has long been one of the most vocal religious bodies that has spoken out against abortion, saying that life begins at conception, all life is sacred according to God and therefore abortion is a sin.( Macleod, C.I. (2010). ‘Adolescence’, Pregnancy and Abortion. )

Anti-abortionists like to say that there are other religions like Budhism, Islam and Hinduism that condemn abortion. They also claim that even atheists consider abortion wrong.

Works Cited

Macleod, C.I. (2010). ‘Adolescence’, Pregnancy and Abortion. New York:Routledge Academic.

Baird, R.M. and Rosenbaum, S.E. (2007). The Ethics Of Abortion Pro-life Vs. Pro-Choice. New York: Prometheus Books.

Petchesky, R.P. (2008). Abortion and Woman’s Choice : The State, Sexuality, and Reproductive Freedom (Northeastern Series in Feminist Theory)Brodie, J. (2006). The Politics of Abortion.

Garfield, J. (2009). Abortion : Moral and Legal Perspectives. New York: Routledge Press.