Abortion

Abortion has been discussed as an ethical and legal question since people have written records. People tend to adopt two main standpoints: pro-life or pro-choice. The first group believes that women should not have an abortion because it is a murder; the second advocates the legal right to choose. However, there is no clear-cut line between the two sides; each has some variations depending on how conservative or liberal one’s opinions are. Some pro-life adherents consider that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, as well as some pro-choice individuals who favor waiting periods and other restrictions. The following essay discusses conflicting opinions on abortion and presents the objective perspective of outstanding Greek

The pro-life group, in general, is completely against everything that concerns abortions (Walker 180-181). The key point in the pro-life argument is that abortion is a murder and if a child is conceived, then they should be given at least an attempt to live. Furthermore, most religions do not endorse abortion; they consider the fetus as a human being with a soul from conception. Therefore, abortion is an infanticide, which is immoral and should be illegal (LaFollete 121). From the moment of conception till death a fetus has a distinct, unrepeatable, and unchanging genetic code, unique throughout the history. Most proponents of this group believe that all babies may have a considerable potential. Consequently, a woman risks to kill an embryo that could be significant to the society or even the world when he or she grows up.

Another reason people believe abortions should be forbidden is because a woman faces many dangers and risks of both medical and emotional nature. Undesirable psychological side effects following abortion can range from mild regret to more serious complications, such as depression. It is often claimed that late abortions are more problematic from ethical and health standpoint than early because the medical risks to a pregnant woman increase with the length of gestation. Furthermore, early abortions are preferable to late from a technical point of view; the easier the procedure, the slighter risk for the woman’s health (LaFollete 126). The late stage abortions increase the possibility of serious complications and affect woman's future ability to conceive or give birth.

The pro-choice group believes that abortion has many positive effects that help to keep children from being born in bad surroundings (Walker 180-181). Every baby should be born into the world loved, wanted, and cared. A planned child often has brighter life prospects since parents are emotionally and financially prepared to support their kid (LaFollete 130). A different reason for abortion is when a woman was raped. It is a hard situation for a woman to go through forced intercourse, bearing, and giving a birth to an unwanted child. In such cases, she should have a choice of the birthing process or abortion. Such cases are not rare as one might think, in fact, happen very often. Both these pros to abortion are the key aspects to pro-choice belief.

Furthermore, pro-choice proponents do not necessarily are pro-abortion: they want women to have control over their bodies and future. Abortion in overall is a safe procedure; less than one percent of abortions performed before twenty-one weeks cause major complications such as infection or hemorrhage. The option to abort is a good choice when carrying or giving a birth to a child stands a chance of hurting or killing a mother. Obviously, the rational reason is to save a mother; it is better if she lives rather than tries to give a birth to a child and both might die. A mother is in priority; therefore, it should be her who decides what she endures both physically and mentally (LaFollete 125-130).

Abortion is a controversial issue that has been debated in all practical philosophies. Greek philosophers, in general, accepted abortion. Early thinkers agreed that a fetus was not formed and started to live after approximately 40 days after conception; therefore, early abortions were permitted. Aristotle discussed the normative issue, but he seemed to say that only early abortions were permissible and offered a relatively straightforward criterion for determining when they were not. He thought that abortion was allowed for the population control and that numerical limit had to be set upon procreation. Consequently, if the birth rate is too high an abortion must be performed before the beginning of life and sensation (Lu 47-49).

Plato, for instance, mentions abortion performed by midwives and advocates it for those who have passed the age of lawful procreation. He supposed that women over forty years old who conceived children had to abort or expose a child to death after the birth. Whenever the patients were beyond the age that he thought as the best for reproducing, the embryo had to be destroyed. However, Plato held a view that abortion should be committed only when the population was dense (LaFollete 113). He shared this view with Aristotle; Plato considered abortion the best way to keep growing population within the limits, which was essential for a well-organized community.

There are two sides pro-life and pro-choice and both present reasonable arguments. There are many explanations to have abortion such as health or financial problems. Furthermore, there are some reasons to prohibit it because of religious convictions and physical and mental harm to a woman. Most Greek philosophers commended abortion as means to control a birth rate.

For them an embryo was not brought to life from the moment of conception; therefore, abortion did not mean a destruction of a living being.