In recent years, a particularly controversial topic in politics is the issue of abortion. Abortion is the act of prematurely and deliberately ending a pregnancy. The moral dilemma that the debate revolves around is both highly sensitive and controversial in that it deals not only with the rights and power women have over their bodies but also concerns itself with the ethics surrounding personhood. The two differing sides in the debates over abortion are the anti abortion pro-life and the pro abortion pro-choice groups. Pro-life support relies on the intrinsic rights that a fetus has. That by aborting the fetus, one is still killing a human being and that is wrong. Pro-choice support is more focussed on the rights of the women involved. This includes the right to own and govern one’s own body and life. Additionally, the privacy of the individual is of utmost importance and relies on the idea that women should have a right to an abortion with no questions or opposition. I will argue that abortion is ethically permissible because of the rights I believe women should have over their bodies, along with the mental and physical ramifications of denying women abortion rights. The modern legal structure surrounding abortion is highly reliant on the landmark case of Roe vs Wade in 1973. …show more content…
Viability is generally considered the point in which the fetus would be able to survive separate from the mother, even though it may be assisted survival. Personhood is highly subjective and the definition can vary from conception, to first heartbeat, or upon reaching viability. Rather than being linked, being a human being is different that being a person despite how difficult the line between the two is to find. This topic however will be discussed later in this