The Abortion Debate

Abortion is a very polarizing topic in America. People have definitive views on the subject. Many in the United States regard this as one of the most important topics to be addressed and politician’s develop entire campaigns around abortion knowing they will gain votes entirely because of their stance on the topic. Anti-choice advocates believe that abortion is nothing less than murder. Christians believe in the existence of the soul, and the abortion dispute is fueled by the religious conviction that life begins at conception. Religious groups are the foundation of the anti-abortion movement. The Catholic Church opposes abortion in all circumstances and most other religious denominations are against it unless the mother’s life is in

For example, the state cannot force people to donate organs or blood, even to save someone’s life. Therefore, even if a fetus has a right to life, a pregnant woman should not be required to save it by loaning out her body for nine months against her will. A fetuses supposed right to life wouldn’t automatically overrule a woman’s right to choose. A right to life should require that one be an individual capable of living an independent existence. A fetus is not a seperate individual, it lives inside a pregnant woman and depends on her for its

The majority of pro-lifers are conservative and Republican. Middle-aged white men who will never have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. It's hypocritical because the very basis of Republican ideology is that the government should be un-influential in the private lives of its citizenry. Yet these are the same people who want to mess with a woman's right to her own body. So pregnant women are the only exception to their philosophy? Historically, a fetus has never (or very rarely) been considered a person or human being, at least not before "quickening", an old-fashioned term indicating noticeable movement of the fetus. The Catholic Church generally disliked abortion because it represented illicit sex, not because it killed a fetus. The church did not make abortion an excommunicable crime until 1869.[3] Further, the wide variety of laws throughout the world were written specifically to protect born human beings and their property. There is virtually no legal precedent for applying such laws to fetuses.[4] Even when abortion was illegal, it had a lesser punishment than for murder, and was often just a misdemeanor.[5] The anti-choice view of fetuses as persons is therefore a novel and peculiar one, with little historical or legal precedent to back it