Is Abortion Murder?

Many people believe that morals or ethics should not have any persuasion at all in our laws. Do you believe that slavery is immoral? Is the issue of slavery a moral position? Is the legislation on that moral position appropriate? Then what you have most likely said is that it is appropriate to legislate moral issues that you are in favor of. Should slavery be enforced purely as a moral issue? This is an important point because many people say that we should not force a particular morality on the issue of abortion. Slavery was brought up because it involves human rights, as abortion does also. The question is whether an unborn child is a human being that has the same inalienable rights that a black human being has. This stems the question, "Is abortion murder?" If so then there has been a legal genocide going on in the United States since 1973 with over 40 million victims. "Life, biologically speaking, begins at fertilization. We all begin with the same raw materials: an egg and a sperm. We are fully human when these gametes unite at fertilization, as nothing else is added to us- only nourishment and time to grow." (Earll, 2003) According to Carrie that means that we are human at the moment of conception. At this controversial point is where Carrie with the pro-lifers and the pro-abortionists butt heads. Pro-abortionists like Henry Morgentaler say that, "I believe that an early embryo may be called a potential human being. But remember that every woman has the potential to create twenty-five human beings in her lifetime. The idea that any woman who becomes pregnant as a result of non-procreative sexual intercourse must continue with her pregnancy does not take into consideration the fact that there is a tremendous discrepancy between the enormous potential of human fertility and the real-life ability of women and couples to provide all that is necessary to bring up children properly." (Morgentaler, 1996) This summarizes most pro-abortionists views that abortion is not about the child but about the mother and what she wants. Others do not see an unborn child as being a human being. Stephen Currie agrees with this when he wrote "It is a mistake, however, to see this as evidence that the smallest fertilized egg is somehow already a person. Perhaps "life" does begin at conception in some way, but fully human life does not." (Currie, 2000) This shows that there are people who believe that an unborn child is just a group of cells with the potential for life but not having life in itself. Some, like Stephen Currie claim that "A newborn feels pain; this is apparent by simple observation. Until the very end of pregnancy, however, essentially no evidence exists that a fetus can feel pain." (Currie, 2000) Yet, they react to touch as early as 8 weeks, and moves on its own in the 6th week. There are those born without the ability to feel pain at all, are they not considered human? Hank Hanegraaf has this to say about the killing of an unborn, "Abortion involves killing because the zygote, which fulfills the criteria needed to establish the existence of biological life (including metabolism, development, the ability to react to stimuli, and cell reproduction), is indeed terminated. The living baby in the mother 's womb is a human being because he or she is the product of human parents and has a totally distinct human genetic code. This truth that abortion terminates the life of a human being is substantiated by science." (Practical Apologetics, Hanegraaff) Pro-abortionists say that having an abortion is liberating for a woman, the chance to exercise her right to choice. What choice or say does the child have? They also label those who do not want a child mangled and torn apart and killed and sucked out a mother 's womb as extremists, or religious fanatics. They attack those who choose life by saying "For those who believe that the so-called pro-life have occupied the high moral ground in the debate on abortion, I say, "Rubbish." They have never been on a high moral ground, they only pretend to occupy this elevated position by cloaking their oppressive beliefs under the lofty rhetoric of "the defense of innocent unborn life" or "the struggle against the death dealing abortion industry" and similar misleading and blatantly false propaganda." (Morgentaler, 1996) This kind of unwarranted personal attack shows the hate that many pro-abortionists harbor towards those who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe is right and partition on behalf of those who can not yet speak. When comparing the editorials from both sides of the abortion issue it was easy to see that both sides were passionate about what they were writing. I did notice that the pro-abortion editorials seemed self-centered and took their passion on the topic and turned it into a hate for those who disagreed by making many simply slanderous remarks. They took the handful of people, that under the name of pro-life, went out and killed abortion-providing doctors, and labeled all pro-lifers as such. Those editorials also seemed to stay away from the facts and science of childbirth and used anecdotes to support their beliefs, such as the acorn that is not a tree. Overall the editorials that promoted abortion were unimpressive and seemed written out of anger and never mentioned what most girls who have had an abortion felt like after the fact. I found the pro-life editorials very hopeful and full with a sense of love for the innocent children. Unlike the pro-abortion editorials they took slanderous stab at those who oppose them which helped me to respect what they were saying more. People like Hank Hanegraaff are showing others who are not educated about unborn children that, "They deserve protection, not capital punishment." We now have a president that also believes in the sanctity of life and has shown it by proclaiming Sunday, January 18, 2004, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day.

References

Earll, C. (2003) The Sanctity of Human Life. Retrieved February 10, 2005 from http://www.family.org/cforum/pdfs/fosi/bioethics/sanctity_of_human_life.pdf Morgentaler, H. The Moral Case for Abortion. Free Inquiry, Free Inquiry, Summer 1996

Currie, S. Abortion. Opposing Viewpoints Digests® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2000

Hanegraaff, H. Practical Apologetics, Annihilating, Abortion Arguments. Retrieved February 11, 2005 from http://www.equip.org/free/DA375.pdf

References: Earll, C. (2003) The Sanctity of Human Life. Retrieved February 10, 2005 from http://www.family.org/cforum/pdfs/fosi/bioethics/sanctity_of_human_life.pdf Morgentaler, H. The Moral Case for Abortion. Free Inquiry, Free Inquiry, Summer 1996 Currie, S. Abortion. Opposing Viewpoints Digests® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2000 Hanegraaff, H. Practical Apologetics, Annihilating, Abortion Arguments. Retrieved February 11, 2005 from http://www.equip.org/free/DA375.pdf