Anna Roberts

Robison
FHS 1500
September 11, 2015
Essay on Abortion
QUESTION
The topic of abortion is very controversial, but nothing has ever been learned by avoiding
tough subjects. What are your views on abortion? Under what circumstances, if any,
would you consider it? If you were a lawmaker, what would be your stand on this issue?
(*In India, boys are valued more than girls and amniocentesis has become widespread.
In one province, only one in thousands of abortions following: amniocentesis was that of
a male fetus, the rest were females. How do you feel about abortion as a tool for gender
selection? Suppose that one of the female fetuses in the previous example was also
identified as having suffered severe mental and physical damage to the point that, after
birth, the resulting child would mentally and physically be unable to care for itself.
Would this information influence (change) your decision?)
ANSWER
Abortion, to some, is simply a matter of keeping or terminating the life of an
embryo or a fetus. To others, it is only a matter of what a woman chooses to do with her
body. To me, abortion is about both of those matters. It is not simply ceasing an organism
or a woman making a choice. It is a decision that must factor in both points an
awareness of what is happening. However, the conscious choice should only be the
choice of the woman facing this issue, not the choice of any stranger or activist.
To say I would personally have an abortion is to say that I would react a specific
way to being held at gunpoint I have no completely positive affirmation as that is a
situation I have never been in. We could always speculate, casually throwing around a
certain pronouncement, but unless we have had to face such a major decision, we cannot
hold a completely valid opinion. That is why we should leave such matters into the hands
of those who have to physically and emotionally endure the consequences of having an

abortion. There are lines to draw for the sake of humanity, however, and those with an
opinion on humanity hopefully everyone, should decide those.
Such issues that dance on these lines could be sex-biased abortions, age of the
embryo or fetus, partial life abortions, etc. How do lawmakers draw these lines and
how far can we mix personal/religious ethics with a law that affects so many? There are
various rules or regulations that can be put in place to help with these issues, all with the
hopes of keeping a basic moral ground.
Sex biased abortions is an issue that has reached many different societies, with
many countries placing a ban on such actions. (Replacing Myths With Facts) Possible
ways to avoid such biases could be keeping abortions strictly under a first trimester
timeline (unless dictated otherwise by a professional doctor, due to major health issues).
This would keep the majority of people not knowing the gender of the fetus, as the fetus
does not fully take on a certain sex until the end of the first trimester or the beginning of
the second. (Berger, 2014, p. 60)
This regulation would also conclude that the vast majority of abortions are of
embryos. The start of the third week after conception initiates the embryonic period,
during which the formless mass of cells becomes a distinct being not yet recognizably
human, but worth of a new name, embryo. (Berger, 2014, p. 58) Because embryos are
not yet considered life-forms, the opposing view of abortion being murder would not
be valid.
In the case of aborting due to genetic malfunctions occurring in the fetus, a very
fine line is drawn. If the baby has conditions where as it grows it is completely dependent
on others and cannot perform basic functions for itself, I believe that the decision on this

case is up to the parents. This issue especially is very difficult to determine what is
wrong or right. Circumstantial cases are challenging to argue or find an acceptable
approach.
Overall, I believe that people should have every chance they can to determine and
control what happens in their life particularly if it is wholly life changing. Laws for
many and personal morality are often contradicting. That is why I believe that when it
comes to such laws, if people want to participate then they should be able to, and if they
do not, then they are not forced to. What one person may believe is right or wrong in
theory, is another persons reality.

REFERENCE LIST
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
"Replacing Myths With Facts." National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. 2014.
Web. 12 Sept. 2015.