Abortion Essay

Abortion
Author`s Name
Institution
For many years, the discussion on abortion has attracted colossal debates due to the controversial and difficult ethical issues surrounding the topic. According to the World Health organization, about 49% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended, of which 50% are aborted (Lauren, Laufer & Goodwin, 2009). In 2005, an estimated 1.25 million pregnancies were aborted within the USA (Lauren, Laufer & Goodwin, 2009). Despite this, Religious Institutions have strongly opposed the practice of abortion throughout the world. The principle issue on the debate for pro-life and pro-choice is centered on whether a fetus is human or not. In my opinion, I believe that life and humanity begin at conception, and thus, abortion is immoral.
Abortion is defined as delivery of all or any parts of conception before the completion of 20 weeks gestation or prior to viability (Lauren, Laufer & Goodwin, 2009). Abortion can be spontaneous, referred to as miscarriage, or induced. I will consider induced abortions which refer to the termination of pregnancy through expulsion or removal of fetus prior viability. Following fertilization to 8weeks, the human conceptus is referred to as embryo, after 8weeks to delivery, is referred to as fetus. According to Smith (2005), an embryo and fetus are persons who are entitled to the right to life. In this school of thought, ‘personhood` links the fetus to the right to life. In the Star Trek experiment, a fetus qualifies to be a person because it is conceived by humans, physically and genetically resembles humans. In addition, the fetus is innocent whose lack of consc...