Moral Issues Regarding Abortion, Constitutional Argument, and Religion and Abortion

Name:
Institution:
Date:
Is Abortion Morally Wrong?
Introduction
The abortion debate has been on the mainstream media for a long time especially during the election period in the United States. The Liberals and conservatives have never seen eye to eye on this issue and keep generating new theories and ideas to counter the other party’s opinion. According to Hannah Fingerhut (2016), currently, “only 56% think abortion should be legal” while 41% “say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.” The question of whether abortion is a moral issue or not has often surfaced during the numerous debates, and both sects still offer differing views. When analyzing the issue of abortion, several questions always seem to arise with some of the common ones being: are fetuses persons and do they have rights, do fathers have a say in the matter, are there distinctions between a person, being alive, and a human being, and finally, is it a woman’s right to decide what happens with her body (Cohen, 243). Politics has also played a big role in turning abortion into one of the most debated issues in the last four decades. As is always the case, politicians always feel the need to weigh in on issues and even enact laws on the same., In the case of abortion, however, the court has in some occasions shaped the debate and set the liberals and conservatives on conceptual battles. The universal belief of personhood is that it has a certain moral status which should not be infringed unless under extreme circumstances (Resnikoff, 2013). However, the question this article strives to answer is whether abortion is an issue that presents alternatives (right or wrong) or solely involves a difference in belief.
Moral Issues Regarding Abortion
The debate of whether abortion is morally right or wrong has indeed developed into a big and confusing conceptual fight. The liberals and conservatives often clash but never seem to find a common ground aside from only on a few occasions. One of the main issues that both sects seem to always argue or confront each other about entails the inclusion of fetuses into the moral community. Conservatives believe that fetuses are indeed part of humanity and terminating one is indeed as much a crime as killing an adult human being. Their argument is based on the simple fact that fetuses exhibit the same features as adult human beings (Don Marquis). The liberals, on the other hand, believe that fetuses should not in any way be compared to adult human beings. On their part, they believe that fetuses lack “the sorts of features that are taken to be necessary for inclusion in the moral community” (Don Marquis). Both factions have held firmly on their beliefs and neither seems to ever want to let go off their stand.
However, while talking about killing, it is important to first understand what killing entails and why we consider it to be morally wrong. A majority of people, including conservatives and liberals, believe that killing is wrong. However, few can firmly defend or give solid reasons why killing is wrong. Most people believe that murder causes suffering to other people which is indeed true. But few can give other reasons besides the one above. According to Don Marquis, killing is morally wrong simply because it deprives or steals something valuable from the deceased. One’s future goals, experiences and achievements are often stripped away. While employing the same argument and bearing in mind the fact that everyone was once a fetus, it is indeed plausible to argue that abortion steals the future of millions of fetuses yearly. It is quite easy to develop arguments to support abortion, however, it if this argument should be taken into consideration, liberals could be depriving the world of millions of great minds. Conversely, it is essential to factor in some of the valid reasons why sometimes abortion is allowed. Nevertheless, Don Marquis makes a strong argument and provides a new perspective into the debate. With abortion, the same thing that is stolen from an adult is stolen from a fetus. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong unless under some special occasions.
The right to life argument is also among some of the most debatable principles when discussing abortion. As per this argument, liberals believe that fetuses do not have the right to life while conservatives believe that fetuses do indeed possess the right to life. Liberals base their argument on the question what or who should be classified as a person? To them, a person is an individual with all the basic functionalities of a human being. With this argument fetuses are not persons and therefore lack the right to life. However, borrowing from the idea above, depriving a fetus the chance to live out and experience what it ought to, is indeed morally wrong. Delving into this argument often elicits emotions from both liberals and conservatives. The former seems too often to ignore the fact that without a fetus, there would be no life. By, therefore, allowing people to go about abortion as they please would deprive the world of a lot of people. A fetus can be compared to a rite of passage because without it, no one can make it to where they are. Therefore, it is essential to assess this debate afresh and factor in our lives and picture ourselves as lifeless fetuses before we vehemently voice our pro-choice arguments.
How the Roe vs. Wade Case Shaped the Abortion Debate
In 1973, the United States Supreme Court made a ruling that forever shaped and influenced the abortion debate. Out of the nine court justices, seven voted in favor of abortion rights while two were pro-life. In the ruling, the government was seen as a ceremonial entity in issues of abortion and therefore, lacked the power to prohibit it. Women, therefore, were granted the right to terminate a pregnancy and were protected by the 14th amendment of the United States’ constitution. While the above decision was well received especially by the liberals, it marked the beginning of conceptual warfare between the conservatives and the liberals. All was not lost for the conservatives or the anti-abortion campaigners, and they soon began to regain lost ground.
By giving the woman the right to decide, the Suprem...