Abortion

UU200 ASSIGNMENT 1

Bioethics - abortion

The term Bioethics was first used in1927, by a protestant pastor and theologian from Halle, Mr. Fritz Jahr. (CHN, 2011). Bioethics simply put, is the study of important ethics brought about by improvement in science, medicine and technology. One issue under Bioethics that has caught the attention of the world is Abortion. While this debate is still ongoing today, it is interesting to realize that this debate is more than 2000 years old, going back to the time of Aristotle. This essay will shine light on the arguments for and against abortion.

To begin with, abortion as described by the Oxford Dictionary is “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks” (Oxford, 2012). The National Health Services have simplified this definition by stating that abortion is simply a medical process of ending a pregnancy so it does not result in the birth of a baby (National Health Services, 2011).

There have been ongoing debates worldwide, regarding the moral behind the issue of abortion. While many feel that abortion is the right of any woman (pro-choice), others fully discriminate the matter (pro-life).

Firstly, in support of abortion, many believe that abortion is necessary when the pregnancy occurred as a result of rape. Rape victims did not choose to be raped and hence did not choose to be pregnant. If a mother is not given the chance to abort the child and forced to carry on with the pregnancy, it would give her emotional, physical and mental stress. For the nine months that she would have to carry the child, it would keep reminding her of the disturbing violence done against her. In addition, when the child is later born, the baby would remind the mother of the face of her violent rapist. There are even chances that the child would not receive the full motherly love, a child deserves. For this reason, the deliberate termination of the pregnancy would be a better...