Legal Issues and Arguments regarding Abortion
Legal Issues and Arguments regarding Abortion
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about adultery in The Scarlet Letter, but the "A" word these days is abortion. People often break off friendships, ostracize each other, and are intolerant of others having different opinions on this subject. This is sad, because we can all learn from each other. The rest of this abortion essay is divided into two parts. First is a general discussion mentioning some legal issues. Then the legal issues will be discussed in more detail. Be aware that some of the following material is personal opinion, although you will also find a lot of information (including links).
General Discussion
For thousands of years of western civilization, abortion was generally illegal after "quickening" (the point at about four months into pregnancy when a baby kicks). This tradition can be traced back at least to the Ancient Greeks. In his book "Politics," Aristotle said that "the line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive." [1] Aristotle thus contended that the right to life generally accrues earlier than birth and irrespective of whether the baby is strong enough to survive after birth (i.e. viability). This broad standard of Aristotle leaves plenty of room for special rules and exceptions in order to allow some late abortions for the life of the mother, rape, incest, grave fetal deformity, maiming of the mother, et cetera. [2]
Quickening usually occurs at least two months before viability. Many people, including myself, advocate drawing a line between lawful and unlawful abortion no later than four months after conception but no earlier than the end of the embryonic stage. This happens to be what the vast majority of people generally believes. [3] Because the abortion pill RU486 is only effective on an embryo up until the ninth week of pregnancy, I have loudly supported its legalization for many years.
If we are to face facts, we must acknowledge that the human experience does not suddenly begin the moment each of us is born. All medical experience shows that a fetus has sensation (e.g. taste, hearing, touch, smell, and sight). More importantly, a fetus can think, and has been proven to remember things (like the voice of its mother) after it is born. We are all human beings,...