Abortion: Pro-Choice Argument Ever Since Term Paper

Total Length: 1072 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 4



Generally, secular science reminds us that even the distinction between the value supposedly inherent in human life and that of other "higher" non-human life forms is very difficult to maintain logically. In fact, it may very well be that many species are sufficiently capable of complex emotions and other intellectual behavior previously considered exclusive hallmarks of "humanity" as to deserve greater moral consideration.

If anything, the convergence of contemporary knowledge made possible by combining our modern understanding of genetics and the biological basis of behavior suggests that whatever "quality" or 'aspect" of human life that qualifies for moral consideration is not anything that is uniquely human at all.

The more familiar one is with the lives and relationships apparent in primate societies as well as those of elephants, whales, and porpoises, the more difficult it is to argue against the need to consider the sentience and consciousness of animal life on a scale similar to that applied to distinguish human life that is already deserving of moral consideration in-utero from that which we consider insufficiently developed to qualify for moral consideration. Without the subjective a-priori religious belief that every fertilized human ovum is already a "person," it is impossible to maintain greater moral concern for four or eight-cell human zygote than for a fully developed baby Chimpanzee crying out in pain or forcibly removed from its mother by poachers.

The secular moral arguments against abortion are fatally flawed, because orphaned children, those unwanted by parents obliged to have them, and those born in parts of the world where they are as likely to die slowly from starvation and drought as to survive to adulthood suffer infinitely more than any zygote aborted before developing any semblance of a human nervous system or a brain capable of sensation of any kind.

The Catholic Church, in particular, imposes the utterly specious belief that "God" injects human "soul" into every fertilized human ovum at the precise instant of conception.

Stuck Writing Your "Abortion: Pro-Choice Argument Ever Since" Term Paper?



Meanwhile, it completely ignores the obvious moral imperative to prevent needless suffering in the Third World by opposing the idea of providing condoms because of its traditional view that any form of contraception is a sin. Apparently, it is an infinitely loving and omniscient God's will that African infants continue to die by the many thousands because their prolonged suffering before their eventual death while still in infancy is morally inconsequential compared to the glory of their creation in God's image, however brief and painful their lives may actually be from their perspective.

Conclusion:

Abortion became legal throughout the 50 states in 1973 after the decision by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Nevertheless, the debate between religious beliefs and secular rights continues to this day. Certainly, the developing fetus becomes a person at some point before birth, but that specific determination is one appropriate for the application of scientific criteria, not religious beliefs, particularly in the United States where religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution means freedom from the religious beliefs of others as much as freedom of one's….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Abortion Pro-Choice Argument Ever Since" (2007, November 14) Retrieved March 28, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/abortion-pro-choice-argument-ever-since-34347

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Abortion Pro-Choice Argument Ever Since" 14 November 2007. Web.28 March. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/abortion-pro-choice-argument-ever-since-34347>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Abortion Pro-Choice Argument Ever Since", 14 November 2007, Accessed.28 March. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/abortion-pro-choice-argument-ever-since-34347