Right to Life

As a matter of course, the 1973 ruling created a national policy on abortion by removing any previous state laws that were varying in their degree of restrictiveness. However, Roe versus Wade may have somewhat decriminalized the practice of abortion in some instances, but it had little impact on either the ethical or moral constraints such actions bring about (Steiner, 1983, p. 1). In the same light, new medical evidence has been given that has profound implications in the ongoing debate on abortion. Doctors, in fact, are now able to keep some infants alive born as early as 22 weeks, thus pushing back the age of viability outside the womb (Gimlin, 1988, p. 533).

The purpose of this study, however, is to examine the issue of abortions from the perspective that a fetus is a human being, or at least potentially a human being.

Therefore, the fetus has certain rights that must be protected by the laws of a civilized society. Primary among these rights is the right to be born and to live. This is not a right that can be denied a potential person because of mitigating circumstances surrounding the pregnancy. For the p

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nviction, you can't think of politics" (Lacayo, 1989, p. 35). This stance is also apparent in the recent marches on Washington, in which the Bush administration decided to dodge the issue rather than taking a staunch view in opposition to the pro-choice lobby ("Dodging on Abortion," 1989, p. 4). Of course, many anti-abortionists maintain that there are several methods of birth control available to prevent conception in the first place. In fact, they do not believe that abortion should be used at all as a method of birth control. In most modern societies, the availability of modern birth control methods means that few women need seriously risk getting pregnant in order to have active sex lives. This has become increasingly true for younger women as well, and the availability of birth-control pills, IUD'S, foams, condoms, and other contraceptive devices is commonplace in most American communities. Although none of these devices are one hundred percent effective, there are methods that are less risky to the health of the woman, and provide a great deal of protection from pregnancy (Francome, 1986, passim). Another important response in the philosophical view that abortion is morally wrong is that expressed by the Church. In
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Approximate Word count = 1721
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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