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Abortion Arguments

The issue of abortion is the most divisive social and political issue in America today, with two opposing armies of dedicated true-believers, one opposing abortion under any circumstances because they view it as the murder of an unborn child, and the other upholding the idea of choice as an absolute allowing the woman to secure an abortion without hindrance at any point in her pregnancy. Standing between these two extremes are millions of Americans with a more moderate view, a view that includes a concern for the trauma of the woman and an understanding that abortion is a choice not to be made lightly. These millions of Americans area also willing to allow some restrictions on abortions without banning the option altogether. The rigid positions of the two extremes are well-known because both are articulated by core groups of advocates who present the issue in black and white, with an either-or rhetoric that can be puzzling to the majority of Americans who do not see the issue in such stark terms. Those with a "pro-choice" position hold that the fetus is not yet a human life but only a tissue that is part of the woman's body and thus under her control. Those with a pro-life position do not favor abortion as an option except under very limited circumstances, if at all. These people assert that the fetus is a human life and that abortion is murder

Judith Jarvis Thomson argues in defense of abortion and begins by noting the rationale offered by those on the other side of the debate. She says that most opposition to abortion centers on the idea that the fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. She finds that this is a form of "slippery slope" argument which does provide exactitude, but she is also forced to agree that the prospects for "drawing a line" in the development of the fetus are dim. She states: "I am inclined to think also that we shall probably have to agree that the fetus has already become a human pers...

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Abortion Arguments. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:53, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683610.html