A MULTI-VIEW PERSPECTIVE OF ABORTION

The legalization of abortion in the United States by a 1973 decision of the Supreme Court which bypassed the legislative process in the majority of states has, since its inception, been both praised and cursed (Gorney 13). There is a tendency to believe that perspectives of abortion line up on one side or the other, one is either 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice' and never the twain shall meet. However, the fact is that people are not that black and white in their approach to abortion and their perspectives fall along a range. The purpose of this paper is to examine these multiperspectives.

One perspective is that offered by Chappell (69-77) which holds that the idea of individual human substance (be it physical or spiritual) is present from conception and that, given this fact, abortion is murder and should never be undertaken for this reason. Neither rape or incest or the life and health of the mother is considered reason for abortion in this view. This is a view in which all abortion should be illegal. It is often accompanied, according to Chappell (69-77) by a slightly modified viewpoint which is that abortion should be illegal because it is murder but it should be allowed in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is threatened.

However, Kortiansky (63-67) notes that while people might very well agree with the idea that abortion is murder, at least a portion of those agreeing still do not find this fact sufficiently comp

. . .
re many people that do not view the fetus as a person in any sense. In fact, they will say that until birth itself, personhood cannot be claimed. There are others, however, who will agree that the fetus is not a person but set up some point where it can be conferred with personhood; these will often, for example, argue that until brain activity has begun, the idea of personhood is unreasonable but not after that (Himma 48-55). However, regardless of these differences, those whose perspective is that the fetus is not a person commonly have a pro-choice view. But as Himma notes, even those who do not believe the fetus is a person and who are pro-choice have some differences in their perspectives. With respect to the above, Himma (48-55) points out that some pro-choice people who hold the view that a fetus is in no way a person are for abortion on demand which is to say that as they see it, in any circumstances and for any reason and at any point in the pregnancy, it is proper and right for a woman who requests an abortion to have one. This view is based on both personal freedom principles and the idea that abortion is not murder at any point. Indeed, Gibson (221-233) argue that this perspective is one in which the notion o
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Supreme Court, Roe Wade, Indeed Gibson, Christian Bioethics, PERSPECTIVE ABORTION, fetus person, Medical Ethics, Autonomy Bioethics, abortion murder, abortion illegal, himma 48-55, abortion wrong, Simon Schuster, idea abortion murder, christian bioethics 101, bioethics 101 2004, idea abortion, 3 abortion, chappell 69-77, social obligation, abort fetus, view fetus person, rape incest life,
Approximate Word count = 1278
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)