An Abortion Argument
Monica Santo
PHI 103
Instructor Cornell Horn
September 30, 2013
An Abortion Argument
Abortion is a hot issue in the United States today. Abortion is currently legal in all 50 states however; some states have a 20-week ban law. This law bans all abortions after 20 weeks of a woman’s last menstrual period and only allows for exceptions in cases where a woman’s life is threatened. Folks on both sides of the isle on the abortion issue are extremely passionate about their views and opinions in regards to the right to abortions in our country. Although there are many individuals and groups that disagree on this issue, abortions should not be legal since the act of abortion is the killing of innocent human life and having an abortion is also a great risk to the health and life of the woman that is having the abortion.
There has long been a big debate among abortion supporters and those who oppose abortions, as to just when it is considered that human life begins. It has been a question for centuries whether the unborn is truly a “person”. If we consider the unborn to be a “person” then the unborn should also have an inalienable right to life just as everyone else does. Human life has many stages; a human embryo and the human fetus are early stages of human life. According to Lugosi (2005) historically common law determined that when a pregnant woman feels “quickening” which is the movement of the baby, this is evidence of life (Para. 5). If a woman can feel another life inside her body then there is indeed human life growing and developing inside her body.
The fifth week of a woman’s pregnancy is called the embryonic period. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2012) during the beginning of this period the baby’s organs, including the heart begin to develop along with the brain and spinal cord (Para. 11). The baby’s heart begins to beat during this fifth week and the beginning of the embryonic period. If there is a heartbeat then there most definitely is life and this is a human life. There is no denying the fact that there is life when a heartbeat is present; a heartbeat is evidence of life. If there is evidence of life then the unborn is a “person” and there is a moral obligation to respect the life of another person. Since the unborn is a “person” the unborn has a constitutional right to life in our country of the United States of America. If there is indeed human life then intentionally terminating the pregnancy is homicide and should be considered as such. Abortion should not be legal in the United States, because abortion is actually the killing of a human life.
Abortions also pose a great threat to the health and to the life of the woman that is having the abortion. Recent studies have shown that there is an undeniable link between woman who have previously had an abortion and breast cancer. Women who have previously had an abortion are at a higher risk for breast cancer than women who have never had an abortion.
Lanfranchi (2003) noted that based on professional training, experience and study, there is an enormous amount of evidence that indicates induced abortions raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer (Para. 4). An abortion leaves a woman with an increase number undifferentiated breast cells that have been shown to cause carcinogens which have estrogen. Abortions of the first pregnancy are the most damaging and especially to teenagers. Studies have further shown that the longer a woman is pregnant before an abortion the higher her risk is of breast cancer. Teenagers tend to have late term abortions which are the most damaging as they try to hide their pregnancy for as long as they can. So abortions raise the risk of breast cancer among women, especially those who have had first pregnancy abortions, teenagers having abortions, and late term abortions.
Having an abortion puts the woman’s future pregnancies at risk. Complications that may arise due to a prior abortion
