Tough Questions Series #2: Is Abortion Wrong?

No one likes abortion, and it is quite a touchy subject to be talking about. With this article, I will simply be laying out 2-3 of the top arguments for and against abortion, and I will be commenting on each argument with my own imperfect opinion on the matter. I write these articles primarily to gauge fruitful conversation in the comments below, so please leave any thoughts/your opinion on the matter below! 

Note, I am biased towards the pro-life side of the argument.

Pro-Life

• Life begins at conception, so abortion is akin to murder. 

First let me start by saying that there is no universal agreement in the scientific, philosophical, and theological realms on when exactly life starts. However, my general knowledge on this issue does tell me that it is viewed to be a universal fact that biological life indeed begins at conception. My only question to challenge this view would be the occurrence of ectopic pregnancies. Ectopic pregnancies occur when the fertilized egg implants in an area other than the uterus. During ectopic pregnancies, people will hardly ever challenge that the fertilized egg constitutes a being that is living, so to me, this is evidence that life indeed doesn't begin during conception, but rather during implantation. Implantation occurs about a week after conception, so in my opinion, it would leave a very short time frame as to when the fetus is truly alive or not. 

• Adoption is a better alternative to abortion.

A kind of cynical answer I've personally heard for this argument is that there are a lot of kids that need to be adopted already, and chances are that they would be stuck in the foster care system/orphanages for a good chunk of their life, thus leading them to live a potentially harmful and bad life. Adoption is a great alternative, and personally, I am committed to adopting at least one kid. There are roughly 20 million orphans in the world, and we can fix this problem of orphans if more people became committed to adopting at least one child that needs a home. I watched this movie "Lion," and that movie I feel truly impacted my decision to do this, and hopefully one day, I'll get the opportunity to act on my desires, so if you haven't already, I really recommend you to watch it. this argument does clearly have it's fault, and there are various counter arguments to this argument, however, my own belief is that adoption is certainly a better alternative to abortion, but for this argument to be undeniably true, we need more people that are willing to adopt.

Pro-Choice

• Victims of rape and incest should not be forced to go through an unwanted pregnancy.

Personally, I am in agreement in a general sense of this argument. Women who were forced upon should not be forced to become a mother when they are not ready to be. However, what percent of all abortions are a result of rape or incest? According to the research statistics I've seen, less than 1% of all abortions are a result of incest and rape. So my question would be why the pro-choice side is pushing such extreme cases as the forefront of their argument? If the person wasn't raped/a victim of incest/there was no potential harm to come to the woman, would they still support the right to choose? Yeah, they would. So I find it to be kind of dishonest that these arguments are the forefront of the pro-choice side of the argument, when in fact almost half of all abortions are a result of inadequate finances or the woman not being ready for the responsibility. I don't view these to be valid reasons to end an innocent life, as it just makes the life just seem as an inconvenience they'd rather not deal with. All actions have consequences, and although it may be the easier/relieving option, it may not be the morally correct course of action. Now, coming back to the main argument, would there be a way to screen specific cases, and make sure that only victims of rape, incest, potential life threatening pregnancies are the only ones allowed to get abortions? I don't really see a viable and efficient way to do this sadly, but if you have any suggestions/counter arguments to this view I have, please mention it in the comments below!

• You can't speak on abortion if you aren't a woman.

I'm going to keep this one short, but I don't agree that men are supposed to be silent on the issue. Did you have to be a slave-holder to have a say that slavery wasn't a morally correct ideology? Both individuals are involved equally in the creation of the baby, the genetic traits are split 50/50. If you are a man that truly believes that abortion is murder, why wouldn't you speak out against institutionalized murder? Like if there was a law that allowed an annual "purge," as seen in the movies, why wouldn't people speak out against something they VIEW to be atrocious? Regardless of what your views are, if you find something to be morally reprehensible, it's your responsibility as a human to speak out in opposition of it. 

Conclusion

As I've said earlier in the article, I am on the pro-life side of the argument. I know I only touched on a couple of the arguments, but these are the ones that I've heard the most frequently. Please leave comments below, so we can have some good, civil discussions on the topic, and I'm never opposed to having any of my views proven wrong if I have made any factual errors. The only way you can open yourself to learning is if you keep an open mind for the facts, and let the facts dictate your beliefs, rather than pre-conceived biases. 

Thanks for taking the time to read it, and follow @thefourhorsemen if you want to partake in future controversial topic discussions! 

Kevin