Abortion - Most Controversial

Nick Poch Social Issues 11-6-98 Abortion Abortion is one of the most controversial issues discussed in today's society. This issue has caused a great deal of turmoil in the world. Some protestors have even killed other human beings over the issue. People's religion has had some input on this issue, but this should not be the only factor when looking at this serious controversial debate. There are many questions that one must ask him or herself when deciding to be either for or against abortion. In this position paper I am going to talk about some issues that may not be black and white. My position on this issue is against abortion, and I am going to attempt to show that. Abortion is wrong in many instances. It is wrong anytime except in the case of a dying mother, incest or rape. It is wrong because people choose to have sex. They know the consequences before they had sex. For example, a person is playing Russian Roulette. This person knows that there is a possibility that they may die from this. In the case of pregnancy, the people that choose to have sex, they know that there is a chance at getting pregnant. The people that have an abortion when they have become pregnant by there own choice, not by incest, rape or threatening the mother's life, are using it as a birth control method, which is wrong. One of the major issues is determining whether or not the fetus is a person, and if so, when? My view is that it becomes a person at the time of conception. At that specific time, it has 46 chromosomes and is determined whether or not is it going to be a boy or girl. Furthermore, all other characteristics are decided at that moment. One of the issues discussed in class was the time of conception. A point mentioned in class was that any time a sperm or egg was destroyed or killed, then abortion was occurring, for example, masturbation or menstruation. The point that is trying to be made is that if killing the fetus at conception is wrong, which has potential to be a person, then killing the things that have potential to become a person, like sperm and eggs, is wrong also. I do not agree with this point. My reasoning is the sperm or egg does not have all 46 chromosomes, it has only half. Half of the chromosomes does not make a person. Alone, the sperm or egg cannot become a person, but at the time of conception it is possible. I cannot sufficiently rebut the idea of the potentiality of the sperm or egg. I do understand that these both have the potential to become a person. A point related to the previous one is the use of contraceptives. The use of contraceptives brings up the issue of why aren't these as wrong as an abortion. This raises again the idea of the potentiality of a person. As I previously mentioned, I do not see something with half of the chromosomes needed to become a human, a human. John Noonan says that the fetus is a person, therefore it is wrong to kill it. The problem with this is that all people do not believe a fetus is a person, therefore it is okay to kill it. For example, Mary Anne Warren does not believe the fetus is a person. She thinks that there are certain traits or characteristics that an organism must have in order to be characterized as a person. These are: (1) "consciousness (of objects and