A Very Superficial Look on the Conflict Over Abortion

                                       A Very Superficial Look on the Conflict Over Abortion

-These are just my opinions. Fellow people who will (not) read this, please don’t take any decision based on what I say.-

 

            “Nor take life - which Allah has made sacred - except for justified cause.”. This statement is mentioned in Quran, the Holy Book of Muslims, and the core argument of many pro-life Muslim people, and similarly most Christian people have arguments based on their holy book, Bible. However, the statements on the Holy Books create two open ended questions. “What is life?”, and “What could be a justified cause to take it?”. From my perspective, we cannot identify the level of existence of foetuses as “life”; and lack of socioeconomic opportunities and preventing potential physical or phycological harms on maternal health are justified causes on why abortion should be legal.

             Initially, taking a life is considered as murder, and it is either prohibited by laws or religions in almost all societies, with the exception of capital punishment or self-defence. So, is aborting a foetus can be considered as taking a life? What is life? Living creatures are humans, animals, plants and microorganisms, however in most countries killing a plant or especially a microorganism is not considered as illegal or murder. The ethical background of this comes from the main difference between humans-animals and other living organisms, which is the ability to feel. Humans and animals are sentient beings, and are capable of feeling almost all emotions including pain. However, this cannot be said for foetuses. They are incapable of feeling before a specific week of gestation, which is about 20 weeks. Thus, it would not be morally or religiously incorrect to abort foetuses before they become sentient.

                Besides the definition of life, what could be justified causes for aborting a foetus? First of all, the lack of socioeconomic opportunities would be a justified reason for abortion. In a scenario where the baby is born in a destitute family, it would be inevitable for the child to become a citizen that affects the society in a negative way except for few situations, after having a terrible childhood full of poverty. As family would not be able to take care of the child, they would have to give the child to an orphanage or raise it among the unhealthy condition of theirs. Hence, for both the family and the child, abortion would be the best choice.

            Furthermore, another justified reason could be a potential harm on physical or phycological harm on the maternal life, or disorder in baby. If its certain that the baby or the maternal life will die after birth, or one of them will have serious disorder, It would be for the greater good to abort it. Also, in cases of incest relationships or rape, it would be better not to bring the child to world. The victims of rape would have to raise the children on their own, which would be considered as a socioeconomical issue, and they would have to remember the tragedy they had every time they look at their child, which would be an intolerable torture for them.

            On the other side of this issue, most pro-life people base their idea on religious and ethical arguments, like foetuses are still considered as living creatures or its not for us to decide who dies and who lives. However, as mentioned in the first body paragraph, it could be argued if they are considered as living beings, and most arguments support that they should not be considered as living beings. Secondly, the ethical argument could be opposed by stating that, if the child has come to life in a family that did not want a child, wouldn’t it be like a real-life hell simulator for the child? Also, nobody can ensure that he will be a beneficial member of society that is willing to contribute to neither himself or others positively. This does not mean that the government should cease the existence of foetuses that belong to a poor family, but the government should not oppose to the ones willing to do so.

            To sum up, many religious or ethical dilemmas discourage people from supporting people’s right to abort their foetuses, however there are neither religious nor ethical concerns in abortion, as long as it is not abused. The fact that abortion is not taking a life, or the potential socioeconomical, physical or psychological harms of the baby are the main reasons why it should be legalised all over the world.

 -Emre