Abortion in the First Trimester Only Essay -- Pregnancy Ethics Essays

The argument that has torn the nation apart for ages is abortion. Each individual needs to take the time out to research every aspect of the ideals behind abortion. The two main sides to abortion are pro-choice and pro-life. Both sides make strong arguments to support their side. The main question behind abortion is whether the act is murder of an unborn child or the right of the mother to choose what happens to her body. A lot of research is needed before an individual can make a rational decision about what side of the abortion issue they take. This paper focuses on the argument that abortion is a woman’s choice in her first trimester of her pregnancy only, and after that time period is over the unborn child has the right to life just like any other human being. "This middle ground is what a lot of people believe these days, the right for a woman to choose in the first trimester only" (Baird 179). People who believe this are stuck between the two sides of abortion. These peo ple are just to be named as the middle ground, where both sides make good points, but they only agree with a few parts of the arguments. The basic idea is that a woman has the right to choose until the first trimester is over and from then on the unborn child has the right to life and should be carried to full term and delivered. The pro-life movement believes that the killing of any child, abortion or not, is murder and the dead, unborn child should be protected by the laws of the states just like any other victim of murder. "Pro-life advocates declare that the fetus is a person with the same rights and interests as a born person, therefore the mother does not have the right to privacy if by doing so they murder another person, their unborn child" (McDonagh 47). The advocate’s state that their argument is in the idea that an unborn child has the rights as the mother and that the unborn child would choose life, just as the mother would choose murder as her choice. Although the pro-life advocates make an argument that seems reasonable, what they are not stating is that under law the woman has the right to privacy, freedom, and the right to choose what actions happens to her body. The woman has control to do what ever she likes to her own personal body. Therefore, if a woman chooses to have an abortion, she may be able to in the first trimester of her pregnancy only. The developi... ... facts state that an abortion is the woman’s choice in the first trimester and the unborn child’s right to live in the second trimester and on. This belief is known as the middle ground in the abortion issue and many people believe in this kind of action. Although the abortion issue will be an on going dispute, the middle ground is a reasonable and logical answer to the abortion problem. This is why the mother has the right to choose in the first trimester only and after that the fetus has the right to life, like anyone else. Works Cited Baird, Robert M. and Stuart E. Rosenbaum. The Ethics of Abortion. New York: Prometheus Books, 2001. Johnson, Robert V. Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy & Baby’s First Year. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994. Mason, J K, and R A McCall Smith. Law and Medical Ethics. London: Butterworths, 1994. McDonagh, Eileen L. Breaking the Abortion Deadlock. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Reiman, Jeffrey. Abortion and the Ways We Value Human Life. Boston: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC., 1999. Solinger, Rickie. Abortion Wars. Los Angles: University of California Press, 1998.