Southern New Hampshire University

PHL 212

Ethics and Abortion

According to our textbook, “for over four decades abortion has been the most divisive moral and social issue in the United States” (Thiroux, & Krasemann, 2016, p. 214). Abortion was ruled a “fundamental right” of women by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. This ruling gave women the right to decide what to do with their body until the fetus became viable (Thiroux, & Krasemann, 2016). People are either strongly for abortion or are completely against it. Those who support abortion believe it is a woman’s right to make the decision to abort her unborn child. Medical issues such as potential deformities of the unborn child or a woman’s inability to survive childbearing are also reasons supporters believe in abortion. If a woman is raped or molested by a family member and later becomes pregnant, abortion can be a more viable option than keeping the baby. Abortion is also a safe choice medically, even more so than going through the pregnancy itself.