The topic of abortion is a highly contentious issue in American culture. There are a host of misnomers attached to the pro-choice movement. Contrary to popular belief, being pro-choice is not the same as advocating the death of children. Rather, pro-choice merely means that the mother, rather than the state, has the right to determine whether abortion is permissible. In order to cut through this obscurantism, the following argues women ought to have the right to choose to have an abortion on the grounds that it preserves reproductive rights and protects women’s health.
The concept of ‘the right to life’ is very nebulous. Usually, the right to life is taken to mean that a person has the right to continue living. But at what cost? Does the right to life include the right to use other people as a means to sustain life? As Murray Rothbard in The Ethics of Liberty notes, “In short, it is impermissible to interpret the term “right to life,” to give one an enforceable claim to the action of someone else to sustain that life.” Most people would agree that one person does not have the right to use another person’s body as a means to sustain their life. So why is it not the case with respect to abortion?
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"The Right to Choose".
Some people have argued that if the mother consented to the conception, then she is contractually bound to take care of the child. There are a variety of problems with this line of reasoning. To begin with, promises are not enough to establish enforceable contracts. Contracts are only viable if an object can be stolen. In addition, contracts are established by the voluntary act between two individuals. A fetus is hardly conscious and cannot volunteer to do anything. Last, the contract cannot be voluntary for the mother, provided she is enslaved to carry the baby against her will (Murray, The Ethics of Liberty, p.98).
Another reason that women ought to have the right to choose is that outlawing abortion is detrimental to women’s health. Whenever abortion is outlawed, it merely pushes the practice into the black market where unqualified practitioners prevail. According to the World Health Organization, for every 21 million women who have an illegal abortion, about 50,000 of those women die. As Peter Singer illustrates in his essay Taking Life, “Abortion performed by a qualified medical practitioner is as safe as any medical operation, but attempts to procure abortions by unqualified people often result in serious medical complications and sometimes death.”
In addition, outlawing abortion denies teenager girls from attaining an abortion. Due to the prematurity of their bodies, teenage girls who are pregnant are much more likely to suffer medical complications and even death. Depriving teenage girls the right to have an abortion increases their risk for medical complications and mortality.
The last reason that women should have the right to an abortion is that, whenever abortion is legal, it actually decreases the amount of abortions. Since Roe vs. Wade was established, the amount of abortions in the Unites States has considerably dropped. Between 1973 and 1997, the amount of abortions performed in the Unites States has dropped from 4.1 per 100,000 abortions to 0.6 per 100,000 abortions (The Safety of Legal Abortion, p. 5). In addition, approximately 99 percent of these abortions were performed during the first twenty weeks of pregnancy—a time when the fetus has little, if any, conscious experience.
As been illustrated, being pro-choice is not the same as being ‘anti-life.’ Rather, it merely states that the right to life does not entail the right to use another person’s body to sustain life. Furthermore, prohibiting abortion does not actually thwart abortions from occurring. It merely pushes the practice underground. Last, whenever abortion is legal, abortion rates drop. Thus, if we really wants to minimize the rate of abortions, we ought to maximize the right to choose.
- Anonymous. “The Safety of Legal Abortion and the Hazard of Illegal Abortion.” Naral: Pro Choice America. 2014. PFD Document .
- Rothbard, Murray. “Children and Rights .” Rothbard, Murray. The Ethics of Liberty. New York and London: New York University Press , 2002. 97-99.
- Singer, Peter. “Taking Life: The Embryo and the Fetus .” Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press , 2011. 123-141.
