Abortion and Convienently Ambivilent Morals

Brenda Porter: June 22, 2007

Abortion by definition is absolute because to have an abortion is to end life with no options once acted upon. To make a decision about abortion considering every part of myself: the physical, the mental, the emotional, the logical, and the moralistic, can never be absolutely consistent no matter what side of the issue I choose. I say this because I am human, and I have two minds, a logical and reasoning mind, and an emotional and irrational mind. Every principle and moral belief I have is subject to exception, so therefore can never be consistent absolutely.

The three beliefs in question proposed in the text, the first being a woman has no right to an abortion, cannot be consistent absolutely. To say so, one would also have to say that women could be sexually assaulted, impregnated, and forced to carry the pregnancy to full term due to an act of violence upon them. I would never agree with the latter statement and in my most unbiased view of the world around me I do not believe that the majority of society would either. Therefore, it is inconsistent.

Second, the belief that a human embryo or fetus has an inviolable right to life is inconsistent with the laws of nature. The law above most being Darwin’s Law of Survival of the Fittest in which no living thing has any protected guarantee, and there are not rules that govern such things. A fetus is a living being, yes, but does it have a guarantee in the scope of life on its most grand scale to have protection to live, no. A fetus has no more guarantee to live life that an ameba, or a newborn zebra dieing in the jaws of a lion has. I must consider the words “having a right to life”. Every living thing has a right to life, but not every living thing gets to live. Therefore, it is inconsistent.

Finally, the belief that a woman may have an abortion if it is necessary to save her own life is an inconsistency in itself. To make exceptions, no matter what the reasoning are still an exception and an inconsistency. Just like taking justice into our own hands when our own life is in danger. For example, a gun is loaded and being pointed at my head and I have the opportunity to grab a steel bar and bash the brains out of the person attempting to shoot me. That is an exception, because most of the time I would not kill another person. In this case, I would be justified, just as cases where abortion is justified to save the mother’s life. Once there is made a place for it to be acceptable in one case there will always remain a gray area.

Throughout life everyone must make difficult decisions. The decisions I make everyday effect myself, my life, and also of those around me. With that in mind, every decision I make, especially a major life decision like considering having an abortion, must take into account my principles, values, and feelings about all sides of the issue. Also, because I live in the United States, I grew up in a middle class Catholic family and neighborhood, because I am Catholic, because I love children and think they are our most important resource, I must also consider what impact my choice will have on these factors, not only in the short term, but also in the long reaching effects my choice will have not only on my life, but what about the lives of those who will follow me. Choices such as this are difficult, emotionally charged, and there really is no right side. Abortion may be the best thing one specific moment in life, but it may be completely the wrong thing at another moment. That is life. We never know from one moment to the next how we feel or what we think because our situation can change as quickly and to put constraints on any options for any being, human or animal, is not anyone’s authority.