Words: 1942
During the 2012 election In the united States, Barack Obama said “It’s a Scary time to be a woman, “Because Mitt Rooney has said he supports outlawing abortion” Battered between political lines, and male Ideologies, Australia Is not the only country guilty of denying this Issue the significance It deserves.
Despite some negatively from Australian media, a recent study showed over half (80%) of Australians believe that Abortion should become readily available to women across the nation -More often than not politics and the law is the core of the abortion debate: however one can question, should abortion be outlawed and treated as murder of human life, or remain a choice available to all mothers. Behind debates and political policy lie fundamental ethical questions which are not always granted the explicit attention it deserves.
It could be argued that law should not reflect morality, however theoretically all good law Is based on moral values, and a failure to observe and discuss these values can obscure important ethical discussions. The hypothesis that will be examined through this study is that abortion should be available, and seen as Ewing ethically acceptable, to women up to the twenty-third week of pregnancy. Ethics play an Important role In our community.
In Its simplest form ethics Is defined as “A system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives” . Human concepts of modern ethics are often derived from religious beliefs, philosophies and culture – more often than not, these beliefs ignite debates on topics controversial topics such as abortion. Abortion, also referred to the termination of pregnancy, is the procedure which ensures that pregnancy does not result in the live birth of a child.
There are several ways in which abortion can take place. Abortions can be conducted by instruments which terminate the life of the baby and remove the fetus by such means as suction curettage, chemically enhanced abortion whereby drugs such as saline injection or RUE are administered than labor Is Induced, along with other forms of abortion where the fetus Is removed through abdominal surgery (AMA,2012). Abortion receives extensive media coverage across the modern world.
However, the media selfishly falls to mention the 86% of abortions occurring in developing countries across the globe. Peter Singer, professor f bioethics at Princeton university, writing for the ‘Project syndicate’ notes that- although a majority of countries in Africa and Latin America where laws prohibit abortion in most circumstances, official bans do not prevent high abortion rates. Singer continues to explain, that for a woman who does not want to have a child, pregnancy and birth creates severe hardship.
To force a woman to suffer unnecessary hardship of any kind is contrary to Australia’s democratic views of promoting individual freedoms and choice ‘Secular’ media In Australia does not necessarily adopt a pro-choice or pro-life stance, rather points out advantages and strangeness of both arguments Margaret Wham, writing for the Courier Mall explains that a survey of over 50,000 people In Australia 90% of respondents agreed that abortion should be readily available, before 12 weeks of pregnancy Wham cited the stuffs authors DRP Lacuna De Screenings when he said that these statistics Australia.
DRP De Screenings continued to say “The survey is showing remarkably consistent data that Australians believe they have the capacity to make their own decisions on abortion”. Henna’s article points out societal views become quite different when pregnancy enters the second trimester (13-26 weeks). Peter Singer in a separate article validly rebuts the arguments often used against abortion, when trying to identify When does life begin? Singer asks “In a strictly biological sense, the opponents of abortion are right to say that abortion ends a human life. When a woman has an abortion, the fetus is alive, and it is undoubtedly human” “But mere membership of our species doesn’t settle the moral issue of whether it is wrong to end a life. In that respect, the fetus is less developed, and less aware of its circumstances, than the animals that we routinely kill and eat for dinner” The Catholic Church has consistently throughout the ages condemned abortion as a direct and purposeful killing of an unborn soul. As a whole the Catholic Church believes that all life is sacred from the very point of conception, to the last breath of life, born or unborn abortion is ethically wrong.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “Since it must be treated from contraception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. ” . Catholicism bases its doctrine teachings on abortion on trial law and further the written word of God and notes that life begins at the very moment of fertilization of the woman’s egg. In addition to this the Evangelistic (the Gospel of life’) the catholic teaching written by Pope John Paul II which expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of human life.
Released in 1995 the Evangelistic states”‘ declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being” (Paul II, 1995), Thus the majority of catholic followers also deem abortion ethically wrong also . During a hearing of an Upper house enquiry, Tasmania Catholic Archbishop Adrian Doyle drew comparisons between the psychological impacts of abortion as being Just as significant as sexual abuse.
During the inquiry into laws which would remove abortion from the criminal code and allow women to terminate their pregnancies at up to sixteen weeks. “This is about the life of an innocent yet -to-be born child. Abortion sits uncomfortably with me and the Catholic Church in any situation” the Most Reverend Doyle specified. Further investigation of the teachings of the Catholic Church supports the ethical stance of the archbishop. Buddhism on the other hand has no direct ethical stance on abortion. However, the teaching of Buddhism does condemn, direct and purposeful killing of any being.
Conferring to the teachings of Buddha, five conditions must be evident to be considered as an act of killing. The five conditions are as following; the being killed must be a living being, the killer must know or be aware that it is a living being, the killer was is deemed to have the intention to kill it, there must be an effort to kill, and the being must perish as a exult. Buddhists often face great difficulty when abortion is required to medically save the life of the mother, and consequently following the five conditions of killing, a life will be lost whether an abortion does or doesn’t take place.
Hence in such cases the moral status of an abortion will depend on the intentions of those that are teaches “Of course, abortion, from a Buddhist viewpoint, is an act of killing and is negative, generally speaking. But it depends on the circumstances. I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance. The question as o whether abortion should be ethically acceptable can be addressed by using ethical frameworks such as natural law, utilitarianism and situational ethics both the catholic and Buddhist religions share a ‘compassionate’ natural law viewpoint when it comes to abortion.
However, they often fail to consider the long term effects, of the mother, father and family, rather focusing on the ‘possible life’ still forming in the mother’s womb. One can argue that it is ethically wrong to kill, those self-aware beings that wish to continue to live. We can see this as a violation of basic human sights or ignorance of their right to choose -But why should mere a beings mere potential to become rationally self-aware make it wrong to end its life before it actually has the capacity for consciousness. Australia has no duty to allow every potential person to become rationally self-aware to realize its potential.
When it comes to a clash between the interests of a potential being and a mother that already has the capacity of a self-aware consciousness, we should give preference to the woman every time. Bibliography Allison, S. (2007, August 25). Herald Sun. Retrieved from http:// www. Heralds. Com. U/news/opinion/Susie-Alonso-abortion-the-dividing-lines/ the controversial beliefs on abortion. This particular article looks at the perspective of women from both religious and non-religious point of view. She describes several circumstances of abortion and how it should be up to the woman to decide.
This article was written as a primary source referencing the relevant sources and was deemed reliable. AREA. (2004). Australian Election Study. Retrieved from http:// www. Area. Org. AU/Resources_and_Links/abortion/What disenfranchisement’s botheration pedal evaluates current perspectives of Australians. It evaluates studies conducted between the years of 2004 and 2010. This article references the relevant studies such as those conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission and was deemed to be a reliable and relevant source.
BBC. (2010). BBC Ethics Centre. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://www. BBC. Co. Bucketing/O/ The BBC ethics centre describes ethics from all perspectives also regarding many significant issues across the globe such as abortion. The ethics centre described catholic and Buddhist viewpoints including quotes and teachings from sacred texts. I used this source at several points during the research task , the BBC is a very reliable source and referenced relevant sources Better Health Channel . (2012). Retrieved from http://www. Biotechnological avocado/bAUabeacheobstetricalesNSFortion_in_Australia This page was not used as an in-text reference but as a source to form an opinion as to what abortion was and how it could be conducted. This source did not display any references hence was only used to form opinion. Department of Foreign affording Trade. (2013). Australian Government. Retrieved from http://www. Daft. gov.DaftfaGob/dAUocratic_rights_freedoms. HTML This Template vaingloriously Australian democratic viewpoints, whilst looking at current issues such as abortion and euthanasia.
This is a government website and was deemed a reliable source to use. Hart, D. (2007). Herald Sun. Retrieved from http:// www. heraldsun.HeraldsneComopAUion/archbishop-denis-hartDenistion-the-dividing- Viewpoint of the Catholic Church and abortion. Written by the archbishop Denis Hart he explains how abortion has consistently been condemned by the Catholic Church. Written as a primary source this article referenced the relevant catholic teachings etc. And was demand to be relevant and reliable II, P. J. (1995). EvangeliumEvangelismme.
This is a primary source that was used to reference the EvangeliumEvangelismtten by Pope John Paul II and the teachings of the catholic church underachiever deemed reliable Amended, Needled, August 1). Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http:// www. SMS. Com. Consummate-news-fear-sums-bill-goes-circumstantially-20130831-safe. Teammates HTML was used to form an opinion on what abortion is and how it is conducted. This included anecdotal stories and studies. This webbing deprogramming any references and was merely an opinionated argument hence was only used to form opinion Singer, P. (2009). Project Syndicate.
Retrieved August 19, 2013, from http://www. Pro]etc-sprocket. Org/commentary/the-real- abortion-tragedy-by-peter-singer This article written by peter singer, a professor of bioethics analyses and critiques the teaching of the Catholic Church, current viewpoints against abortion and further rebuts these arguments. This article did reference were necessary and was deemed reliable. Singer, P. (2012). Herald Sun. Retrieved from http://www. heraldsun.HeraldsneComopAUion/peter-singer-abortion- Professor of bioethics analyses and critiques the teaching of current viewpoints against abortion and further rebuts these arguments.