A mothers choice
...s. However, aside from the above situation, I feel abortion is completely the decision of the mother, in all situations. If a woman is using birth control pills or another form of contraceptive, she obviously does not wish to become pregnant. Because no contraception is 100% accurate, there is always the chance that she might. In this case, abortion is definitely morally acceptable. There is also the instance of rape or incest. In the case of incest, I think the fetus should be aborted whether the mother agrees or not. There are many proven health defects caused by incest and I do not think it is fair to the child to be put in a situation like this. In the case of rape, it should definitely be the mother’s choice whether to continue the pregnancy. If it is continued, the mother may try to love her child but will most likely involuntarily also feel some hatred towards him or her, knowing that the child was conceived out of hate. There is also the possibility that the child will later develop psychological problems once they find out who their father was, and sometimes character traits are passed on genetically so the child could possess some of the father’s hatred and abusiveness. Another situation I feel is morally acceptable is when the mother becomes pregnant willingly, but perhaps the marriage or relationship falls apart or the father passes away. In the latter case, the mother may want to continue the pregnancy to be able to remember her husband through her child. It could also have the opposite effect. Seeing a bit of the father in her child everyday could be very emotionally damaging. In both of these situations, economic challenges also may be a deciding factor. With much less income, the mother may not feel she is capable of caring for the child to the full extent. The decision should still be left completely up to the mother. Opponents of abortion have many different reasons for their views. Many deal with their religious beliefs, and these people believe that since God created life, no one else has the right to take it away. However, not everyone accepts the same religious beliefs, and some none at all. To someone that does not believe in God, this view would have absolutely no meaning. Another religious aspect is that the fetus has a soul and therefore aborting the fetus is killing the soul. But who is to say that anyone really has a soul, and if they do, when it becomes a part of the human. Still others believe that a fetus is an innocent, helpless human being and has the same rights as any other person. Therefore, they feel that abortion is morally wrong. In response to this, I go back to Mary Anne Warren’s view that a fetus is not necessarily a person of moral status, and must meet the requirements of personhood. If they feel that a fetus is a person, when exactly does it become a person? At conception, once it’s heart starts beating, or at some other point? Because this is so unclear, it is hard for anyone to guarantee that a fetus is a person and cannot really say whether they have rights or not. Many people with a pro-life view think that if a mother does not want her child, she should carry the child to term and then give it up for adoption. However, to many mothers, it is not quite that simple. In most cases, once a mother carries a child for nin...