'Partial Birth' Abortion

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the 1972 passage of Roe vs. Wade has made abortion the greatest moral flash point in the United States today and how, for abortion supporters, the issue is often framed as a question of women's rights and privacy. It examines how this argument, however, ignores the reality that abortion, particularly late-term 'partial birth' abortion, involves the rights of another human being as well. It puts forward the argument that a fetus is a human life and therefore entitled to the same protections as any person who has been born. It further argues that the termination of a fetus's life involves violent and painful procedures that would be akin to murder and torture. It also looks at how, because of these factors, the federal courts should uphold the current ban on 'partial birth' abortions, ensuring the same basic protections to the most helpless and innocent segments of American society.

From the Paper:

"The issue of reproductive rights is a crucial part of the feminist movement, which believes that the right to control one's body is central to a person's dignity and independence. For many feminists, the abortion issue boils down to a question of women's rights. The agitation against abortion is thus an agitation against change. Removing a woman's option to terminate her own pregnancy harks back to the time when women were limited to traditional sex roles. Roe vs. Wade has done much more than making abortions legal. The decision has also affected traditional roles and values and has thus eroded the old moral order. Abortion is a contentious issue precisely because it has challenged prevailing standards and caused a fundamental shift in the societal power structures."

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• Term Paper # 117992 : "Different Perpectives of Abortion"

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