Abortion: A Toulmin Essay Examining Ethical Arguments

This Toulmin essay delves into the contentious issue of abortion, presenting a comprehensive analysis of the ethical arguments from various perspectives. The essay begins by defining abortion and acknowledging the diverse opinions surrounding it, including those who consider it a crime and those who view it as a matter of personal choice. It then explores the ethical justifications for and against abortion, considering religious viewpoints, the concept of fetal rights, and the potential impact on maternal health. The essay examines the pro-choice argument, emphasizing individual autonomy and the permissibility of abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. Conversely, it presents the pro-life perspective, which asserts the right to life of the fetus from conception. Furthermore, the essay acknowledges situations where abortion might be medically necessary to save a mother's life, highlighting the complexities and sensitivities involved in this debate. The essay concludes by reiterating that abortion remains ethically questionable, except in cases of serious health issues. It stresses that while pro-choice activists have valid points, the fundamental right to life of a fetus should be considered. The essay acknowledges the emotional and rational aspects of the debate, emphasizing that taking a life is always a sensitive issue.

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1TOULMIN ESSAY
Introduction
Abortion is one of the most debated topic of today, this is an international issue which
has gained a lot of critics as well as support. Abortion is the process by which the fetus is
removed from the womb of the mother. There are diverse opinions to this issue there are people
who believe that abortion is a crime because it involves the killing of an infant. Other people are
have the opinion that abortion is the choice of the mother whether she wants to give birth to the
child or not. Apart from the two sides of the topic there is a third side as well, ethically abortion
is not justified but there are cases when the baby is needs to be aborted it might be for the safety
of the mother. When there are complications in the pregnancy when the mother is suffering from
certain diseases that might affect the child as well (Morrell, Kathleen and Wendy Chavkin).
Discussion
Ethically abortion is not justified because the child has his right to live, it does not matter
whether the child is born or not. The people who are against abortion say that right from the
point the fertilization is done the development of embryo starts and then it takes the form of fetus
and gradually turns in to a full grown child, so the fetus is also living. Just because it has not
taken birth does not mean it is not alive or his right to live is lesser than others (Smyth, Dawn,
and Paula Lane). According to Christian ethics abortion is a very serious crime, a sin as defined
by the church. The Christian ethics strongly condemns abortion. Not just Christianity, abortion is
condemned even in Islam. As per some religious of viewpoints both abortion and contraception
practices strongly opposed. Right from the implantation till the child is being conceived, the
fetus is considered as living and it is a crime to kill any living being (Keogh et al.).

2TOULMIN ESSAY
The people who are in support of abortion are called Pro-choice, their argument is that
every individuals have the right to make their own choices so it is the right of the parent whether
they want the baby or not, abortion in the early stages is permissible as per the legislation of
many countries. Medically abortion in the later stages of pregnancy is not allowed because it
causes harm to the women. Abortion should not be considered as murder in the early stage,
which is the first ten to twelve weeks. It is proved by the scientific research that even if the fetus
begins to develop a face, arms, legs, etc by the tenth week, it does not have a consciousness and
it is not considered as a human being. There have been many arguments on this topic concerning
what is right about abortion and what is not. The Pro-Life activist, those who are against abortion
say that it is completely a crime to abort the fetus at any phase of pregnancy to this some of the
extreme pro-abortionists say that the mother has the right to kill her baby even a week before full
birth (Kaczor and Christopher).
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists furnished a statement that
said: "Abortions are necessary in a number of circumstances to save the life of a woman or to
preserve her health. Unfortunately, pregnancy is not a risk-free life event."
There are cases that lead to termination of pregnancy so that woman's life can be saved it
as includes severe infections, heart failure and severe cases of preeclampsia, a condition in which
a very high blood pressure is developed and can cause stroke, says Erika Levi, a obstetrician and
gynecologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"There are certain cases where ending the pregnancy is the only option, cases where it would be
putting the mother's life at risk to continue the pregnancy."

3TOULMIN ESSAY
The reason behind most of the abortions is health issue (Giubilini, Alberto and Francesca
Minerva).
The topic of abortion is very sensitive and requires to be handled very sensitively.
Abortion is one of the most controversial topics because it is very difficult to judge which side is
right. Cassing Hammond, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern
Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, says cases in most of the cases it is the doctors who
decide whether it is safe for a pregnant woman to deliver a fetus or not (Coleman and Priscilla).
If the abortion is done for the health issues it can be justified otherwise there is no point of
justifying abortion. People who are against abortion strongly oppose abortion saying it is against
the human rights. If the fetus would have not been aborted it might have happened that child
would have successfully taken birth and nobody has the right determine who lives or who dies
(Coleman and Priscilla).
Conclusion
Abortion is ethically a crime, there are people who are on support of abortion but apart
from serious health issues it is not fair to justify abortion. The child has right to live and his or
even his biological parents cannot take her right away. Killing a fetus is completely against the
human rights. Pro-choice activists cannot completely be opposed because what they claim is
rationally right. Killing is a very sensitive issue and mostly it is being looked emotionally rather
rationally no matter what the reason is killing is always a crime and cannot be justified,
moreover it is not the right of ordinary human being to decide who should live and who should
die.

4TOULMIN ESSAY
References
Coleman, Priscilla K. "Post-Abortion Mental Health Research: Distilling Quality Evidence from
a Politicized Professional Literature." Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 22.2
(2017).
Giubilini, Alberto, and Francesca Minerva. "After-birth abortion: why should the baby
live?." Journal of medical ethics 39.5 (2013): 261-263.
Kaczor, Christopher. The ethics of abortion: Women’s rights, human life, and the question of
justice. Routledge, 2014.
Kao, Grace Y. "Working Contextually and in Solidarity with Others." Journal of Feminist
Studies in Religion 31.1 (2015): 115-121.
Keogh, L. A., et al. "Intended and unintended consequences of abortion law reform: perspectives
of abortion experts in Victoria, Australia." J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 43.1 (2017): 18-24.
Morrell, Kathleen M., and Wendy Chavkin. "Conscientious objection to abortion and
reproductive healthcare: a review of recent literature and implications for adolescents." Current
Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology 27.5 (2015): 333-338.
Saunders, John. "Doing good medical ethics: a Christian perspective." Journal of medical
ethics 41.1 (2015): 117-120.
Smyth, Dawn, and Paula Lane. "Abortion in modern health care: Considering the issues for
health‐care professionals." International journal of nursing practice 22.2 (2016): 115-120.