The Value of Life: A Philosophical and Legal Analysis of Abortion

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VALUE OF LIFE
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
BODY.....................................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
In this assignment we will discuss the chosen topic “should the value of life be decided by
law or by the individual". There are various advantages and disadvantages associated with
the law that has been proposed for abortion. Some people can get benefit from this while
others may be suffering due to this which could lead to the death of women. There are
various cultural variations that have been associated with the value of life. Various authors
proposed that life is gifted by a god and hence no one has a right to destroy it. The abortion
law should be made according to the condition or the situation of the individual and it
should not harm the unborn and maternal health.
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BODY
Life is a gift of God. The value of human life is an economic value that is used to enumerate
the benefit of avoiding a casualty. It can also be known as the cost of life or the value of
avoiding causality (Kirkwood, 2015). The life of a human is finite and precious and hence no
one has a right to destroy it. The god has gifted life that has a very special meaning a value.
Sometimes individual forget to thank for their life or either they regret. Most of the people
think if they have lots of money or having a good job, they become more popular. Most of
the individual has influenced by others who have erudite something (Kirkwood, 2015).
Society generally gives value for those people who are doing well in their life or they have
achieved something. From a personal perspective, they usually judge themselves according
to what they have achieved and accomplished. Every person has their own perspective and
opinion according to what they want in their life (Russell-Smith et al., 2015). All you just to
need is to focus on what you want and believe in yourself in order to achieve something.
The life of a human can only be worth if they really want to achieve something. The value of
life can be understood throughout school and college life because if the individual cannot
figure out what he or she wants to achieve in their life, they will end up by doing anything in
their life and hence it will get regret in the future (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015). The
value of society is based either on facts or not. It is not constructed on facts, then they
depend on propaganda, lies, myths, fantasies or delusions. Most of the individual may have
a strong feeling about abortion. However, it is very important to understand that the value
system that has been ruined in the society is responsible to shape the perception of reality.
There are various criminal laws that assign the value of life. For example, if the person
physically attacks, people have a right to kill them for self-defence and avoid own death
(Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015).
Abortion is an important public or philosophical issue that needs to be explained in a
reasoned manner. Various author has argued on the chosen topic "should the value of life is
decided by the law or by the individual" (Cornell, 2016). It has been seen that if the value of
life is decided by the individual itself, then the criminal activities can be increased and
people are going to take their life casually. Illiterate women or lack of education can lead to
abortion many times which adversely affect the health of women. It has been seen that if
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women itself decide whether to plan an abortion or not, there are a high chance of women
get pregnant and are more commonly engage in the relationship status (Sumner, 2014). If
the individual gets chances to decide, family pressure can affect the health of women. On
the other hand, if the value of life is decided by the law, most the women have to face
various questions that could be asked by the society or the police. The women have to face
the torcher of society and in various cases, it has been seen that society generally does not
accept the women who got pregnant before the marriage (Bardi et al., 2014). They try to
criticize such type of women. Strict law can affect the development of both the newborn
and mother life. The single mother has to face various problems for their child. In the case
where the women are sexually abused or in rape cases, the law can impact negatively on
their lives (Bardi et al., 2014).
The girl who has been cheated with her partner cannot take their child in whole life and
hence law can affect the life of both the newborn as well as the mother. If any women carry
fetus that is physically or mentally disable when the law does not permit her to get abort
then in such a situation what women can do. Is she has to take care of her disable child or
either she has to send her child to orphaned house (Bardi et al., 2014). The laws should be
made according to the preference and the situation of the individual. The government
should be made law in order to provide various facilities to the newborn as well as mothers
so that they could be a live normal life (Bardi et al., 2014). Most of the European countries
allow abortion only during the first trimester (Bardi et al., 2014). It has been seen that after
the first trimester, abortion is generally associated with several risks to women and even
cause the death of women. In some case such as fetal defects or women, age can only allow
abortion after the first trimester. In Austria, second-trimester abortions allowed only when
there is a risk to the health of female (Bardi et al., 2014). In Denmark, second-trimester
abortion allowed due to the low socioeconomic condition. In Italy, the abortion is legalized
allow and hence health care practitioner can perform an abortion (Bardi et al., 2014). Before
December 2018, in Ireland that abortion was illegal and it led to the endangered the life of
pregnant women (Aiken et al., 2018). After 2018, the majority of Irish people voted to
cancel the constitutional modification and hence the new law has been proposed Regulation
of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 (Aiken et al., 2018). Under this act, it allows abortion
up to 3 months of pregnancy and in certain condition at the later stage (Aiken et al., 2018).
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In Poland, there is a strict abortion law (Bardi et al., 2014). The government allows abortion
only if there is a high risk associated with the mother or newborn or if the pregnancy may be
due to some criminal activity. Most of the European countries have laws which state that
minor girls need parents or their parents must be informed before the abortion (Aiken et al.,
2018).
The various study revealed that the Catholic Church opposes any form of abortion
procedures that may have a direct purpose is to destroy embryo or fetus, blastocyst or
embryo as they do not support abortion in any case. They believe that life is gifted form the
god and hence no one has a right to destroy it (Smyth, 2017). Every people would have the
value of life and if anyone could ever try to destroy it, will get punished for this. In the year
2012, the Savita Halappanavar has been died at the university hospital Galway in Ireland
due to multiple organ failure, septicemia (blood poisoning) and her death (Enright et al.,
2015). Under the Irish law, she has been denied abortion which may lead to loss of her life.
This all incidence has been occurred due to the Catholic country and Catholic religious does
not allow abortion in any case (Keown, 2013). It is important to distinguish between the law
relating to the ethical aspect and abortion of the operation. Hitherto, both the ethical and
legal aspects have overlap in that an offence against the abortion law is regarded as an
offence that is against professional ethics.
The British Medical Association council has proposed that termination of a pregnancy of
abortion is allowed ethically only when there is the risk of the health of mother and fetus or
when there are high chances of serious abnormalities associated with the fetus (Dussauge,
Helgesson and Lee, 2015). In England, Wales and Scotland, abortion is legal after the
abortion act passed in 1967 (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015). Value of life can be
decided by the individual itself. However, most of the female are experiencing the dilemma
of a wanted pregnancy. There are various economic and sociocultural barriers that can
influence their autonomy and vulnerable to pressures that can force them for abortion. A
study conducted in Maputo and Quelimane includes 14 women of age group 15 to 24 years
who had experienced abortion (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015). The result of this study
found that limited availability of health care services, low education level and low degree of
autonomy can lead to abortion (Frederico et al., 2018). Based on the result, various authors
have proposed strategies such as increase knowledge, improve health care services and
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accessibility of services can to prevent abortion value of life that is decided by the individual
is complex process and involve practical approach such ad professional and educational
goals, partner and finance support and moral deliberation such as responsibilities to existing
children attitude towards abortion and dependence factors. Individual involved in an
abortion usually get affected very deeply, not only just emotionally but they get spiritually
affected (Thomson, 2016).
Their faiths are more often turn into comfort and advice. They try to involve in atonement in
order to deal with a feeling of guilt. Abortion affects the mind as well as heart because it is
associated with death and life (Spade, 2015). Most of the Japanese and Western Buddhists
believe in the acceptability of abortion while other Buddhists believe that abortion is a crime
or murder. They believe in rebirth and teach the value of life. Muslims religion considered
abortion as wrong and forbidden, but in many cases, they may be permitted. Muslims law
permitted abortion only when the mother’s life was in real danger. A different school of
Muslim laws have several views regarding abortion (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015). In
the Hindu religion, they find a way to choose the action that will cause less harm to the
mother, fetus, father and society. However, they generally opposed abortion except when
there is essential to save the life of the mother. Many modern and traditional Hindu sees
the value of life as a break of the duty in order to produce children to continue the family
process in society. Every individual exists with a diverse ecosystem of cultural, philosophical
and economic values for it (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015). Various religious people
argue against this point that is based on spirituality that is faith not facts. However, it is
important that law should be made according to the situation or given condition as none of
them should be provided with harm by generating various laws. Other than this, an
individual must give the choice to decide what is good for them or what is not and teach
them the value of life (Dussauge, Helgesson and Lee, 2015).
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CONCLUSION
This essay concluded that law should be made according to the proper feasibility of the
individual case and condition. There UK government has proposed various laws that have a
first preference towards the health of the mother as well as unborn. There are various
cultural beliefs that affect the value of life. Every person must know the value of life as it has
been lifted from the god and no one has a right to destroy it as "you cannot create, you
cannot kill". The essay argues various points that support abortion as well as criticize it.
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REFERENCES
Aiken, A.R., Guthrie, K.A., Schellekens, M., Trussell, J. and Gomperts, R., 2018. Barriers to
accessing abortion services and perspectives on using mifepristone and misoprostol at home
in Great Britain. Contraception, 97(2), pp.177-183.
Bardi, A., Buchanan, K.E., Goodwin, R., Slabu, L. and Robinson, M., 2014. Value stability and
change during self-chosen life transitions: Self-selection versus socialization effects. Journal
of personality and social psychology, 106(1), p.131.
Boyle, M., 2014. Re-thinking Abortion: Psychology, Gender and the Law. Routledge.
Cornell, D., 2016. The imaginary domain: abortion, pornography and sexual harrassment.
Routledge.
Dussauge, I., Helgesson, C.F. and Lee, F. eds., 2015. Value practices in the life sciences and
medicine. Oxford University Press, USA.
Enright, M., Conway, V., De Londras, F., Donnelly, M., Fletcher, R., McDonnell, N.,
McGuinness, S., Murray, C., Ring, S. and Ui Chonnachtaigh, S., 2015. Abortion law reform in
Ireland: A model for change.
Frederico, M., Michielsen, K., Arnaldo, C. and Decat, P., 2018. Factors influencing abortion
decision-making processes among young women. International journal of environmental
research and public health, 15(2), p.329.
Keown, D., 2013. Buddhism and Abortion. In Contemporary Buddhist Ethics (pp. 145-176).
Routledge.
Kirkwood, T.B., 2015. Deciphering death: a commentary on Gompertz (1825)‘On the nature
of the function expressive of the law of human mortality, and on a new mode of
determining the value of life contingencies’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
B: Biological Sciences, 370(1666), p.20140379.
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Russell-Smith, S.V., Lepech, M.D., Fruchter, R. and Meyer, Y.B., 2015. Sustainable target
value design: integrating life cycle assessment and target value design to improve building
energy and environmental performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 88, pp.43-51
Smyth, L., 2017. Abortion and nation: The politics of reproduction in contemporary Ireland.
Routledge.
Spade, D., 2015. Normal life: Administrative violence, critical trans politics, and the limits of
law. Duke University Press.
Sumner, L.W., 2014. Abortion and moral theory (Vol. 285). Princeton University Press.
Thomson, J., 2016. Explaining gender equality difference in a devolved system: The case of
abortion law in Northern Ireland. British Politics, 11(3), pp.371-388.
Thomson, J., 2016. Explaining gender equality difference in a devolved system: The case of
abortion law in Northern Ireland. British Politics, 11(3), pp.371-388.
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