Arguments Against Abortion Law

Introduction
While some countries have legalized abortion, some have upheld the prohibition of such medical services. Modern society is divided between two major stances on abortion: pro-choice and pro-life. Some claim that forbidding abortion infringes upon a woman’s right to her own body while others argue that abortion is murder and should be illegal. As governments establish laws dictating the legal status of abortion, the issue is not simply whether or not abortion is right but rather whether or not law can govern such a matter as abortion.
St. Thomas Aquinas writes in Question 96 Articles 2 and 3 of his Treatise on Law that human law is limited by its end, its authority, and its subjects. Law, in general, must be ordered to the common
The third characteristic mandates that the author of the law be a public authority. Aquinas argues that the people should make laws since “ordering things to ends belongs to those to whom the ends belong” (Regan, 14). However, it is impractical to extend the power of making laws to the whole community. Making laws would become a longer process because one would need to take every individual’s opinion into account. Thus, public authorities, who have the power to act for the common good of the community which they rule, should be the makers of law. Law commands a certain way of life that public authorities have the power to induce. Lastly, all laws must be promulgated, for without promulgation, law would not fulfill its purpose. In order for any law to be able to fulfill its innate power of commanding and forbidding, it must be applied to its subjects. Through promulgation, laws are made known and thus applied to its subjects. The promulgation of law consequently allows for law to fulfill its
Natural law, although it does not demand perfect justice, is a reflection of the eternal and divine law as appropriate to the nature of its subjects. It is demonstrated through rational creatures who operate on their own reason and will in accordance with nature under the governance of eternal law. All rational creatures hold knowledge of the natural law because it is bestowed in their minds by God. Natural law, because it rules rational creatures, is based on the self-evident principles of practical reason to order ist subjects to their ends. As the first principle of practical reason is the nature of seeking good, “the first precept of natural law is that we should do and seek good, and shun evil” (Regan, 43). The precepts of natural law also reflect the rational creature’s natural inclinations. As all living things naturally seek to remain alive, the preservation of life and the production and upbringing of offspring are precepts of the natural law. Furthermore, man, by nature of being a rational creature, seeks to pursue truths about God and to live in society with others. This list of natural law’s precepts is not exhaustive, but, like the ones listed, all precepts of natural law relate to the natural inclinations of rational creatures (Regan,