IS IT WRONG TO ABORT AN UNWANTED BABY? ESSAY QUESTION

Yes, I agree it is right to abort an unwanted baby because it will have a poor quality of life if its parents do not want it or cannot afford to have a family. An unloved and unwanted child may grow up with psychological problems as a result. A baby may be unwanted because the mother was raped and she does not want to be reminded of the awful trauma she went though. Protestant Christians would say that it is the most “loving thing to do” to allow the women to have an abortion in this situation. In the Bible it says “Love thy neighbour” and “forgive us our sins”. Some Christians would allow abortions under compassionate grounds.
However, there other alternatives to abortion which most religions and the pro-life campaign agree with, these are adoption, fostering and keeping the baby. Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow campaigned against abortion, but felt that the Catholic Church needed to help rather than judge, young women who were faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The pro-life campaign says that unwanted children can be adopted by those unable to have their own and sometimes mothers regret aborting their baby so, this can help if the mother changes her mind and decides to keep the baby instead of adoption.
The pro-choice campaign would agree. It believes that women should have the right to choose whether or not she keeps the baby as it is her body and ultimately her life. The baby could be unwanted because it poses a risk to the mother’s mental or physical health therefore abortion is the best outcome. The UK law states that a woman can have an abortion, if 2 doctors agree, up to 24 weeks. Muslims, despite it being forbidden in Islam, will allow a woman to have an abortion if it is to save the mother’s life up to 120 days because, it is seen as the lesser of 2 evils. After 120 days the foetus has developed its soul and has its own rights.
On the other hand, it is wrong to abort an unwanted baby because life begins at conception. So abortion is always wrong because it is ending a life. Life is God-given and sacred and no one has the right to take it away. In the Bible it says: “There’s a time for everything.... a time to be born and a time to die.” God decides our fate. Christians also follow one of the Ten Commandments, “thou shall not kill”.
All Christians believe in the Sanctity of Life. This is the belief that all life is sacred and a gift from God as it says in the Bible, “The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. For this reason many Christians believe that abortion is unacceptable because all life should be treated with respect and dignity and only God can decide when life begins or ends as it says in the Bible, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
Many Christians, particularly Catholics, believe that abortion is unacceptable because they believe that life starts at conception. Therefore abortion is murder and morally wrong as it says in the Bible, “You shall not kill”. These Christians think abortion is always wrong because it challenges the will of God. Only God has the right to decide when life should begin and end. In the Bible it says: “there’s a time for everything.... a time to be born and a time to die.”
There is one exception to this. Catholics believe that aborting a foetus as a result of “double effect” is an unintentional and unfortunate secondary consequence of saving a mother’s life. For example, in the rare case of when a mother has cancer of the uterus and it has to be removed along with the foetus, this situation is considered to be the lesser of two evils. The Church of England believes that occasionally abortion is necessary, for compassionate reasons, and looks at each case individually. If the mother’s life is at risk or the baby will be born severally mentally or physically disabled or if the pregnancy is a result of rape, abortion may be acceptable, as it says in the Bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Muslims also believe that abortion is wrong. In the Qur’an it says: “No severer of womb-relationship ties will ever enter paradise.” Muslims believe that poverty is not a good enough reason to want an abortion. In the Qur’an it says: “You shall not kill your children for fear of want. We will provide for them and for you. To kill is a sin.”
Hindus are totally against abortion because they believe that God is in every living thing. To have an abortion is to destroy God. In the Vedas it says “He is God, hidden in all things, the inmost soul who is all. He watches the work of creation, lives in all things, watches all things.” They believe in samsara and we are all connected through God. In the scriptures it says: “From him all things originate.”
All Christians believe in the Sanctity of Life. This is the belief that all life is sacred and a gift from God as it says in the Bible, “The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. For this reason many Christians believe that abortion is unacceptable because all life should be treated with respect and dignity and only God can decide when life begins or ends as it says in the Bible, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
Many Christians, particularly Catholics, believe that abortion is unacceptable because they believe that life starts at conception. Therefore abortion is murder and morally wrong as it says in the Bible, “You shall not kill”. These Christians think abortion is always wrong because it challenges the will of God. Only God has the right to decide when life should begin and end. In the Bible it says: “there’s a time for everything.... a time to be born and a time to die.”
There is one exception to this. Catholics believe that aborting a foetus as a result of “double effect” is an unintentional and unfortunate secondary consequence of saving a mother’s life. For example, in the rare case of when a mother has cancer of the uterus and it has to be removed along with the foetus, this situation is considered to be the lesser of two evils. The Church of England believes that occasionally abortion is necessary, for compassionate reasons, and looks at each case individually. If the mother’s life is at risk or the baby will be born severally mentally or physically disabled or if the pregnancy is a result of rape, abortion may be acceptable, as it says in the Bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
In conclusion, I believe that it is right for women to have the choice to abort an unwanted baby. At the end of the day, it is her decision and she can choose what she wants to do. Whether she keeps the baby, aborts it, puts it up for adoption or fostering it is her choice. She can have all of the assistance and guidance she wants but, eventually she will have to make a verdict. If there is a valid reason for an abortion (continuing with the pregnancy would involve a greater risk to the woman's life than ending the pregnancy, continuing with the pregnancy would involve a greater risk of injury to the woman's physical or mental health than ending the pregnancy, continuing with the pregnancy would involve a greater risk to the physical or mental health of any of the woman's existing children, if there is a significant risk that the baby would be born with a serious physical or mental disability) then the woman should be allowed to have an abortion ultimately, it’s her health and her choice and only she has the final vote.