The Abortion Debate

During the 2012 election in the United States, Barack Obama said “It’s a Scary time to be a woman, “Because Mitt Romney has said he supports outlawing abortion” Battered between political lines, and male ideologies, Australia is not the only country guilty of denying this issue the significance it deserves. Despite some negativity from Australian media, a recent study showed over half (80%) of Australians believe that Abortion should become readily available to women across the nation .More often than not politics and the law is the core of the abortion debate: however one can question, should abortion be outlawed and treated as murder of human life, or remain a choice available to all mothers. Behind debates and political policy lie fundamental
In its simplest form ethics is defined as “A system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives” . Human concepts of modern ethics are often derived from religious beliefs, philosophies and culture – more often than not, these beliefs ignite debates on topics controversial topics such as abortion.
Abortion, also referred to the termination of pregnancy, is the procedure which ensures that pregnancy does not result in the live birth of a child. There are several ways in which abortion can take place. Abortions can be conducted by instruments which terminate the life of the baby and remove the fetus by such means as suction curettage, chemically enhanced abortion whereby drugs such as saline injection or RU486 are administered than labor is induced, along with other forms of abortion where the fetus is removed through abdominal surgery
During the inquiry into laws which would remove abortion from the criminal code and allow women to terminate their pregnancies at up to sixteen weeks. “This is about the life of an innocent yet –to-be born child. Abortion sits uncomfortably with me and the Catholic Church in any situation” the Most Reverend Doyle specified. Further investigation of the teachings of the Catholic Church supports the ethical stance of the archbishop.
Buddhism on the other hand has no direct ethical stance on abortion. However, the teaching of Buddhism does condemn, direct and purposeful killing of any being. Conferring to the teachings of Buddha, five conditions must be evident to be considered as an act of killing. The five conditions are as following; the being killed must be a living being, the killer must know or be aware that it is a living being, the killer was is deemed to have the intention to kill it, there must be an effort to kill, and the being must perish as a