Though abortion is legal in Canada under the constitution, it is a moral and ethical offense that should be outlawed. Abortion is a violation of fundamental human values that has been practiced for many years. We will look at abortion from the following perspectives in this paper:
A medical point of view
The majority of abortions are voluntary and performed for no medical purpose. Though medical conditions were some of the major reasons why pro-abortions campaigned for its legalization, data and information available to date suggest that this constitutes only 1% of the reasons why women opt for an abortion. It is common knowledge to admit that when two lives are in danger and the only one can be saved, doctors must save that life. In cases of conditions such as ectopic pregnancy where the child has no chance of survival while the mothers’ life is at considerable risk, abortion might not be an option. In such tragic condition, a life must be lost to save another. While it’s morally right to perform an abortion under such a condition, the mothers’ life must be at considerable risk and not every health issue constitutes a reason for an abortion. An abortion performed due to an illness to the mother which does not put her life at risk doesn’t fall under this category. Even when abortion was illegal, those performed due to such conditions were legal. It is sad to note that over 97% of abortions performed to date in Canada were not on medical grounds. It is sad to note that most reasons why abortions are performed are due to financial reasons and convenience. It is totally misleading to argue that abortion should remain legal due to the few cases where it is performed to save a life. Abortion on demand for any other reason should be illegal.
Abortions possess more danger to the mother than childbirth
While abortion not only leads to the death of an innocent child, it poses great health risks to the mother even when conducted by a qualified medical profession. Data present suggest that both mortality and morbidity rates of legal abortion are many times higher than those of childbirth. While this is of concern, it sad to note that many deaths as a result of abortion go unreported. This indicates that these could even be higher. It is scientifically proven that an abortion increases the chances of maternal death in future. Abortion also exposes women to serious infections which can lead to infertility in the future. Pelvic inflammation disease has been reported in over 50% of women who had an abortion compared to 10% of those who carried pregnancies to full term three months after. While legal abortion is slightly safer compared to illegal abortion, it should not warrant the legalization of this vice.
Abortion from a religious point of view
Most religious teaching is against abortion
In Canada at present, about 77% incline to a religious group. While Christians consist of about 63%, about 14% are affiliates to other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. While people with no religious affiliation consist of 23% of today’s Canada population, it is important to note that religion has had a great influence on how people conduct themselves. One common teaching among all these religious groupings is their opposition to elective abortion. Buddhists believe that life should not be destroyed. They consider it morally wrong when life is destroyed intentionally like in cases of abortion. From a Hinduism point of teaching, they oppose abortion unless where it’s done to save the life of the mother. Islam considers abortion as wrong and haram and should be considered where the mother is at risk. Abortion after 120 days is considered illegal in Islam. Christianity, on the other hand, views abortion on demand as morally wrong. It equates abortion out of choice to murder and provides very rare scenarios when an abortion can be done. Based on these facts and the great influence religion has on the larger population of this country, it is okay to ban abortion from a religious point of view.
Abortion from an ethical point of view
The rights of a child and the mother do not compare
As opposed to the mothers’ lifestyle, the child's right to live cannot be compared. Where the choice for the mother to procure an abortion is not based on a matter of life and death, the right of the child to live oversees the lifestyle choice of the mother. The society has an obligation to ensure the child matures to grow. It is valid to expect the mother to live with a temporary inconvenience for the sake of the child’s life. Over 99% of the pregnancies are as a result of two grownups who willingly engage in sex warrant it not to be termed as a mistake. The fact that the unborn child is human makes them deserve the right to life.
The child is innocent regardless of how they were conceived
Pregnancies out of rape are one of the reasons pro-abortions campaigned for its legalization. It is ethically and morally wrong to assume that killing an innocent child will take away the psychological pain associated with rape. Despite a child being conceived through this means, it would be of higher morality to give them up for adoption the moment they are born. Just because one feels the child as unwanted should not be the reason their right to live is taken away. While others tie the reason to abort as poverty or deformities, the child can always be given up for adoption the moment they are born. The right of the child to live is greater than all other reasons given to warrant an abortion.
Natural law
The natural ethical law is based on our purpose as humans. Under the law, we have an obligation to protect the lives of all people regardless of the situation. Under this view, abortion is evil and should not be considered as an option. The society has a moral obligation to ensure the child lives to full term. The fact that abortion was once illegal makes the people charged with the legislative role of having committed a crime of getting rid of such a rule. Rules are a useful guide in most situations. At times, we as humans are required to push our principles aside and do what is right. In the situation of a pregnancy, it is only right to preserve human life. Abortion out of pleasure is not good in itself. While God created us all, He instructed us to reproduce, hence ethically it is in our best interest to create families. In such conditions, abortion should only be allowed in extreme circumstances but not as a method of birth control it has become in many countries (Furedi, 79).
Conclusion
Based on these views, it is moral, medically, and from a religious point of view to consider abortion wrong. The fact that we treat those who commit murder as criminal makes it right to regard those who commit abortion as such. The arguments that the unborn child is not human hence do not deserve rights enjoyed by us leaves them who they are unanswered. While the largest population of Canada is affiliated with a religious group, it leaves us with no option but to follow the teachings of religion. While feminists argue that women have a right to choose whether they should have a child or not, the argument is limited and holds not validity once one conceives (Joanna, 48). The fact that most pregnancies are as a result of willing sexual encounters is another reason why we ought to take responsibility for our actions. We should not subject an innocent unborn child to death they have no responsibility over. The relevant legislative bodies should take immediate steps to make this vice illegal.
Work Cited
ERDMAN, JOANNA N. “The Politics of Global Abortion Rights.” Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. 22, no. 2, Spring/Summer, 2016
Furedi, Ann. The Moral Case for Abortion. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016
Saurette, Paul, and Kelly Gordon. The Changing Voice of the Anti-Abortion Movement: The Rise of ‘Pro-Woman’ Rhetoric in Canada and the United States. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 2016
