Abortion

            
             Abortion is the induced termination of pregnancy before the embryo or fetus is capable of survival. This issue has created moral and social concern since the beginning of time. Individuals as well as the church, which is very influential on some people, have had to take a stand on either side of this controversial issue. There are many different views being taken on abortion making the decision of right or wrong that much more difficult to make. The act of aborting a fetus deals with a very complex definition of what a human life is. As Alan Keyes says, "Whether a life is a human life, entitled to respect for all the basic, inviolable rights of humanity - this is a critically important judgment." No one person has the right to say when life begins and this is where the controversy on the issue of abortion stems from. Pro-life advocates define human life as beginning at the moment of conception, while pro-choice supporters claim that once the egg and sperm are united this is just a living organism and not a human life. If the fetus is a human then it is entitled to live under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, saying that it is as equal as any other person. Along with this presumption, if aborted, the aborter could be subject to the penalties that anyone would receive for killing another human being. If the fetus is not being thought of as a human life, then there should be no problem with aborting a fetus. This decision on whether or not the fetus is living or not is extremely difficult to make, therefore creating moral conflict in our society today and for many years to come. Today there are three main positions being held on the abortion issue. The first is that abortion should be legal in all circumstances. The second is that abortion should be legal in extreme circumstances including the mother's health being in jeopardy, pregnancy due to a woman being raped, or evidence that the baby will be defected upon birth.