Abortion Abortion is a termination of a pregnancy before birth, resulting in the death of the fetus.

Some abortions occur naturally because sometimes a fetus does not develop normally or because the mother has an injury or disorder that prevents her from carrying the pregnancy to term. This type of unplanned abortion is commonly known as a miscarriage. Other abortions are inducedthat is, intentionally brought onbecause a pregnancy is unwanted or it presents a risk to a womans health, or because the fetus is likely to have severe physical or mental health problems. Induced abortion, the focus of this piece, is one of todays most intense ethical and philosophical issues. Modern medical techniques have made induced abortions simpler and less dangerous. Today, the debate over abortion has led to legal battles in the courts, in the Congress of the United States, and state legislatures. The debate has spilled over into confrontations, which are sometimes violent, at clinics where abortions are performed. SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES Abortion has become one of the most widely debated ethical issues of our time. On one side are pro-choice supportersindividuals who favor a womans reproductive rights, including the right to choose to have an abortion. On the other side are the pro-life advocates, who may oppose abortion for any reason or who may only accept abortion in extreme circumstances, as when the mothers life would be threatened by carrying a pregnancy to term. At one end of this ethical range are prochoice defenders who believe that the fetus is only a potential human being when it becomes feasible, that is, able to survive outside its mothers womb. Until this time the fetus has no legal rightsthe rights belong to the woman carrying the fetus, who can decide whether or not to bring the pregnancy to full term. At the other end of the range are pro-life supporters who believe that the fetus is a human being from the time of conception. As such, the fetus has the legal right to life from the moment the egg and sperm unite. Between these positions lies a variety of ethical, religious, and political positions. A variety of ethical arguments have been made on both sides of the abortion issue, but no agreement or compromise has ever been reached because, in the public policy debate, the most vocal pro-choice and pro-life champions have totally different views about the status of a fetus. Embryology, the study of fetal development, offers little insight about the fetuss status at the time of conception, further confusing the issue for both sides. In addition, the point during pregnancy when a fetus becomes feasible has changed over the years as medical advances have made it possible to keep a premature baby alive at an earlier stage. The current definition of viability is generally accepted at about 24 weeks development; a small percentage of babies born at about 22 weeks development have been kept alive with intensive medical care. Despite the most advanced medical care, however, babies born prematurely are more at risk for long-term medical and developmental problems. This combination of medical ambiguities and emotional political confrontations has led to considerable hostility in the abortion debate. For many people, however, the lines between prochoice and pro-life are blurred and the issue is far less polarized. Many women who consider themselves pro-life supporters are concerned about possible threats to reproductive rights and the danger of allowing the government to decide what medical options are available to them. Similarly, many pro-choice individuals are deeply dismayed by the act of abortion and seek to minimize its use through better education about birth control, and, in particular, emergency contraception, birth-control methods that prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. QOUTATIONS ON ABORTION From the moment of conception, the life of every human being is to be respected in an absolute way...no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself/herself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being. I'm opposed to abortion because I happen to believe that life deserves the protection of society.