In 1973, throughout Roe v. Wade case, the Supreme Court decided that a woman's choice of abortion was legally more logical than that of the child inside of the womb. Since then many new medical and scientific improvements have been made which would pose as a threat to this argument. F. M. Kamm in her novel Creation and Abortion says it this way, “Legislation was lax then, and so the theory is that those who proposed the fourteenth amendment, citizens of their times, would not have included it to cover fetuses”(15). Here Kamm is arguing that the lack of scientific evidence, when the constitution was written, led to a problematic interpretation of the constitution which does not protect the child at all stages of development. …show more content…
After conception there is a child, and if there was no life after conception there would be no need for abortion. Therefore, the argument that the child is not living is invalid. Throughout Abortion & Unborn Human Life Patrick Lee advocates for the equal rights of fetuses. He too believes that life begins at conception and argues it by writing, “Thus, the fact that it has the active potentiality for the traits of a mature human being means that the actualization of its potentiality does not produce a distinct entity, but rather the maturation of the same entity which existed since conception”(28). Here Lee describes that the child does not just decide to become alive one day. Instead the child, which was formed at conception, matures from a small version of itself into a complex human form. However, during no part in that maturation was that child not alive. This leads to the complex legal argument. If the child is formed at conception then that child has the right to their constitutional rights. This led to the formation of personhood amendments in many states such as Colorado, Mississippi, and North Dakota. In North Dakota several acts passed by the state senate were not voted in by voters, however had they been they would have read, “‘The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected’”(468). Although this …show more content…
One common argument from the other side is that the child is solely dependent on the mother therefore, the mother's decision outweighs that of the child, because they believe the child is not a child yet. However, as it was already proved that the child is formed at conception this argument is irrelevant. To deny the rights of the child would be unconstitutional. Another argument is that if the pregnancy occurs in a horrid scenario, such as rape, abortion should be allowed. However, Patrick Lee counters this argument by saying, “ This may be a relevant consideration when she considers whether to give the child up for adoption, but it does not warrant performing an action which would cause the child’s death”(131). Here he explains that this scenario is very distinctive, yet it was not the child's fault and murdering him would make the mother just as guilty as the rapist, if not more. I agree with Kamm that if the mother feels unfit to have a child, it is okay, and she should be allowed to give the child up for adoption. However, in today’s society abortion is too commonly a commodity. Famous ancient philosophers used epistemology to decide if something was properly justified. In order for something to properly justified it must be moral, ethical, and rational. Abortion poses as a polar opposite from all of these characteristics. It is immoral,