The controversy within the biomedical ethics topic, abortion, has two main proponents. The first, is the view against abortion, also known as pro-life. The other view, is rooted upon the belief of being pro-choice, or basically for abortions. These two different views are like two mathematical principles, in that although these two views have many differences, they also have larger similarities in the background. For example, when pro-choice activists support abortions due to unwanted pregnancies, the activists are not rallying behind the idea of sexual incompetency (pregnancies due to lack of birth control). Rather, they are supporting the idea that women have the right to choose what to do with their own bodies. In order to understand these opposing views, justifications and condemnations, on abortion, it can basically be divided into three categories. These categories are based upon the reasons for which abortions are carried out, and include congenital defects, rape, and economics. Congenital defects, is when deformities within the baby are detected during an early stage of a pregnancy (Nelson 36-37). These defects, such as Down's syndrome, are detected through an amniocentesis test. The second justification for abortion is from criminal cases, such as rape (Nelson 38). A final reason for an abortion, is due to economics, the financial condition, of a family (Nelson 32). Economics can also include cases such as teen pregnancies.
The anti-abortionists have numerous reasons for their beliefs, and many of them are attached to their religion ideals. Religious ideals, range from having an abortion before 120 days after the pregnancy, as in Islam, to considering it a sin to have an abortion, as in Christianity (Siegel et al. 3-4). However, the anti-abortionists' reasons also come from the belief that a human being is born after conception, and that the death of that embryo or fetus resembles the murder of an innocent human ...