Abortion: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

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Intro to Debatabase Discuss topic
Summary: Should abortion be permitted?
Debatabase Junior
Contributing Topics
Introduction
Commission Topics
Author:Joe Devanny ( United Kingdom ) Joe Devanny reads Politics at Cambridge University. He was
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President of the Cambridge Union Society [and has reached the semi-finals of the World Universities'
Submit Topic Debating Championships].
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Created: Friday, September 29, 2000
Last Modified: Monday, April 13, 2009

Context
The issue of abortion is one of the most contentious, and emotive dilemmas faced by modern societies.
The question is whether one should allow the termination of a child whilst it is in its mother’s womb. For
some, the question is even more fundamental: at what stage is the foetus in the womb to be regarded
as a child? The battle-lines are drawn between strict, religious (‘pro-life’) arguments (that it is never
permissible), and those (‘pro-choice’) that emphasise the mother’s right to choose as the primary
concern. Whilst abortion has been accepted by the American state since the land-mark Roe vs. Wade
case in the early 1970s, this is by no means a reflection of universal agreement – either international or
within America itself – as many Western countries still have considerable restrictions on abortion. For
example, the Irish position has softened only recently, and the Catholic Church steadfastly refuses to
change its resolutely pro-life stance in the face of criticism from Women’s and other lobby-groups.

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Arguments
Pros
Women should have control over their own bodies;
they have to carry the child during pregnancy and
undergo child-birth. No-one else carries the child for
her; it will be her responsibility alone, and thus she
should have the sole right to decide. These are
important events in a woman’s life, and if she does not
want to go through the full nine months and
subsequent birth, then she should have the right to
choose not to do so. There are few – if any – other
cases where something with such profound
consequences is forced upon a human being against
her/his will. To appeal to the child’s right to life is just
circular – whether a foetus has rights or not, or can
really be called a ‘child’, is exactly what is at issue.
Everyone agrees that children have rights and
shouldn’t be killed. Not everyone agrees that foetuses
of two, four, eight, or even twenty weeks are children
(see point 3).
Not only is banning abortion a problem in theory,
offending against a woman’s right to choose, it is also
a practical problem. Enforcing an abortion ban would
require a quite degrading and inhumane treatment of
those women who wished to have their foetus
terminated. Moreover, if pregnant women travelled
abroad, they would be able to have an abortion in a
country where it was legal. Either the state takes the
draconian measure of restricting freedom of
movement, or it must admit that its law is unworkable
in practice and abolish it. The ‘third way’ of tacitly
accepting foreign terminations would render
hypocritical the much-vaunted belief in the sanctity of
life. In addition, the demand for abortions will always
exist; making abortion illegal, will simply drive it
underground and into conditions where the health and
safety of the woman might be put at risk.
Cons
Of course, human-rights should be respected, but it is
never the case that a person has a right to make a
decision with no reference to the rights and wishes of
others. In this case, one might wonder about the rights
of the father to have a say in the fate of the foetus.
More importantly, though, pro-choice groups actively
ignore the most important right – the child’s right to
life. What is more important than life? All other rights,
including the mother’s right to choice, surely stem
from a prior right to life; if you have no right to any life,
then how do you have a right to an autonomous one?
The woman may ordinarily have a reasonable right to
control her own body, but this does not confer on her
the entirely separate (and insupportable) right to
decide whether another human lives or dies.
Unborn children cannot articulate their right to life;
theirs are vulnerable lives and as such must be
protected. Many laws have difficulties pertaining to
implementation, but these do not diminish the strength
of the principle behind them: people will kill other
people, regardless of your legislating against it, but it
does not follow that you shouldn’t legislate against it.
Even though the Netherlands had more liberal drugs’
laws than in England, this did not lead, and nor should
it have led, to a similar liberalisation here. Whether we
should actively restrain would-be ‘abortion tourists’
from travelling is a separate question, but one which
can be answered in the affirmative given what is at
stake. In ordinary circumstances such a move would
indeed be draconian, but where a restriction in
someone’s freedom is the price to pay for protecting
an innocent life, then so be it.

Are we really talking about a ‘life?’ At what point does The question of what life is can certainly be answered:

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Abortion: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

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a life begin? Is terminating a foetus, which can neither
feel nor think and is not conscious of its own
‘existence,’ really commensurable with the killing of a
‘person?’ There rightly are restrictions on the time,
within which a termination can take place, before a
foetus does develop these defining, human
characteristics. If you affirm that human life is a quality
independent of, and prior to thought and feeling, then
you leave yourself the awkward task of explaining
what truly ‘human’ life is.
There are cases in which it is necessary to terminate a
pregnancy, lest the mother and/or the child die. In
such cases of medical emergency and in the interest
of saving life, surely it is permissible to abort the
foetus.
It is not just medical emergency that presents
compelling grounds for termination. Woman, and in
some cases girls, who have been raped should not
have to suffer the additional torment of being pregnant
with the product of that ordeal. To force a woman to
produce a living, constant reminder of that act is unfair
on both mother and child.
Finally, due to advances in medical technology it is
possible to determine during pregnancy whether the
child will be disabled. In cases of severe disability, in
which the child would have a very short, very painful
and tragic life, it is surely the right course of action to
allow the parents to choose a termination. This avoids
both the suffering of the parents and of the child.
it is sacred, inviolable and absolute. It is
unquestionable that the foetus, at whatever stage of
development, will inevitably develop the traits to which
you refer. The unborn child will have every ability, and
every opportunity that you yourself have, if you give
him the opportunity. The time-restrictions on
termination had to be changed once, when it was
discovered that feeling developed earlier than first
thought, so they are hardly impeccable safe-guards
behind which to hide.
Whilst these are different circumstances, and such
medical emergencies are tragic, it is by no means
obvious that the abortion is to be performed. The
‘mother vs. child’ dilemma is one which defies
solution, and aborting to preserve one of the lives sets
a dangerous precedent that it is acceptable to kill a
person in order to save another. This is a clear, and
unpalatable, case of treating a human-being as a
means to an end.
Whilst an appalling crime has been committed, is it the
fault of the unborn child? The answer is, of course, no.
Denying someone life, because of the circumstances
of their conception is as unfair as anything else
imaginable.
What right does anyone have to deprive another of life
on the grounds that he deems that life as not worth
living? This arrogant and sinister presumption is
impossible to justify, given that many people with
disabilities lead fulfilling lives. What disabilities would
be regarded as the water-shed between life and
termination? The practise of eugenics is roundly
condemned by all civilised countries.

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Style: 5 preliminary rounds
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Motions
This House Would Allow Abortion on Demand
This House Believes in the Woman’s Right to Choose
Useful Sites
American Civil Liberties Union: Reproductive Freedom
The America National Right to Life Committee
ReligiousTolerance.Org: Abortion
Catechism of the Catholic Church: Abortion
Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child
The Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion
BBC Online
Abortion Rights (UK)
Abortion Review (UK)
The issue of abortion in Ireland

Useful Books
Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments Expanded & Updated
By: Randy Alcorn
Life's Dominion: An Argument About Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom
By: Ronald Dworkin
The Ethics of Abortion : Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice (Contemporary Issues)
By: Robert M. Baird (Editor)
Editor: Stuart E Rosenbaum
Abortion Under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice
By:
Editor: Krista Jacob
The Ethics of Abortion (At Issue Series)
By:
Editor: Christine Watkins
Abortion (Opposing Viewpoints Series)
By:
Editor: James D. Torr

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Abortion: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

Themes
Moral and Religious

Discuss
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Author Post

choelley Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 08:58 am

Member
I believe that abortion should be legalized on the basis of mother and baby's
condition. I have two condition why we can legalize it. First if the mother is victim of
raping. Second, if the pregnant threaten Mother's health. We can do it with medical
advice from the doctor. I see that most of women who became the victims of raping
have psychology problem. It, of course, affect her health and baby she is pregnant
with. Psychology becomes one of important things in pregnancy. Good psychology
can bring good state for both mother and baby. But, bad psychology just harm either
mother and baby. Secondly, we also must notice the condition of mother if we want to
do abortion. Some of women don't have good helath condition to go on with their
pregnancy. Death can possibly be the consequence of those kind of pregnancy. If
woman continue her pregnancy, It will cause death. That's why I believe that abortion
should be allowed by society in terms of women's health.

jollybee Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:19 am

Member
I think pro-life people miss the point about choice. Banning abortion is anti-abortion,
but legalising abortion isn't pro-abortion, it's pro-choice. Similarly, the 'baby's right to
life' is really us making our own value judgement on the behalf of someone who
doesn't have the mental capacity or awareness to make their own decision, isn't it?
Yes, everybody has the right to live if they want to. But we have no idea what the
baby wants, so why force life on it presumptuously? That's where pro-choice
sentiments make more sense - they acknowledge the uncertainty and ambiguity of
the situation. They are being more fair to the baby than pro-life people are.

tuahaa Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:48 pm

Member
Interestingly, killing a pregnant woman counts as 'double homicide' yet abortion,
according to some people, is perfectly okay. Some of the arguments for abortion don't
make sense. Killing an unborn baby is still taking a life.

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