Beauty in the Eye of God, the Beholder

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Children Without a Voice (Ethics Essay)

I'm in an Ethics class this semester. We had to pick a moral belief that we stood of and defend it using two out of four ethical terms. This is the stand I took...
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Murder: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with forethought.
Termination: end in time or existence.
Abortion: the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy.

I just gave you three different definitions for three different words. To some, these are just three different words with no connection, but to me they couldn’t be more intertwined.
According to the principle of impartiality all people are equal. I believe this includes life inside and outside the womb. We hear of murder trials and convictions almost every day. We hear that people have their “rights”. According to our own Declaration of Independence here in the United States “all men are created equal…with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…” If all people are indeed equal, then doesn’t that include the life of the baby inside his or her mother’s body? Doesn’t he or she have the same “right to life” as any other human being?
Men and women who murder are put on trial. Should it not be the same for those who kill these innocent children? The universal perspective gives the idea that if one moral rule applies to one situation then it also applies to all other same and similar situations. The life of an unborn child is just as important and valuable as the life of any other living person. If murdering a born “living” child is wrong, then killing an unborn “living” child is also wrong.”
More than fifty million babies are aborted each year in the United States alone. Many will argue that the baby being aborted is, in fact, not an actually baby. I can’t scientifically prove to you that life starts at conception, but it can’t be disproven either. A baby’s heartbeat can be heard between eighteen to twenty-one days after conception. At five weeks his or her eyes, hands and legs begin to develop. At six weeks the baby’s brain waves can be detected. By eight weeks all the baby’s organs are in their proper places. Between nine and twelve weeks the baby can turn his or her head. The organs begin to function and it grasp things in his hands. It can experience pain, because his or her nervous system and spinal cord has developed.  At week seventeen the baby can dream. At twenty weeks the baby can recognizes his or her mother’s voice. Anytime between the time of conception and twenty weeks any woman can abort her baby. Each one of those children are special and unique. They can’t use their voice to tell you who they are, but doesn’t mean they’re not there pleading for their lives.
     In our social system today, children who cannot protect themselves are appointed a Guardian Ad Litem. This is someone who acts or speaks on the child’s behalf. This includes children with handicaps and special needs. The Guardian Ad Litem becomes the voice of the child. Our society supposedly values children. Do you, society, value the lives of these unborn children? All children deserve a voice, born and unborn.

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