WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY ENGLISH COMPOSITION II-
TASK 2| THE CONTROVERSY OF ABORTIONS: A WOMEN’S RIGHT
TO CHOOSE
1
,The Controversy of Abortions: A Women’s Right to Choose
Thesis Statement:
Contrary to the popular belief, this essay advocates for the right of all women to choose to
undergo abortions. I argue that the abortion debate primarily revolves around women's
autonomy. Denying a woman the option of having an abortion is essentially denying her the right
to make informed decisions about her own future and the subsequent life that follows. Protecting
a developing fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus in a manner that infringes upon the life, liberty, or
safety of another individual is akin to granting this entity some form of control over a person.
Being unwillingly used as a life-boat is fundamentally opposed to the principles of civil rights
and liberties. As is likely well-documented in the other engine's memory banks, abortion is not a
favorite personal choice, entertainment, or pastime for most women. In fact, an abortion is
probably one of the most traumatic events experienced by the preponderance of women, a
procedure that transcends all instances of the word painful. No matter the cause or reason, no
matter the gestational age, abortions generally require the backing of societies, families, and
medical practitioners alike. Surely these women, connected in this extraordinary shared
experience, are the best individuals to judge the necessity of statements surrounding this practice,
and even the best placed to determine the best course of action for their current gestation. Surely
these women, having faced up to a reality the oversized rest would balk from, are the best placed
to discuss the consequences of an accident or an unwanted pregnancy.
2. Historical Perspectives on Abortion
Abortion has a long and diverse history as a medical procedure, as a reproductive practice, as a
means of fertility control, and as an expression of religious, social, and moral attitudes. This
entry cannot hope to do more than provide a few key pointers on a vast and complex subject.
Abortion is, in fact, a shorthand term for a wide range of Indian experiences, habits, practices,
authorities, and attitudes: from the individual or communal consumption of abortifacients to the
production of literary texts that record and reinforce social disapproval of 'foeticide', to the state
regulation of train abortive techniques and technologies. Our history of abortion must therefore
begin with a sound decision on the scope of the concept of abortion.
In the Middle Ages, discussions of 'abortion' were more likely to be concerned with the saving of
the soul of the mother, who had probably died in childbirth, but equally possibly in pregnancy. A
request for abortion could be seen as cowardice in the face of divine will. There was little interest
in the fetus or its disposal. But, alongside these theologies of fetus and mother, there was also in
the later medieval period a growing attention to the various drugs and poisons that might enable
a woman not to conceive. As well as presenting a growing inventory of these, authors also went
on to advise on what one ought to do with a drink or a plant that had actually been used to stop a
pregnancy. In the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, an increasing proportion of European
states imposed, by law, distinctions between foeticide and homicide with a considerable range of
expression as to how and when the will or personhood of a rational agent – man or woman -
began.
2
, The Controversy of Abortions: A Women’s Right to Choose
2.1. Ancient Practices
It is difficult, at best, to begin a history of the attitude and practice toward abortion before the
advent of Christianity. However, many modern liberal-styled scholars have made a forgone
conclusion to the effect that early man, the ancient peoples were, and typically reflected a harsh
attitude toward abortion and women’s rights. Many have accepted what is believed to be the
Senecan view, which claims that "contempt for the newborn child and especially for the female
sex, lead naturally enough to contempt for the fertile woman, and in consequence of a
widespread practice of abortion". More often than not, this conclusion is drawn from the
accounts of Greek and Roman playwrights and philosophers. It is questionable, however, if such
sources should even be considered as trustworthy. These views are based on cultural complaints
and scholarly conjecture. Given more reputable and practical sources – medical literature, social
and legal customs, as well as religious ones – and a deeper understanding of the cultural and
social factors, it is reasonable to say that "a separate and privation attitude toward abortion is
predominantly only from the fifth century B.C.".
Abortion is a bitter word thrown about among cultures, among religious, especially among the
most vocally Catholic of the Christian religions. It encircles concepts of life and death, of
morality and human rights, the role of women in society, the existence of the soul, and a myriad
of other weighty and controversial topics and issues. It is no less bitter today than it ever was.
The importance abortion has in current American culture is not dissimilar from the importance
and attention it has garnered previously from other social stages in human history; the reason for
this is that it has been a continuing topic of interest and reflection from ancient and perhaps even
prehistorically times. It has forced its way into the contemporary media spotlight of the same-sex
marriage debate, which is a relatively new issue – a scant few years among the limelight when
compared to thousands of years of debates over the right to life.
2.2. Medieval and Early Modern Views
Although the Bible clearly condemns the voluntary killing of human beings, it says nothing
about abortion; consequently, it seems to have been up to theologians to confront abortion
directly. Notable among these is probably St. Augustine (AD 354–430). He believed that fetuses
do not become ensouled until quickening, which he thought occurred 40 days after conception
for male fetuses, but 80 days for females. However, he was influenced by the Stoic idea that the
rational soul is present from conception: it is doubtless partly because of his continuing
opposition to abortion that in spite of his setting the date of ensoulment at quickening, he always
believed that all abortions are "vile and abominable." Later, the Scholastics merged Aristotle's
views and Stoic ones to create the "Substantial Form" view of ensoulment. This was the
mainstream Christian view for over 1,000 years. By the 13th century, the mainstream Catholic
view of many churchmen and theologians, following Aristotle and Aquinas, was that the fetus
must be human from conception and have an immortal soul from that moment.
The cultural and contextual factors shaping one's views of abortion are fascinating in their own
right. Early modern philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, and Hume were all opposed to abortion.
Pro-choice views held by the likes of Spinoza and Hume must have been favorably quite
eccentric. Although all three appeared to agree with the mainstream Christian views of their day
3
TASK 2| THE CONTROVERSY OF ABORTIONS: A WOMEN’S RIGHT
TO CHOOSE
1
,The Controversy of Abortions: A Women’s Right to Choose
Thesis Statement:
Contrary to the popular belief, this essay advocates for the right of all women to choose to
undergo abortions. I argue that the abortion debate primarily revolves around women's
autonomy. Denying a woman the option of having an abortion is essentially denying her the right
to make informed decisions about her own future and the subsequent life that follows. Protecting
a developing fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus in a manner that infringes upon the life, liberty, or
safety of another individual is akin to granting this entity some form of control over a person.
Being unwillingly used as a life-boat is fundamentally opposed to the principles of civil rights
and liberties. As is likely well-documented in the other engine's memory banks, abortion is not a
favorite personal choice, entertainment, or pastime for most women. In fact, an abortion is
probably one of the most traumatic events experienced by the preponderance of women, a
procedure that transcends all instances of the word painful. No matter the cause or reason, no
matter the gestational age, abortions generally require the backing of societies, families, and
medical practitioners alike. Surely these women, connected in this extraordinary shared
experience, are the best individuals to judge the necessity of statements surrounding this practice,
and even the best placed to determine the best course of action for their current gestation. Surely
these women, having faced up to a reality the oversized rest would balk from, are the best placed
to discuss the consequences of an accident or an unwanted pregnancy.
2. Historical Perspectives on Abortion
Abortion has a long and diverse history as a medical procedure, as a reproductive practice, as a
means of fertility control, and as an expression of religious, social, and moral attitudes. This
entry cannot hope to do more than provide a few key pointers on a vast and complex subject.
Abortion is, in fact, a shorthand term for a wide range of Indian experiences, habits, practices,
authorities, and attitudes: from the individual or communal consumption of abortifacients to the
production of literary texts that record and reinforce social disapproval of 'foeticide', to the state
regulation of train abortive techniques and technologies. Our history of abortion must therefore
begin with a sound decision on the scope of the concept of abortion.
In the Middle Ages, discussions of 'abortion' were more likely to be concerned with the saving of
the soul of the mother, who had probably died in childbirth, but equally possibly in pregnancy. A
request for abortion could be seen as cowardice in the face of divine will. There was little interest
in the fetus or its disposal. But, alongside these theologies of fetus and mother, there was also in
the later medieval period a growing attention to the various drugs and poisons that might enable
a woman not to conceive. As well as presenting a growing inventory of these, authors also went
on to advise on what one ought to do with a drink or a plant that had actually been used to stop a
pregnancy. In the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, an increasing proportion of European
states imposed, by law, distinctions between foeticide and homicide with a considerable range of
expression as to how and when the will or personhood of a rational agent – man or woman -
began.
2
, The Controversy of Abortions: A Women’s Right to Choose
2.1. Ancient Practices
It is difficult, at best, to begin a history of the attitude and practice toward abortion before the
advent of Christianity. However, many modern liberal-styled scholars have made a forgone
conclusion to the effect that early man, the ancient peoples were, and typically reflected a harsh
attitude toward abortion and women’s rights. Many have accepted what is believed to be the
Senecan view, which claims that "contempt for the newborn child and especially for the female
sex, lead naturally enough to contempt for the fertile woman, and in consequence of a
widespread practice of abortion". More often than not, this conclusion is drawn from the
accounts of Greek and Roman playwrights and philosophers. It is questionable, however, if such
sources should even be considered as trustworthy. These views are based on cultural complaints
and scholarly conjecture. Given more reputable and practical sources – medical literature, social
and legal customs, as well as religious ones – and a deeper understanding of the cultural and
social factors, it is reasonable to say that "a separate and privation attitude toward abortion is
predominantly only from the fifth century B.C.".
Abortion is a bitter word thrown about among cultures, among religious, especially among the
most vocally Catholic of the Christian religions. It encircles concepts of life and death, of
morality and human rights, the role of women in society, the existence of the soul, and a myriad
of other weighty and controversial topics and issues. It is no less bitter today than it ever was.
The importance abortion has in current American culture is not dissimilar from the importance
and attention it has garnered previously from other social stages in human history; the reason for
this is that it has been a continuing topic of interest and reflection from ancient and perhaps even
prehistorically times. It has forced its way into the contemporary media spotlight of the same-sex
marriage debate, which is a relatively new issue – a scant few years among the limelight when
compared to thousands of years of debates over the right to life.
2.2. Medieval and Early Modern Views
Although the Bible clearly condemns the voluntary killing of human beings, it says nothing
about abortion; consequently, it seems to have been up to theologians to confront abortion
directly. Notable among these is probably St. Augustine (AD 354–430). He believed that fetuses
do not become ensouled until quickening, which he thought occurred 40 days after conception
for male fetuses, but 80 days for females. However, he was influenced by the Stoic idea that the
rational soul is present from conception: it is doubtless partly because of his continuing
opposition to abortion that in spite of his setting the date of ensoulment at quickening, he always
believed that all abortions are "vile and abominable." Later, the Scholastics merged Aristotle's
views and Stoic ones to create the "Substantial Form" view of ensoulment. This was the
mainstream Christian view for over 1,000 years. By the 13th century, the mainstream Catholic
view of many churchmen and theologians, following Aristotle and Aquinas, was that the fetus
must be human from conception and have an immortal soul from that moment.
The cultural and contextual factors shaping one's views of abortion are fascinating in their own
right. Early modern philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, and Hume were all opposed to abortion.
Pro-choice views held by the likes of Spinoza and Hume must have been favorably quite
eccentric. Although all three appeared to agree with the mainstream Christian views of their day
3
