The continuous debates regarding the legality of abortion in the United States led to the emergence of two opposing stances, and they directly affect the decision-making process of women regarding childbirth. The pro-choice supporters claim that the attempts to restrict abortion violate their rights and reflect an unfair treatment by society instilling traditional family roles (Medoff, 2016). In this way, the representatives of this population group might suffer from a lack of money or career opportunities equally important for male and female citizens (Medoff, 2016). The philosophical underpinning of this stance is related to the statement that a fetus is not a human yet (Brodziak et al., 2017). In contrast to it, the citizens believing that a pro-life approach is optimal argue that the former’s rights should be observed as well (Medoff, 2016). In this way, they ignore the welfare of children in families unable to take proper care of them (Medoff, 2016). The supporters of abortion restrictions also often refer to Christian morality as the principal grounds for their stance (Brodziak et al., 2017). However, despite the clear argumentation of both opinions, there is an apparent omission in terms of the attitude they consider. The options here are the perception of abortion as a procedure or as a choice made by a woman (Rye & Underhill, 2020). I believe that the consideration of this subject should be based on the second alternative since the ethical perspective of pro-life and pro-choice activists correlates with the reasonability of one’s decisions from various points of view. Abortions should be allowed in the case if there are serious obstacles of social or economic nature preventing a woman from giving birth to a child.
References
Brodziak, A., Myrta, A. R., & Kutnohorska, J. (2017). The essence of the controversy between proponents of pro-choice and pro-life attitudes. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 5(1), 89-109.
Medoff, M. (2016). Pro-choice versus pro-life: The relationship between state abortion policy and child well-being in the United States. Health Care for Women International, 37(2), 158-169.
Rye, B. J., & Underhill, A. (2020). Pro-choice and pro-life are not enough: An investigation of abortion attitudes as a function of abortion prototypes. Sexuality & Culture, 24, 1829-1851.