the right of self-determination, the right of privacy, the right of physical integrity, and the right to live

Jane English persuasively argues in "Abortion and the Concept of a Person" that even if the fetus is a person, abortion may be justifiable in many cases, and if the fetus is no person, the killing of fetuses may be wrong in many cases

The fetus may be a human life form but it hardly seems to be a person

The killing of human life forms is prohibited. A fetus is a human life form. The killing of fetuses is prohibited

killing in self-defense is not prohibited

abortion is not allowed since homicide is prohibited

Gillespie stresses in his article "Abortion and Human Rights"

significant differences between the developmental stages

faces severe problems

advantage of the extreme liberal view

advantage of the extreme conservative view

gradual process from being a fetus to being an infant where the fetus is not a human being but a human offspring with a different moral status

there is a morally relevant break in the biological process of development - from the unicellular zygote to birth - which determines the justifiability and non-justifiability of having an abortion

relevant date is at birth or a short time later

claim that human personhood begins immediately after birth or a bit later

homicide

Some opponents (anti-abortionists, pro-life activists) holding the extreme view, argue that human personhood begins from the unicellular zygote and thus – according to the religious stance – one should not have an abortion

moderate views which lie between both extremes

extreme liberal view

extreme conservative view

Is abortion morally justifiable? Does the fetus (embryo, conceptus, and zygote) have any moral and/or legal rights? Is the fetus a human person and, thus, should be protected? What are the criteria for being a person?

when abortion-rights activists still were claiming that "no one knows when life begins."

"The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."

optional ultrasounds constitute a threat to women's rights

Only the birth of the child can provide healing

When a woman is raped she has a constitutional right to an abortion. And the rapist has a constitutional right to life. But the unborn baby has no rights whatsoever

the woman, if granted the right to kill one person, should be entitled to kill the rapist

“It is wrong to force a woman to give birth to a baby after she has been a victim of rape (or incest, which is usually statutory rape).”

abortions in the 200th trimester

confront abortion choice advocates with the question of whether it is permissible to kill to eliminate poverty

“It is wrong for a woman to be forced to give birth to a baby she cannot afford.”

I agree that there are far too many handicapped people in the world

“It is wrong for a woman to be forced to bring a handicapped baby into the world.”

liberals take responsibility for this unmitigated disaster

The very idea that we would murder children to prevent child abuse, which usually takes the form of simple battery

always, someone else who would want to adopt the baby

dead

“It is wrong to force a woman to bring an unwanted baby into the world.”

“Back alley abortions will increase if abortion is illegal.”

Doctors will not even perform abortions until six or seven weeks into the pregnancy – in order to protect the health of the mother.

my

; in the case of fetal deformities; when the pregnancy is a consequence of a rape or incest; or when the pregnant woman is a girl or a teenager

easing restrictions for when the mother is in extreme poverty or doesn't have sufficient resources to support a child; when she already has three or more children; or if she is still studying

Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 1994, which made blocking the entrances of places providing abortion counseling or services a federal offense punishable by fines and imprisonment.

Many supporters of abortion rights claim that restrictions on abortions have a negative impact on the poor, especially in less developed nations.

The allocation of government funds continues to be a focus of the abortion debate.

cruel termination of what they consider to be a viable human life

In Roe v. Wade (1973), the US Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion through the end of the first trimester, or the twelfth week of pregnancy. After twelve weeks, a woman’s access to abortion may be restricted based on the discretion of the states, as well as the level of risk that the pregnancy poses to the woman’s health.

State legislatures have enacted laws to restrict and regulate access to abortion. Several of these laws have been challenged in federal courts, with some laws, such as the denial of state funds for the procedure, being upheld.

were not restricted by law until Connecticut passed the first anti-abortion law in 1821.

Court’s decision determined that an unborn fetus is not a person in the legal sense

The point at which viability is achieved during a pregnancy remains a topic of debate.

Some of these laws included provisions that required the examination rooms in which the procedure would be performed to be a certain size and width.

laws

may condone abortions in cases of rape or incest

Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed such a right

By 1967, forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had classified abortion as a felony crime in most cases.

Health care professionals caution that medical abortions should not be confused with emergency contraception, a type of birth control pill used after unprotected sexual intercourse that serves to prevent, not terminate, pregnancy.

pregnancy.