is abortion moral

Let's do this.Thesis:Abortion, the lawful termination of a fetus, is moral and should be legal in certain scenarios and times.Argument:Morals: Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.With this definition in mind, I will argue that abortion is the right thing to do in many circumstances, therefore it is moral.Why do people have abortions? Here is some data on why women get abortions: Percentage of women reporting that specified reasons contributed to their decision to have an abortion Reason 2004 (N=1,160) Having a baby would dramatically change my life: 74%Would interfere with education: 38%Would interfere with job/employment/career: 38%Have other children or dependents: 32%Can’t afford a baby now: 73%Unmarried: 42%Student or planning to study: 34%Can’t afford a baby and child care: 28%Can’t afford the basic needs of life: 23%Unemployed: 22% Can’t leave job to take care of a baby: 21% Would have to find a new place to live: 19% Don’t want to be a single mother or having relationship problems: 48%Not enough support from husband or partner: 14%Husband or partner is unemployed: 12% Husband or partner is abusive to me or my children: 2% Have completed my childbearing: 38% Not ready for a(nother) child: 32% Don’t want people to know I had sex or got pregnant: 25% Don’t feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child: 22%Husband or partner wants me to have an abortion: 14% Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus: 13%Physical problem with my health: 12% Parents want me to have an abortion: 6% Was a victim of rape: 1% Became pregnant as a result of incest: <0.5% [1]Look at these reasons. People are only getting abortions to stop pain and suffering, not to cause it. For example, 2% of women, or around 15,000 women yearly (based on the fact that there are around 750 thousand abortions yearly [2]), get abortions because their partner is abusive. Do we really want babies to be born into an environment where they will be abused?Or what about the 73% of women who say they can't afford a baby? These people can barely put a roof over their head, and now they have to take care of a child? Allowing these people to abort their fetus not only would help the parent survive (protecting life?), but will also save the baby from a horrible life. Or what about the 38% of women who said they were students? Students already have plenty of responsibilities, between working and going to class, and already are poor enough, trying to support themselves and pay tuition. How are they supposed to afford a child? And even if some of these women can, the baby is likely going to be neglected as the women who would keep it are likely to be innmature and won't have time to properly care for their child.So, our options are either to have millions of babies born into poor or irresponsible homes, or we can have the pregnancy terminated early so that no harm is caused to either the mom or the fetus.Human babies, not even fetuses, but actual babies don't become conscious until they are around 2 years old [3]. Fetuses mental development is even worse. Fetuses don't even feel pain until at least late in the 2nd trimester. Here is a quote from a study done by Stuart Derbyshire [4]:"Without verbal reports and direct access to the mind of a fetus, inferences about what fetuses are able to experience depend on the interpretation of secondary evidence. As discussed, neuroanatomical pathways necessary for processing pain, similar to those observed in adults and older children, could be in place by 23 weeks' gestation. The stereotypical hormonal stress response of adults or older infants, of about 18 months onwards, reporting pain is observable in fetuses at 18 weeks' gestation. Behavioural reactions and brain haemodynamic responses to noxious stimuli, comparable to adults or older infants, occur by 26 weeks' gestation. These and other observations are taken to suggest that the fetal mind can support an experience of pain from at least 26 weeks' gestation."Essentially, early abortions are moral, as they will prevent pain and suffering, while not causing pain and suffering of their own.Rebuttals:" Since life begins at conception, abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking human life."Nonsense. While I concede that life does begin at conception, life is not equal to human life. Fetuses are missing many human characteristics. Fetuses can't think or feel pain; in fact, their brains hardly exist at all. This is the definition of "Human Being":A man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance. A fetus definitely doesn't fit those characteristics, therefore it isn't a human. This is comparable to saying an egg is the same thing as a chicken.No civilized society permits one human to intentionally harm or take the life of another human without punishment, and abortion is no different.As already proven, a fetus isn't a human, therefore abortion isn't murder.Adoption is a viable alternative to abortion and accomplishes the same result except for the baby doesn't get executed. And with 1.5 million American families wanting to adopt a child, there is no such thing as an unwanted child.2 things:1.) A fetus isn't a baby, nor is abortion execution. Even if we make the false assumption that a fetus is a human, it in no way fits the definition of execution, nor is it a baby.2.) Can I have a source for your claim that 1.5 million families want adoptions? And secondly, around 120,000 adoptions happen each year [5]. Compare that to the 700,000 abortions that happen each year. There is no possible way the adoption system can handle that many more babies. If Con has a plan for what we can do with the 700,000 more babies that will be born each year, I would love to hear it.Conclusion:Con makes several claims that aren't backed by evidence. Con will need to provide multiple sources proving his claims, specifically regarding the amount of adoptions that occur each year and regarding fetal development in the womb. Until then, I argue that since fetuses can't feel pain, nor are the conscious, abortion is a way to prevent pain in the lives of mothers and children.Sources:[1] https://www.guttmacher.org...[2] https://www.cdc.gov...[3] https://www.scientificamerican.com...[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...[5] http://www.aacap.org...