Resolved: A just society ought to ban abortion

Introduction Moral conflict is a cornerstone of the abortion debate. The supporting arguments for each side highlight the difference in a moral approach to the question; however, only one side (by necessity) demands its morals must be superimposed over the others, the pro-life side. After all, pro-choice has no interest in forcing abortion, only allowing, and recognizing choice exists. Social justice, as in the question at hand, not only evaluated the morality of a situation, but its utility to society. “Greatest happiness” - the term John Stuart Mill choose as the grandfather of the concepts of “just society” [1] has significant interest in this debate. P1: The moral position of one does not necessarily negate the moral position of another in a just society. P2: A just society balances rightness in some part on utility and greatest happiness obtainable. C: A just society should not ban abortion for all. Argument P1: Every individual has the ability to choose what they feel is wrong or right. Regardless if you think morals are objective or subjective, it is up to the individual to accept or reject that morality as their own. The line between morality and justice is where the government intervenes on behalf of the society. Moral or immoral from one point of view or another, asking the government is siding with one over the other, pro-life must by necessity negate the moral decisions of pro-choice. Pro-choice has no interest in forcing their morality on pro-life therefore pro-choice is a default while pro-life must have intervention in personal life choices. The question then becomes, does the government have interest, for the sake of society, to intervene and control a woman’s body without her consent based on one set of morals while excluding another’s - enforcing by law the sense of moral superiority of one group. Argument P2: Greatest happiness holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness [2]. It is noteworthy that happiness in this context is not synonymous with immorality. What the term describes is judging ethical value in overall consequences. What achieved the greatest happiness. Starting with the “happiness” of the women who seek abortion, we can pick some important points using a pro-life friendly site as a source. Abortion73.com has, under the heading “why do abortions occur”, compiled these three stats for the United States. 75% of women seeking abortion cite interference with work, school, or other responsibilities as a motivator in seeking an abortion. 50% say they do not want to be a single parent, or are having problems with their husband or partner. 12% cite health concerns [3]. The CDC reports that ~730k legal abortions were performed in 2011, or about 13.9 in 1,000 made this choice for their greater happiness. Denying abortion would unquestionably diminish happiness for a great number of women. Romania’s experiment with abortion bans was a model for societal unhappiness. Starting in the late 60’s, the state took an aggressive interventionists roll in woman’s rights. This resulted in much higher infant-mortality rates (85 deaths in 1,000 live births, more than 8x before) underdeveloped infants (1 in 10 babies) [5] all the while, abortions were still happening illegally - increasing adult women’s deaths and severer health concerns. The number of unwanted children became an epidemic, a human tragedy that the country still suffers from. Called “Decree orphans” [7] they are outcasts from the very society that insisted on their birth. Conclusion: While the act of aborting a fetus may be considered immoral to some, it is not to all. Allowing a woman to make a choice in keeping with her moral, and not subjected by another’s is socials balanced morals. Further, a person who feels that government has the right to intervene is violating the woman’s right to body integrity. The societal impact of removing this choice from the woman has a dramatic and negative impact on the society at large, leading to unhappiness. Abortion is necessary in a just society. References [1] http://plato.stanford.edu... [2] http://oregonstate.edu... [3] http://www.abort73.com... [4] http://www.cdc.gov... [5] http://www.ceausescu.org... [6] http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] http://en.wikipedia.org... https://www.guttmacher.org...