Misconceptions in Dealing with essays

Misconceptions in Dealing with essays The dispute on abortion has become one of the most heated debates in today's society. It is a subject that can instigate incredibly strong emotions on either side of the argument. Since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which legalized abortions in the United States, women have had the individual right as people to decide the fate of their own bodies. This right can not be negotiated. People are not merely a means to an end, but ends themselves. A woman treated as an incubator of a fetus by the law is simply a means to an end, therefore disregarded as a person. There are many misconceptions about abortion. These misconceptions can potentially lead to the loss of women's individual and necessary rights to choose for themselves whether or not they want to bear a child. Most of these common misconceptions can not only be easily identified, but also utterly refuted. One of these common misconceptions is that human life begins at conception. This conclusion simply does not follow. As affirmed by Thomson in her article A Defense of Abortion: "Similar things may be said about the development of an acorn into an oak tree, and it does not follow that acorns are oak trees, or that we had better say they are" (356). There is no scientific consensus as to when human life begins. It is much more a matter of philosophic opinion or religious belief. Human life is a continuum; sperm and eggs are also alive, and represent potential human beings, but virtually all sperm and eggs are wasted. In addition, two-thirds of human conceptions are spontaneously aborted by nature. Another extremely disputable Pro-Life argument is that a fetus should have rights under the law. If fetal rights were enshrined in law, women's bodies, rights, and health would be subordinated to the protection of embryos. The legal consequences of such a law would be simply catastrophic. The best way to protect the fetus is to promote the health and well being of w...