Natalie Patton

Professor Merrifield
ENG 102: Composition and Rhetoric

3 December 2010

A Question of Value

     What do you believe to be the most valuable thing? Maybe you are thinking of a material possession, which has a significant dollar value. Perhaps you are thinking deeper and more abstractly than that. The experiences of wonderful emotions such as love, happiness, and success are priceless. However, there is still something more profound than feeling such emotions. It is the ultimate entity that encompasses all of our ideas, emotions, words, actions and much, much more. It is the right to life, and if you are reading this, congratulations, you have been granted that right.

      For such a short word, life involves an infinite amount of various aspects. So how is one to define such a “loaded” word? Merriam-Webster lists twenty-eight separate definitions, ranging from the quality of being alive to the combination of all of our experiences. It is important to take into consideration, though, the scientific community’s definition. What biological characteristics classify life?

     Cells, the most basic units of life, are found at the initial moment of life. Each form of life begins as a single cell that divides and divides numerous times. Organisms go through development, in which they become more complex internally. All life forms must also support an internal sense of balance, known as homeostasis, in which their temperature is regulated, and also the heartbeat for humans and animals.

     Knowing the attributes for what constitute an organism, more particularly a human in this case, as living, it is essential to understand when these features appear in the life cycle of a human. At the moment of conception, when a sperm fertilizes the ovum, the first single cell of that particular human’s life is present. This zygote develops into a fetus and, over a period of nine months, develops its organs, body parts, internal systems, senses, and heartbeat (Tribe 114).

     Evaluating the characteristics of human life and understanding when they emerge can lead us to the conclusion that human life does indeed begin while the fetus is still in the womb. Even more specifically, human life begins at the moment of conception, when the single cell is present, signaling the start of a new life form (Tribe 117). If abortion is the “termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus,” as defined by Merriam-Webster, whom are we not to deduce that abortion is, in fact, murder?

     As if this conclusion is not enough to persuade someone who believes a mother has the right to abort her baby if she so chooses, our right to life is stated properly in our very own Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment declares: “No person shall… be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

     Currently, each state has the authority to decide the punishment for an offender who commits murder. The penalty varies from state to state and is based upon the degree of the murder perpetrated. Sentences in prison range anywhere from ten years to life imprisonment. Some states still abide by capital punishment, or the death penalty.

     Having established these facts, we can now contemplate this issue more or less as a mathematics problem: If abortion, as we have rationalized, is, indeed, murder, and murder is against the law, then abortion should be illegal. Unfortunately, these are not the circumstances. Abortion has been legal in the United States ever since January 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court announced their ruling on that infamous court case, Roe v. Wade.

Besides agreeing upon the moment when human life is said to begin, the additional ultimate question to consider is where, and when, do ethics play a role in this great debate? Every person in his or her right state of mind knows that murder is, both, illegitimate and unethical. I emphasize “right state of mind” because someone who is diagnosed as mentally unstable or handicapped may not realize the serious errors and consequences of executing a murder. Although people under this category may not fully understand what is involved with murder, they are still in compliance with the law.

     This ongoing controversial disagreement is actually quite a phenomenon. It is a subject upon which both science and the church are in agreement. It is, unquestionably, a scientific conventional truth that life begins at conception. The unlawfulness and immorality of the act of murder is stated in our nation’s Constitution as well as in the Holy Bible, as one of the Ten Commandments.

For those who choose to believe scientific investigation before religion, you will find the agreed-upon facts you are looking for in any scientific text dealing with this topic. For those who consider the views of the church before listening to the facts of science, you will find those morals that the church has established and whose followers live and stand by.

Then there are those that argue that there are “exceptions” to the rule, just as in any serious issue in which a difference of opinion is in existence. These are the people that believe abortion is acceptable in certain situations including, but not limited to: the case of rape; the mother’s health is at risk; and/or the mother is not ready to undertake the role of a parental figure emotionally, mentally, financially, or any combination of the three. Perhaps, these people want this set of circumstances to be “exempt” from both governmental law and moral law so that the mother does not have to face potential allegations and, not to mention, the incredible guilt that come with undergoing the procedure of abortion.

In the unfortunate case of rape, in which an innocent female becomes pregnant, I pose the following scenario. The consequences of a car accident are inevitable, whether they be car damage, serious injuries, or fatalities. A person cannot be revived back to life from the dead. Deaths resulting from a car accident are just that: an accident. Preventable or not, they are not planned or purposeful. The consequences must be dealt with accordingly; there is no “easy way out.”

Relating this to a case of rape, a female may become pregnant, possibly by a stranger. The female is a victim in this scenario just like the casualties of a car accident are victims. If the unfortunate consequences of a car accident are to be dealt with, then so should the unfortunate consequences of a rape. Car accidents can take away lives, but rape cases, as twisted as it may sound, can bring new lives into the world.

A female who has been raped should not be permitted to take the “easy way out” and murder her child. A poor, defenseless human’s life should not be taken away; it played no initial part in the rape. That innocent child deserves a chance at life as much as any other person does.

If the raped female, or any female for that matter that becomes pregnant, feels she is unfit to be a mother at that time, then adoption should be the answer. Why create a second, innocent victim out of the unborn child by having an abortion?

To those who deem that this rationale is absurd and believe a woman has the right to decide what is done to her body, they are absolutely right. A woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her body, especially regarding the reproductive system. Considering that the woman in discussion had consensual intercourse, meaning she agreed to it, then that woman did make a choice of what was happening to her body. She chose to engage in sexual intercourse, knowing the potential consequences of doing so included receiving a sexually transmitted disease or becoming pregnant.

If a woman believes in the “pro-choice” movement that defends her right to make decisions regarding her body, then she can do so before conception. But once that defining moment of the sperm entering the egg comes to pass, the “pro-life” practice should be in effect from then on because the ultimate right in life is the right to life.

Works Cited

“Abortion.” Merriam-Webster Online. 2010. 30 Nov. 2010 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary>

Bonavoglia, Angela. The Choices We Made: 25 Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion. New York: Random House, Inc., 1991. Print.

Day, Nancy. Abortion: Debating the Issue. Springfield: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1995. Print.

“Life.” Merriam-Webster Online. 2010. 30 Nov. 2010 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life>

Lowenstein, Felicia. The Abortion Battle: Looking at Both Sides. Springfield: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1996. Print.

National Archives and Records Administration. Bill of Rights. 15 Dec. 1791. 1 Dec. 2010 <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html>

Ponnuru, Ramesh. The Party of Death. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2006. Print.

“Science, religion agree life begins at conception.” Kathleen Parker. Washington Post. 29 Aug. 2008. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/ 20080829/OPINION09/808290360/-1/RSS>

Tribe, Laurence H. Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1990. Print.