Abortion Rights Vs Ethics

• 07 Oct 2022

For Mains: Abortion Rights Vs Rights of Unborn

Why in News?

Recently, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India allowed abortions up to 24 weeks for all women, including unmarried women.

Why is there a Debate over Abortion Rights and the Ethical Dilemma?

• Issues with Respect to Women’s Right:
  • Woman’s Right over her Body:
    • A woman's right over her body has been advocated as a premise for freedom.
    • One cannot force a woman to bear a child in her womb and give birth to a child if she does not want to do so for various reasons.
  • Health:
    • Unwanted pregnancies affect both physical and mental health.
  • Gender Equality:
    • The right to abortion is vital for gender equality.
    • The right to abortion should be part of a portfolio of pregnancy rights that enables women to make a truly free choice whether to end a pregnancy.
• Issues with respect to Feotus:
  • Right to Life: Abortion amounts to the murder of a living being.
  • Motherly Care: It is a unique unspoken bond shared between two lives, which cannot be questioned or regulated by laws.
• Issues with respect to Society in General:
  • Responsibility of State: The State has the responsibility of valuing each life.
  • Inclusion of all: Abortion should not become a mechanism of social control for avoiding the appearance of differences or disabilities.
  • Giving better life for Existing Children: Many times, parents want abortion to be able to give a good life to existing children instead of dividing their meager resources into more children.

What are the Arguments against Abortion?

• Abortion is not viewed by some as liberating, but rather as a way for society not to cater to women's needs.
• Women don't need free abortion access, but their needs for financial and social survival as mothers are what they need for equality:
  • inexpensive, readily available childcare
  • a workplace or school that acknowledges the needs of mothers,
    • e.g., providing flexible scheduling and maternity leave,
  • state support that helps to reintegrate a woman into the workforce

What should be the Ethical approach to Abortion?

• Ethical approaches to abortion frequently invoke four principles.
  • Respect for patients’ autonomy
  • Nonmaleficence (do no harm)
  • Beneficence (beneficial care) and
  • Justice
• The abortion dilemma has overlapping issues from different realms like legal, medical, ethical, philosophical, religious and human rights and it should be analysed from different perspectives.
• There cannot be any hard and fast rule over abortion and it must be discussed and deliberated to evolve a common consensus.

Source: IE