by Stormy Gay

Created on: July 16, 2007

The main issue is whether or not abortion is murder. When does human life begin and at what point is it considered killing? The interesting thing is that most doctors and medical texts agree with Ashley Montagu who wrote:
"The basic fact is simple: life begins not at birth, but at conception." The beginning of human life is not a religious, moral, or philosophical issue; it is a scientific and biological one. From the time those 23 chromosomes become 46 onward, the unborn is a living, developing individual with a unique genetic makeup." (qtd. Gargaro 2002)

Well that answers that question. So why do doctors continue to perform abortions if it is murder? A question only a doctor could answer and has done so. Neville Sender, M.D., Metropolitan Medical Service, who runs an abortion clinic, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin stated: "We know it is killing, but the states permit killing under certain circumstances." (qtd. Gargaro 2002) Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, also stated: "Women enter abortion clinics to kill their fetuses. It is a form of killing. You're ending a life." (qtd. Gargaro 2002) It is settled then doctors continue to perform abortions because the law allows them to. We have become a society that accepts things that are unjust. What happened to equal rights for all? Should not the equal rights that we expect for ourselves extend to the unborn?
Although Government has given states the option to regulate abortion: no state can contest the legality of abortion. It can only regulate when and how an abortion can be performed. Most states allow abortions only in the first trimester and have established mandatory waiting periods as well as parental consent and informed consent. But some states allow women to seek an abortion for any reason without regulations. Government has put the so called rights of the women to control her own body above those of the unborn. In effect they have given women a license to kill. The only rights that some states have extended to the unborn are when the mother has chosen to keep the unborn child. It allows for anyone who has killed the baby, mother, or both to be tried for the murder of each.
An interesting court decision that is very similar to the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 pertained to slavery before it was abolished in 1865. It is known as the Dred Scott decision, of 1857. The Supreme Court ruled that black people were not "persons" according to the constitution, and were the

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