Abortion - How can I Impose My Morality on Another? :: Persuasive Essay, Argumentative

Abortion - How can I Impose My Morality on Another?      Ã‚  Ã‚   "I'm opposed to abortion, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" This common expression expresses the sentiments of one who wishes to be open to the religious convictions of another on this delicate issue of abortion.    In that statement, replace the word "abortion" with anything else you're opposed to. Like "I'm opposed to racism, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" or "I'm opposed to rape, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it? Why can we impose our "morality" on someone when it comes to racism or rape? Because there's someone else involved. Raping isn't a "choice" a rapist makes in a vacuum - it involves a victim whose life will be altered forever because of that rape. Racism isn't a "choice" made in a vacuum, either. The actions of a racist storekeeper defending his "choice" to do what he wants with his store involve blacks who are unjustly kept from shopping there. The issue here is not "private morality" but civil rights - keeping innocent people from becoming victims.    What about abortion? Is it a matter of private morality, like deciding which church you're going to attend, or is it a matter of public morality - a matter of civil rights? If there's a victim involved, it's a civil rights issue. Is there a victim involved in abortion? There are many who say that there is not, that the preborn child is just a mass of tissue, a part of the woman's body. If this were the case, then no one would have any reason to oppose abortion any more than they would oppose tonsillectomies or appendectomies.    But is that the case? Developments in the science of fetology have given us greater opportunities than ever to learn about the preborn. We know that the baby has a completely different circulatory system than the mother, and often a different blood type. He or she has a completely different genetic code. We know that by the 21st day after conception the baby's heart has begun to beat (Tanner 64). Brain waves are detectable by day 40 (Hamlin 20), and movement also begins around this time (Arey). By eight weeks, when a woman generally discovers she's pregnant, all body systems are present (Hooker). Abortion - How can I Impose My Morality on Another? :: Persuasive Essay, Argumentative Abortion - How can I Impose My Morality on Another?      Ã‚  Ã‚   "I'm opposed to abortion, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" This common expression expresses the sentiments of one who wishes to be open to the religious convictions of another on this delicate issue of abortion.    In that statement, replace the word "abortion" with anything else you're opposed to. Like "I'm opposed to racism, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" or "I'm opposed to rape, but how can I impose my morality on someone else?" Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it? Why can we impose our "morality" on someone when it comes to racism or rape? Because there's someone else involved. Raping isn't a "choice" a rapist makes in a vacuum - it involves a victim whose life will be altered forever because of that rape. Racism isn't a "choice" made in a vacuum, either. The actions of a racist storekeeper defending his "choice" to do what he wants with his store involve blacks who are unjustly kept from shopping there. The issue here is not "private morality" but civil rights - keeping innocent people from becoming victims.    What about abortion? Is it a matter of private morality, like deciding which church you're going to attend, or is it a matter of public morality - a matter of civil rights? If there's a victim involved, it's a civil rights issue. Is there a victim involved in abortion? There are many who say that there is not, that the preborn child is just a mass of tissue, a part of the woman's body. If this were the case, then no one would have any reason to oppose abortion any more than they would oppose tonsillectomies or appendectomies.    But is that the case? Developments in the science of fetology have given us greater opportunities than ever to learn about the preborn. We know that the baby has a completely different circulatory system than the mother, and often a different blood type. He or she has a completely different genetic code. We know that by the 21st day after conception the baby's heart has begun to beat (Tanner 64). Brain waves are detectable by day 40 (Hamlin 20), and movement also begins around this time (Arey). By eight weeks, when a woman generally discovers she's pregnant, all body systems are present (Hooker).