Some Candid Observations about Abortion

Many women today find themselves in the admittedly difficult position of being unexpectedly pregnant. Often it will bring them shame, or worse yet, financial hardship to raise a child. The solution is easy in this case. Life does not begin at conception, since the fetus cannot survive without the mother's support, which is a key factor in determining whether something is truly alive or not. Because of this, the offending tissue mass can be removed and disaster can be averted. Everyone wins.

A much more complicated situation is when a child that has already been delivered proves to be an inconvenience: its presence provides an undue financial burden, it embarrasses its mother by constantly burping in public, for instance. In the previous case, abortion was permissible, because the fetus has not yet manifested all traits of life: life has not yet begun, so it is not murder to halt its biological processes. In the case at hand, a very important fact is often overlooked: one of the key traits of a living being is the ability to reproduce. If one's child has not yet reached puberty, it is not capable of reproduction, and therefore its life has not yet begun. One can halt its shallow imitation of actual life with a clear conscience. To the uninformed, this would appear to be murder, but in this case it is simply stopping potential life from becoming actual life. In some cases, such as when a child has already reached puberty but is so ugly or obnoxious that reproduction is clearly not in its future, there are grey areas, but most of the time, the morality is fairly unambiguous.