Abortion-women’s rights or human rights?

The term abortion normally refers to the induced abortion of a foetus by medical or other methods,though it can refer to spontaneous abortion in some specific contexts.You can read about abortion and other related articles on this link.Different countries have different laws relating to abortion.Some allow abortion if it is requested,others allow abortions under specific circumstances,others do not allow abortion except in some situations and a very small number of countries do not allow abortion at all.You can find out more about abortion laws in different countries on this map.There is a huge debate about abortion between foetal rights (known as pro-life in this context) activists and women’s rights (known as pro-choice) activists.

Arguments of foetal rights activists

The pro-life activists argue that aborting an embryo or a foetus should be made illegal (except maybe under unavoidable circumstances) as the unborn child is a form of life and is therefore entitled to the right to life which is an important part of human rights.They also state issues such as ethics,foetal pain and paternal rights.

Arguments of pro-choice activists

The pro-choice activists argue that abortion should be available on request.They claim that abortion is a part of women’s rights as it is the right of a woman to have complete control of her reproductive system.They would normally want abortions to be allowed in most circumstances except maybe in cases like sex-selective abortions.

This debate may never end but it should not be seen as an issue between human rights and women’s rights as it sometimes is.Women are human beings too and they should be given their rights which have been denied to them for centuries.As a male,I think I have no right to deny a woman her reproductive rights and no man or woman or physician or religion should deny a woman her rights.I believe that as long as a foetus has not been delivered,it is a part of a woman’s body and therefore she should have complete rights over it.It should be her choice and her choice alone that should count and not that of anyone else,be it man or woman or physician or religion.