Abortion and Its Moral Implications

INTRODUCTION

Naturally, human beings  are moral  beings for they  make  use  of their reason and juxtapose it with the faculty of their will and intellect in making decisions. Man’s actions are therefore subjected to moral principles due to the gift of reason and freedom that differentiate him from other animals (Steinbock,1998). In ethical commandment, human actions are judged to be right or wrong based on how much they agree with the moral law. Moral law is the law of nature as it concerns man as a rational and free being. Therefore the morality of human action has an intrinsic relationship with the nature and the ultimate end of man and how human actions can help him to realize of this end (Callahan,1998).Nevertheless, the different opinions of people about the ultimate end of human existence and their belief of the effects of human actions toward attaining the end make  it extremely  difficult to have a  single and definite definition of morality of some human dealings. Women around the world seek abortions for similar reasons, but their ability to terminate a pregnancy legally varies dramatically by where they live. In one country, abortion services may be provided free of charge by the government and available close to home, while in another, providers may face criminal sanctions for offering such services (Engelhardt, 1996). Where abortion is legally restricted, women are more likely to resort to untrained providers or undergo the procedure in unsanitary conditions. Maternal mortality related to unsafe abortion, therefore, is generally high where abortion is severely restricted. Abortion and the use of aborti facient pills are human proceedings whose morality is seriously debated. As a contemporary ethical issue,  abortion  has been a controversial issue and has raised dust amidst people of various fields, status and works of life. The nobility of human beings is seen in the divine mandate: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground”(Genesis 1:28). Superior to all other life forms, humans are to assume the role of responsible custodians of the earth. Every human life, from conception through death, is therefore to be valued, respected, nurtured, and protected. Every human life is to be lived in obedience to God and His Word. 

The Bible describes a moral order to which all persons are responsible. At the end of life,all persons will stand before God to give account for their actions. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for  the things  done  while in the body,  whether good or  bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Therefore, human beings are responsible to bring the light of God’s Word to decisions that  bear on  the sanctity of life.  However, in this research we shall give a robust exegesis of abortion. We shall point out vividly how and why it is morally wrong, owing to the facts that although we are free our freedom stop where others start.