Research and Analysis Assignment of an Issue or Conflict (Essay Sample)

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Analysis of an issue or conflict
Conflict is defined as a serious disagreement between two or more parties concerning a specific matter of concern among the sides involved. Fisher and Brown, (43 – 63) describes the conflict as a situation where individuals are overpowered by misunderstandings, mistrust, emotions and suspicions between themselves, they continue to argue that in such a time the logic and understanding of a person is conquered by strong emotions. Scenarios which are involved with conflict usually carries along two or more issues with equivalent levels of weight or significance amongst them. In such cases, it becomes very difficult to determine which sides of the parties involved one should be affiliated to. Cases of such nature usually are associated with a dilemma, whereby it is very challenging to justify any of the issues concerned. This essay will provide a detailed analysis of conflict situations which will be based on abortion and woman right's case study. According to most study materials, it's evident that almost every individual views abortion as a wrongful doing which is against the principles of human consciousness and righteousness.
Over the past years, a lot has been researched and studied about this conflicting issue of abortion and woman rights. Authors, researchers, pro-life and pro-choice activists have differed in their opinions on which case to justify and under which circumstances is such justification possible and right. It is argued that the debate over abortion against woman rights has been in existence for more than two centuries now. The debated heated up between 1960’s and 1970’s whereby groups advocating for women rights protested against other civil rights group advocating for the rights of unborn children who are referred to as fetus in biological terms. In 1800’s abortion was legally accepted in the US but after a series of laws were put in place, this practice began to take a new shape where it was viewed as an evil doing and was no longer legally accepted. The mid-19th century was the period which saw the abortion woman rights issue become such a huge national matter.
Firstly, abortion is viewed as a woman decision to make which is justifiable under various social, economic and health conditions. According to Petchesky, (414) he argues that “the right to choose an abortion is a necessity under present social conditions and that society must be transformed so that the sexual division of labor disappears and society collectively shares the responsibility of child rearing, is accepted”. His arguments raise concerns about how these social conditions can be justified since they are numerous and what about the rights of the unborn child over the rights of the mother. Arguments of such kind do not illustrate how the rights of the woman overshadow the rights to live off the fetus. His arguments are based on two perspectives one which is on a feminist view and another one on Marxist opinions. The feminists view he illustrates that “even after the transformation of society women must retain control over their own bodies rather than surrendering their rights to the collectively”. This shows that women should have the rights to practice abortion anytime without any immediate or future consequences. The feminists continue to justify abortion as argued by Petchesky, (419) “The increased rate of abortion among teenagers should not be viewed as an evil but rather as evidence that teenagers now have the choice of either marrying or not marrying. An unwanted pregnancy no longer prevents them from pursuing their educational and career goals. Abortion becomes more common, becomes a choice, and alternative, only when women have educational and career opportunities. Abortion is not a necessary evil; it is a necessary good”. (Arcon, 12-26).
On the other hand, organizations such as National Right to Life (NRL), progressed with opposition towards the right to women to abort without any consequences befalling them.
Secondly, the issue of when does life begin is another controversial matter in the conflict of woman rights against abortion. This argument is widespread and common between groups known as pro-life and pro-choice groups. Pro-life groups consist of activists and organizations who are against abortion practice whereas pro-choice comprise of advocates, protestors, and organizations who champion for women rights and encourages abortion practices i.e. National Right to Live (NRL), pro-life action league and pro-life America. According to the arguments of pro-life activists “Since life begins at conception, abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking human life. Abortion is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the sanctity of human life, therefore, No civilized society permits one human to intentionally harm or take the life of another human without punishment, and abortion is no different”. (Linda, 1).
Pro-life campaigners view that life begins at conception and under no circumstances should that life be taken. According to them if that happens the culprits should be punished for murder. However, on the side of pro-choice activists, they argue that "Nearly all abortions take place in the first trimester when a fetus cannot exist independent of the mother. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it cannot exist outside her womb. The concept of personhood is different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at conception, but fertilized eggs used for in vitro fertilization are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if not, then how is abortion murder?” (Linda, 1).
The pro-choice do not view abortion as a murder but a usual process during life and they argue that life only starts after birth and not after conception which means, according to them abortion cannot be classified as murder and women who practice it should not be punished for it.
Family planning and sex education is also a significant discussion in the conflict of this issue between the pro-life activists and their counterparts on the pro-choice side. Alexis, (401) states that pro-life believe that “the most effective and appropriate contraceptive method is abstinence, or in some cases family planning”. They completely discredit the idea of abortion being used as a family planning method or in other cases as a substitute when contraceptives medicines fail to work as intended. Pro-life supporters believe that contraceptives only encourage young people to be sexually active which in turn increases unwanted pregnancies and therefore the need for abortion. According to them if abstinence was upheld then there would be little or no pregnancies hence no abortion practices. On the other case, pro-choice campaigners have a different perspective concerning the family planning issue as they are strictly against restrictions on methods of family planning, they argue that there should be no “restriction of access to non-surgical abortions and emergency contraceptives to women…. They call for age-appropriate, medically accurate sexual education programs that promote both abstinence and information on protection advice”. (Linda, 1). According to them, women should have the right to choose whichever method of family planning they are comfortable even if it means getting rid of the fetus in their womb as long it is an unwanted pregnancy. Pro-choice members illustrate that abortion is the safest means of family planning, results from data collected by these members show that 88% of women perform an abortion on the first trimester whereby medical abortions in this period have less than 0.5% risks or complications at a later date.
Civil rights of women are one of the main issues that raises different opinions amongst supporters and those against abortion and rights of women. Alcon, (3) argues that according to pro-life supporters “For women who demand complete control of their body, control should include avoiding the risk of undesirable pregnancy through the responsible use of contraception or, if that is not possible, through abstinence”. It’s clear from those who oppose abortion that they are demonstrating that even though women have the rights to govern their bodies, it does mean those rights should include getting rid of the life beginning inside their womb. Pro-life activists usually base this agreement on moral perspective since if a woman has her own civil rights then she can perform abortion anytime because the body belongs to her and she can whatever she feels comfortable with. Ikimeso and line, (55) illustrates that according to pro-choice group members "the notion that it is constitutional to have a right to privacy, but also the issue that abortion is fundamentally a fight for a woman right to govern her own body. Pro-choice advocates believe in this right to privacy, freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into their personal and private affairs. And they see it not as an ideological fight rooted in religious beliefs, but a civil rights pursuit advocating women, right to choose. Their studies show abortion to be one of the safest medical procedures that exists today, and they make their...