Writing Assignment #2

WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2
Subject : Regulating Abortion

Please read the following article and write a short response essay wherein you address AT LEAST TWO of the issues given below. Feel free to introduce any additional issues that you found interesting or pose further questions on the topic in your response. Again, consult your syllabus regarding proper length of responses.

To read the article, go HERE

Issues:
1) What, exactly, is a ‘right to life’ in any context?
2) By what measure(s) may we legitimately weigh the rights of the mother to that of the child (early term, late term, doesn’t matter). Are their rights “equal”?
3) Does a government have a duty to protect this right? To what extent (by what means) may it legitimately limit our individual freedoms—and in this case, one's well being—to protect this right? Are there any conditions where the rights of the mother should be legitimately superceded by those of the unborn fetus? If so, explain.
4) One important issue raised concerns restrictions that the government can legitimately place on institutions that receive funds from it. Why is this issue so controversial?
5) Try to identify and distinguish the moral aspects (moral v. immoral) of this controversy from the legal aspects (legal v. illegal) of it.