effects, many women died. Not only through some historical periods, but during the twentieth century it continued to happen. Even here, in the United States, in 1969, most state laws prohibited abortion, unless the life of the pregnant woman was threatened. In the mid-1960s, the estimated death rate for abortions performed in hospitals was 3 deaths per 100,000 abortions; the rate for illegal abortions was guessed to be over eight times higher than that -- 30 deaths per 100,000 abortions was a rough estimate and almost certainly conservative. For minority and poorer women, it was certainly very much higher (statistics are taken from “Moral Revolution” by Kathryn Pyne Addelson, from Twenty Questions: . . .). My point is that “abortions will surely continue, as they have through human history, whether we approve or disapprove or hem and haw” (Barbara Ehrenreich, Is Abortion Really a “Moral” Dilemma? p. 425 Twenty Questions: . . .) Therefore, it is much better for abortions to take place legally and under proper medical supervision. I think that here, a person committed to utilitarian ethical theory would agree with me because according to my conclusion it would produce more amount of good for the greater number of people -- by doing abortions legally, more women could afford it and less of them would die. As a result of my little discussion, I believe that performing abortions should remain legal as it is of 1973. However, whether the issue of abortion is ethical or not, is the subject of the following discussion. In order to discuss the ethical issue of abortion, first of all, I would like to turn to and illustrate the central factors, which might lead a woman, or a married couple, to the decision concerning the termination of her pregnancy. It could be one (or a few put together) of the following circumstances: 1) a woman got pregnant due to rape; 2) the health of the woman or the unborn chil...
