Abortion in Dogma

One of the many controversial topics that are brought up in the move Dogma, is the issue of abortion. Abortion is portrayed in Dogma because Bethany works in a Planned Parenthood clinic. As she is walking into work one day, a group of protestors tell her that she will burn in hell for working there. Her working there is especially controversial because she is Catholic. The Catholic Church is against abortion, so by working there she is going against her religion. She doesn’t really care though because although she still goes to church every Sunday, she has lost faith in God.
Abortion has been a very controversial topic for a long time. The two basic sides of the argument are those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice. Pro-life arguments say that human life begins at conception and because abortion ends that life, it is murder. Therefore, People who are pro-life believe that abortion is the same thing as killing a person. It is illegal to kill someone, so abortion should be illegal too. Pro-choice arguments say that human life begins at birth, so abortion is not murder. A woman should have the right to choose whether or not she wants to have a baby or not. If a woman does not have the means to raise a child, if she is raped, or if she has a medical condition that makes it unsafe for her to be pregnant, she should be able to choose not to carry out her pregnancy.
Coverage of abortion in the media is generally biased towards pro-choice supporters. For example, studies have shown that pro-choice activists are quoted in media twice as often as pro-life activists. Almost 400,000 people participated in the 2010 March for Life (an annual pro-life march in Washington DC that promotes pro-life) but there was little to no media coverage on the event. Pro-life advocates are often stereotyped as closed minded, unrealistic and cold hearted, while pro-choice advocates are portrayed as open-minded, realistic, and caring.
Personally, I believe that abortion is wrong and that laws should be changed so that abortion is illegal. I believe so because I believe that human life begins at conception. I believe this because there is scientific evidence that a fetus is alive, religious reasons, and what I believe to be overwhelming arguments that abortion is murder. It is scientifically proven that a fetus is alive because at conception, a sperm and egg join to form what is called a zygote. It is scientific consensus that a zygote is defiantly alive because it meets all four criteria of biological life (metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction). A zygote has human DNA and is a human life. This means that a zygote, or fetus is a human person.
Scientifically, this proves that a fetus is alive, but where does religion come into play? As a Roman Catholic, I choose to believe what is written in the Bible and accept it as the word of God. There are many scripture readings that prove to me that a person is a person before they are even born. The one that means the most to me is Jeremiah 5:1 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”. To me, this means that God personally creates each and every person before we are even conceived. It means that He is behind every conception and that children are a gift from God. He has a plan for each of us and it is out of His love that we are made. Since everyone is a person made by God, killing someone, even before they are born, is a sin. My religion may be a major part of why I believe the way I do, but it is defiantly not the only reason. It amazes me how people can say that fetuses are not human. A babies heart begins to beat at only 18 days old. At 42 days old it has brainwaves, and a full skeleton. At 7 weeks old it can suck it’s thumb, and at 9 weeks can squint, swallow and make a fist. 11 weeks it can breath, has fingernails, and all body systems work. It can cry at 18 weeks, and at 20 weeks has hair on it’s head. How can someone look at a picture of a baby in a womb and say that it’s not human? Seriously, google a picture of a baby’s feet at 10 weeks old or a fetus sucking it’s thumb at just 8 weeks old and tell me that’s not a person. One also just has to look at a picture of an aborted baby to be convinced that it’s murder. It’s appalling to see pictures of babies who’s bodies are mangled and bloody, but these images are hidden from the public by people who don’t want the public to know how bloody and violent abortion actually is. Bottom line: I believe abortion is wrong because of my religious beliefs and the tons of evidence that a fetus is a person and killing a person is murder. I could go on for pages and pages about why I believe abortion is wrong, but frankly I have other homework to do and I have more than enough words ☺.