The maternal-fetal relation experienced during the pregnancy period makes it difficult to conclude whether the status of the fetus has any impact on women’s rights to abort. For me, the state of the fetus is a significant determinant of the decision whether to abort or not. Considerations such as the viability of the fetus to survive and the potential threat to the mother’s life determine the choice chosen. The constitution of many countries across the globe has provisions that in case the fetus is damaged to the extent that it might not survive, then the mother can decide to abort. Pediatrics may also predict that the fetus will develop severe complications after birth such as brain damage or any other form of abnormality. Such predictions also have an impact on abortion rights.
Some human rights activists argue that any woman should be allowed to abort if the status of the fetus she is carrying is not worth the birth struggle, loss of blood, tearing, and other possible injuries during birth. These arguments make me think that the right to abort is based entirely on the state of the fetus. The fetus might also not be viable in the sense that it is dead or about to die. Under these conditions, the life of the mother is threatened, and the only option that doctors have is to perform third-trimester abortions to save her. In this way, the status of the fetus extends the right of the mother to have an abortion. The question of whether the state of the fetus has any bearing upon a woman’s right to have an abortion also depends on the law of the country. For example, the united states have a gradualist view that protects the fetus during later stages while in Canada the fetus has no legal standing whatsoever.
