Abortion the Issue of Late-Term Term Paper

The crux of the matter, of course, is that Polish law is incongruent with that throughout Europe as denoted within the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The latter provides access for all citizens throughout the Continent to have "respect for privacy and family life" (Martin). This is a great right, and one that is worthy of being upheld. However, in Poland, abortions are only permitted if the life -- not the health -- of the woman is in danger, if the fetus may be born deformed, or if the pregnancy has been incurred by rape. Therefore, Tysiac's situation did not truly meet the legal requirements for abortion in her home country of Poland. It did, however, result in the violation of her rights in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Sadly, Poland is willing to terminate the life of a child for being deformed, but is willing to deform a mother while giving life to a child who is not born deformed.

The two diametrically opposed views of the notion of when life begins are generally divide among the lines of those who believe in pro-choice and those who believe in pro-life.The former typically advance the notion that life begins once a child is born. The benefit of this position is that it allows a woman to freely decided what she does with her body in terms of childbirth. The drawback is that some abortions occur for beings who are cognizant of life and who can move, feel, and possibly think. The latter viewpoint contends that life actually begins at the point of conception (Sample). The benefit of this point-of-view is that the rights and the health of potential children are protected by it. The drawback is that such children may find themselves in undesirable living conditions.

Works Cited

Martin, Jenny. "European Court of Human Rights Considers Appeal of Polish Woman Allegedly Denied Abortion." Medical News Today. 2006. Web. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/37619.php.

Sample, Ian. "When does life begin?." The Guardian. 2005. Web. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/feb/10/thisweekssciencequestions.....