Question.684 - The Final Essay will be graded by the quality of your introduction, body, counterarguments and conclusion, and Works Cited: Review of the technical requirements of the final essay: 2,000 -2,500 words (8-10 pages) Works Cited (1-2 pages) Microsoft .docx (not .pdf or .pages) 12 pt. Times New Roman Font, Double Spaced, 1” left and right margins Works Cited must be in MLA format: http://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/mla_tutorial.cfm Works Cited must include books, articles and chapters (no book reviews) from the UMGC library collection (see list of library resources below). https://sites.umgc.edu/library/index.cfm#ebooks Works Cited books and articles from the UMGC library must include the Permalink URL. https://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/linking.cfm#general
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Right to not have a child The statement I dont want to have a kid is a debatable statement that is never-ending even in the 21st century. It is considered to be a convention where the stereotype is that the ideal woman should have the urge to have kids, and it is their responsibility to reproduce. Although society has come a long way where women have gained fundamental rights and gained financial rights when it comes to reproduction, the mindset is some way or the other same. Nevertheless, it changes from place to place and country to country. For instance, a country like India is highly conventional regarding childbirth, while in Europe, people have birthright control to stabilize the nations economy. This doesnt mean that women who want to give birth to a baby are not allowed; rather, the planning is done in such a manner that in the future, there will be no economic crisis and other issues in the lives of the individuals. However, the ethical argument for having a child should be solely dependent on an individuals choice and will. The right to not have a child is just a fundamental right like others, but it becomes difficult to consider it in that way because of the supreme institutions associated with it. For instance, religion, family, and other social institutions force women to give birth to a child because they connect religious teachings with reproduction, and this is the reason why heternomativity has always considered being the ideal union between a man and a woman. As per the Universal Declaration of the United States, everyone is entitled to all rights and freedom, and it is stated that every child requires special care and attention. It is not possible for every family to give luxurious and special care to their children because of many factors, and due to that, it becomes obvious that every individual should have the right to either have or not have a child. Economic instability is one of the major reasons why individuals delay or reject the idea of giving birth to a child. If a new member is joined to a family, the lifestyle changes, and the expenses increase. The monetary crisis, poverty, or economic instability are some of the rational reasons for the ethical argument of not having a child. Moreover, it also depends on the body of a woman, which is also a right in order to mold or shape ones own body. Earlier, women did not have a choice to think or have a say in their life. They were subservient to men, and their only role was to get married and give birth to children and manage the entire household. As such, marital rape, forceful marriages, and physical violence were some of the common issues that women used to face if they were opposed to having kids. Moreover, many countries favor child infanticide, where women had to undergo several pregnancies unless it was a baby boy. There are many literary books that have represented the consequences of not having a child willfully. In India, the mindset of having a child is still the same, where women are always expected to give birth to children after their marriage. Suppose a woman does not want to have a child. In that case, society raises a question or judges the character of the women because it opposes the ideologies of the social institutions and breaks the conventions. For instance, in one of the Indian novels written by Anita Desai,?Fasting Feasting?portrays one of the woman characters, Mama, who was forced to give birth to a baby son since the couple did not have a son, and it is a common belief in India where it was considered that a son could only take forward the family legacy (Desai). This way, the old woman had to undergo many physical and psychological problems that were unheard of and avoided, and this was the condition of women universally in the earlier decades. Similarly, in another text,?Awakening?by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Edna, which was imposed for marriage and giving birth to the child, the impact was felt on the entire family where the husband could not give time to the wife and moreover, Edna was satisfied and contended with her married life (Chopin). As a result, she got detached from her husband and her kids, and she led her life independently. In this case, it is the kids who are greatly impacted where they are the most innocent beings with unwanted suffering. This is one of the common examples of reality where unwanted pregnancies affect the lives of the woman and mostly the children. Even in the 21st century, women are criticized for not having kids once they are married. There are mostly associated with the terms like selfish, evil, and abnormal. It is considered that people who dont have children are childless, or they are self-centric where they want their life to be revolved only around themselves. There is never a raise of the question when people procreate, but criticism starts when an individual decides not to have children. One of the modern philosophers, Rosalind Hursthouse, claims that there should be a proper reason behind every action before doing it. He says, if there is a reason for having health, then there would also be a reason behind having children. He states, Unions are blessed not cursed with issue; those who have children are favoured by fortune; the childless are unfortunate; to be unable to have children is a lack, a privation, a misfortune (Overall). He reflects on the convention that when someone wants to have a baby, society is not bothered to know the reason, and as such, it becomes the default in any relationship or union, but it becomes a matter of concern and issue when someone doesnt want to have children. However, the will to have children becomes more justifiable and rational than not having a child. The philosopher satirizes this fact by saying that children are given birth whose future is unpredictable and might also pose a threat to their life (Overall). Therefore, he suggests that the choice of not having a child for logical reasons, which doesnt risk the life of someone new, is better than having children without any proper planning and consideration that leads to repercussions for both the individual and as well the childs life. The human aspects of every individual that takes place, like generating feelings for one another or getting involved in one another's life sexually, are not something that is based on ethical evaluation; rather, these are the aspects of human instincts and drives where there is no control over anyone. Childbirth is not something that is something which is written in our destiny but an individual choice. But due to the biological context and social construction of gender roles, it has become fate for every individual to make children and not something where women might have a choice to say no; rather, it is something that seems to be obvious and natural for women to carry a child. There are many rational factors that prove the claim that every individual has the right not to have children. First, economic factors like financial crisis and an individual's socio-cultural background become a reason for not planning for a baby. For instance, for a couple who is not stable in their life financially or emotionally, childbirth would be a harmful decision for that family because the child will lead the same life, and it will create more problems for the entire family to run the livelihood. Moreover, the growth of a child depends on the surroundings because it influences the child greatly, and so this might be one of the reasons for a couple not planning a child. In addition to this, women were earlier not given the right over their bodies, but now women have come a long way where they have started gaining economic independence. As such, women have become potential in the outside world like they were confined to the domestic sphere. In this way, there are many professions like modeling, athletics, training, etc., where childbirth is not preferable because it might distort the figure of the woman and, as a result, affect their career goals. These are some of the reasons that justify the choice of not having a child to some extent because the reasons for not having a child are not important usually in society because it breaks the social norms and conventions, which are stigmatized as ethically wrong. One of the common results of unwanted pregnancy is child abuse, mental illness, and alcohol and drug intoxication, and all of these result in a bad impact on the entire society that doesn't make sense in procreation. Therefore, it is just a way of mechanizing power in society by making procreation mandatory or a moral duty because when the action results in destruction or deployment in humanity, it is no more a moral duty. Thus, it suggests that an individual does have the right not to have a child. In the book,?Beyond the Abortion Wars: A way forward for a new generation, the author introduces the never-ending stereotypes of abortion that are still prevalent in society. The author basically considers the women of the Hispanic community, and the main focus is that the debate on abortion in the United States has been represented from the political sphere (Camosy). In this book, the author brings light to the moral and legal approach to abortion in relation to religious teachings. He claims that the choice to abort a baby has become more difficult for women than it actually seems. It is because no matter abortion has become a reproductive right for women, which otherwise was not legalized in the earlier times, but now also there is an imposition in abortion where the social structures come in playing the role where women are pressurized to abort a baby. Moreover, it has been found that the U.S experiences the least number of abortions because the new generations are trending toward pro-life or favoring procreation (Camosy. As such, the author's point of view in this book is that abortion should be given as a choice to women, not something as a taboo or a forceful tool to control childbirth (Camosy). Moreover, abortion is associated with the mental health of women, and it has been found that whenever there is any risk in abortion, there is a high possibility of affecting mental health. It is claimed that it differs from woman to woman how they take abortion, whether as a boon or a bane and accordingly, mental health is affected (Major et al.,). For instance, if a woman doesn't want to have a child, she will be happy and fortunate to abort the baby, while it would be the opposite for the ones who want a child of her own. Therefore, it is obvious that a woman who undergoes unwanted pregnancy gets most affected by psychological disorders. "It reflects preexisting and co-occurring conditions in a woman's life that place her at a greater or lesser risk for poor mental health in general regardless of how she resolves her pregnancy" (Major et al.,). It has been claimed that women who undergo an abortion for unwanted pregnancy are not as risky in their mental condition that those women who have to deliver unwanted pregnancy. This is how the importance of abortion in relation to mental health has been highlighted. Thus, having a child should be the sole decision of the individual and not an imposition due to which women has to deliver unwanted pregnancy. Before women did not have that right to not have a child although morally it is considered to be human right but women were not allowed to have control over their body. But in the modern times, with advanced contraceptive methods, it has become easier for women to prevent unwanted pregnancy and moreover it is a matter of justice and freedom for every woman to have the right to make reproductive decision by themselves. In reproductive justice, the decision should be self-autonomous and it should be dependent on the individual to make the reproductive decisions. Safe and dignified fertility management, childbirth, and parenting are impossible without these resources (Ross and Solinger) One of the counterarguments against my ethical position would be that giving birth to a child is a moral responsibility and duty of every human being to expand the familial lineage and continue the legacy. Moreover, reproduction is important to carry forward the generation. Without reproduction, living being will not survive and moreover it creates a balance between the birth and death ration which leads to the stability of ecosystem. According to the theory of deontology, there are three principles of operating the decision-making process which is relied on morality, responsibility of taking care and any moral result of a particular action. If any action is based on all these principles, then the action is considered to be right and as per this theory, giving birth to a child follows all these principles and so it is a right conduct of action. Works Cited Assembly, UN General. "Convention on the Rights of the Child."?United Nations, Treaty Series?1577.3 (1989): 1-23. Camosy, Charles C.?Beyond the abortion wars: A way forward for a new generation. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2015. Chopin, Kate.?The awakening: and other stories. Oxford Paperbacks, 2000.Desai, Anita.?Fasting, feasting. Random House India, 2012.Major, Brenda, et al. "Abortion and mental health: Evaluating the evidence."?American Psychologist?64.9 (2009): 863. Ross, Loretta, and Rickie Solinger.?Reproductive justice: An introduction. Vol. 1. Univ of California Press, 2017.Overall, Christine. "Why Choosing To Have Children Is An Ethical Issue".?The MIT Press Reader, 2019, https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/choosing-children-ethical-issue/.More Articles From Philosophy
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