It is almost unanimously recognized that the right to life is the most important and sacred right possessed by human beings. That said, it's no surprise that there are few issues more controversial than abortion. Some consider the abortion process to be immoral and the deprivation of the right to life. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, see abortion as a freedom and a simple exercise of the right to freedom of choice. Those who strongly oppose abortion are considered pro-life, and those who are supporters of abortion are considered pro-choice by contemporary standards. Even among those who support abortion, there are differences in their opinions, such as up to what point in pregnancy abortion is morally permissible. In my opinion, abortion is morally permissible at any stage of a woman's pregnancy. This is ethically acceptable because a woman should have the right to control what happens in her body. Beyond that, fetuses are still far from personhood (having the qualities of a human being); therefore, we cannot compare abortion to any kind of murderous activity. Some argue that women have the right to abort because the fetus uses women as a source of life, thus giving women the discretion to allow what happens in its body. . Without the nourishment provided by women to the fetus, the fetus would not be able to survive. Now the question arises: should the fetus force the woman to nourish what temporarily resides inside her, feeding on its nutrients, if she does not want it? Some views hold that women should be responsible for carrying the fetus until its birth if the act that brought it there (sexual intercourse) was vol...... middle of paper ..... .ade decided that women's privacy, contained in the Fourteenth Amendment, made it acceptable for women to have more discretion over the status of their pregnancy and whether or not to have an abortion. However, abortions were only acceptable when they involved “the defense of prenatal life and the protection of the health of the mother” (Roe v. Wade, Morality and Moral Controversies, 209). While this case took a step in the right direction by giving women some direction regarding abortion, I feel it could have done a better job making abortion legal in all circumstances, given how it is morally justifiable in every respect, from motivations to the process itself. .Works CitedArthur, John and Scalet, Steven, eds. Morality and moral controversies: readings in moral, social and political philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Eighth edition, 2009.