Mini Review
Volume 4 Issue 5 - July 2017
DOI:10.19080/PBSIJ.2017.04.555647
Psychol Behav Sci Int J
Copyright © All rights are reserved by Andrzej Brodziak
The Metaphysical Essence of the Controversy
between Proponents of Pro-choice and Pro-life
Attitudes Intensified in Eastern European countries
Andrzej Brodziak
1
*, Alicja Różyk Myrta
2
and Jana Kutnohorska
3
1Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, Sosnowiec, Europe
2Institute of Nursing, University of Applied Sciences, Europe
3Department of Health Care Studies, Tomas Bata University, Europe
Submission: July 12, 2017; Published: July 24, 2017
*Corresponding author: Andrzej Brodziak, Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, Koscielna St. 13, 41 – 200 Sosnowiec,
Poland, Europe, Tel: ; Fax: , Email:
Psychology and Behavioral Science
International Journal
ISSN 2474-7688
Psychol Behav Sci Int J 4(5): PBSIJ.MS.ID.555647 (2017) 001
Introduction
Today in various countries around the world there is a
dispute on the acceptability and legality of abortion. In Poland
in October 2016, the contestation between the proponents of so-
called pro-choice and pro-life attitudes took the form of mass
street protests. Understanding the causes of a violent reaction
of women facilitates comprehension of the essence of the
dispute. Data on these social changes can be helpful in analyzing
and subduing similar controversies in other countries. In our
opinion, understanding the causes of the ongoing culture war
would requires a review of the historical development of views
on the acceptability of abortion and a review of the current
legislation and social circumstances in different countries of the
world. Then it would be easier to characterize the reasoning of
the proponents of pro-life and pro-choice attitudes.
The review of historical development and of current
legislations were presented recently by some authors [1-9].
However, the most important element of the problem which is
the essence of ideological controversy is not fully realized. For
this reason, we focus in this commentary to attempt to capture
the difference in reasoning of supporters of pro-choice and pro-
life attitudes. In our view, it is needed to distinguish between
the average, popular, circulating ideas assumed by the broad
general parties and the differences in philosophical arguments
to which some participants of the dispute refer. This will allow
presenting the trial of explanation of recent exacerbation of the
contestation.
An Attempt to Characterize the Reasoning of
Proponents of the Pro-Life Attitude
In the course of typically emotional conversations with
people who are supporters of pro-life attitudes, the following
arguments and inference reasoning are formulated: Biological
life, human life exists from the moment of fertilization, it means
from the moment of the appearance of a single cell-the zygote.
Human life is sacred, blessed («holy») and therefore should be
subjected to legal and practical protection from that moment.
The proponents of a pro-life attitude identify the zygote, the
early stages of development of the embryo and fetus with the
“human person». The supporters of the pro-life attitude are
convinced that 1. Their opinions result from religious doctrine,
and that 2. It is the only proper attitude in the light of current
morality.
Their knowledge and convictions are based on the recent
declarations of the hierarchs of the Church, and as the basis
for moral evaluation they apply the current guidelines of the
Catholic Church. The proponents of pro-life attitudes do not
generally know the history of the development of the position
of Christian churches for the admissibility of abortion, and
their moral judgment is not subject for analysis from the point
of view of different ethical schools. In talks with supporters
of pro-life attitudes, it is difficult to discuss the essence of the
phenomenon of life and details of current knowledge related to
this phenomenon (DNA, genome, cellular cytoplasm) as well as
knowledge about the natural processes of the loss of the early
form of embryos by failure of implantation and early miscarriage.
It seems that mainly on a subconscious level they place
an extremely high value on the existential events involving
the occurrence of the sexual intercourse, regardless of the
circumstances and the intentions of the couple who conceived
the zygote, embryo, man. Even if the intention was not noble
(casual intercourse without the intention of procreation, or even
with conscious exclusion of the intention to conceive offspring,