Political Ideologies

Political ideologies have always had an effect on many issues in the societal fabric and on a large extent on the social affairs of individuals. There is often a clash over social welfare policy reflecting the wide difference on issues regarding human nature, relationship of individuals to the society. In this essay we seek to understand in particular the views and stands taken by the different perspectives on major social issues like Crime, Abortion and racism.

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy for whatever reason and the views about this vary substantially across the different schools of thought. Abortion can be traced to ancient times. There is evidence suggesting that, anciently, pregnancies were terminated through different methods, including the administration herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and such other techniques. During the early ages abortion was tolerated because there were no laws restricting it (Wikipedia contributors, 2010).

The different ideologies have different views on the topic of abortion. The three different political ideologies have had very hard stands on this particular issue. When we are looking at this topic we might find it hard to skip the issue of feminism. This was a movement that fought for the rights of women.

Conservatives believed that human life began at conception. They hold the view therefore that abortion should be termed as the murder of a human being and nobody has the moral authority to decide whether that human being should live or not. They also advocate for the prohibition of partial birth abortions. They call on the Government to use its power control some areas of social life as it pertains as irresponsible behavior (Abramovitz, 2007: 143).

People with liberal perspective on social issues tend to believe that women have a right to an abortion and least under certain circumstances. They believe that a foetus is not a human being and therefore should not be considered as possessing human life (Abramovitz, 2007:145). The liberal view of abortion wants to end the debate on abortion and work to end abortion, but that means citizens must examine the reasons for abortion and end those reasons. They call for the legalization of abortion and argue that the decision to have an abortion or not should solely rest on the personal choice of a woman and therefore, women should be given the right to a safe and legal abortion (Menikoff, Jerry2001:78)

Liberal feminism equates gender equality with equal opportunity. The root of women oppression lies in Women’s lack of equal rights and educational opportunities. Only when these constraints on women participation are removed will women have the same chance for success. Liberal feminists have fought for better child care options, and a woman’s right to choose an abortion and elimination of sex discrimination in the work place (Abromovitz, 2007:151).

The capitalists do not necessarily oppose abortion but they say it should be in the hands of the private hands and it is a personal decision (Abramovitz, 2007:145).