Issues to consider in the abortion debate including: personhood, potential vs actual life, rights of the foetus vs the mother, point of viability.
Application of each normative ethical theory to abortion: Natural Moral Law, Virtue Ethics, Situation Ethics.
Evaluation of each normative ethical...
Application of Normative Ethical Theories
~ Human Life Issues ~
Abortion
Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy through removal of the foetus / embryo.
UK Law - Abortion is legal when: 2 doctors are in agreement, the foetus is less than 24 weeks
old, keeping the foetus alive poses a significant risk to the mother’s life, their is a significant risk
of the baby being born with disabilities and to prevent permanent physical / psychological harm
to the mother or existing children.
Case Study - 1962, schizophrenic girl raped by another patient at a state mental hospital
The hospital refused the abortion however, the girl was raped so caused the conception of an
unwanted child and for the mother to raise the child, medication which would cause
abnormalities to the foetus would be needed.
Issue of Personhood
There are different ideas about the concept of personhood and when a life is a person:
1. From Conception
- Religious view: ensoulment begins at conception
- Scientific view: all coded genetic material is present from conception
- However: Glover - referring to a fertilised egg as a person overstretches the ordinary
definition of personhood
- Acorn analogy (Jarvis Thomson): an acorn, in the right conditions, will develop into an
oak tree, but that does not mean the acorn is an oak tree
2. Emergence of the Primitive Steak
- this is the earliest sign of the embryo and when it is clear how many individuals will emerge
3. Emergence of Consciousness e.g. movement, response to stimuli
- However: Unclear what counts as consciousness (deep philosophical controversy)
- Newborn babies are less than conscious than other animals and many would disagree
with the idea of animals being persons in the same sense as humans
4. Point of Viability - point from which foetus can survive outside the womb
- There is arguably little difference between a foetus in late development and a newborn
- However: Age of viability is constantly reducing -> personhood becomes unstable
- Glover: children and adults dependent on medical treatment / technology would no
longer be deemed persons
- Locke: human beings = sentient - embryos / foetuses are not -> not persons
- We date our age from birth -> birth = pivotal moment in become a person
Potential vs Actual Life
1. Comparison with newborns - like foetuses, newborns are completely dependent on their
mother for survival -> could consider newborn as a potential person -> have same value
- However: Babies are not actual persons / lack a moral right to life (Giuhilini Minerva)
, 2. When does potential life become actual life? - very little difference between full-term
foetuses and new borns
3. Potential kings are not actual kings - heir does not have rights of a king until present
monarch dies -> foetus does not have same rights as actual person
- However: foetus is unique and not directly comparable with other kings -> foetus has same
basic rights as a potential human being
4. Contraception - we do not consider sperm and egg as people, so why foetuses?
- Glover: if potential life has the same value as actual life then there is no real difference
between contraception and abortion
- However: sperm and egg may be viewed as potential life - foetus has life with potential
Rights of Foetus vs Mothers
1. Ownership of Body
- J.J. Thomson - abortion = form of self-defence
- Woman owns her body -> has prior claim to it before pregnancy
- Tenant Analogy: foetus has tenant’s rights NOT ownership rights
- Locke: ownership-as-use: woman has absolute right to decide what happens to her body
and must decide if abortion will improve her life
2. Reproductive Autonomy - overall, forcing a women to keep a foetus is like forcing her to
give up an organ against her will
3. Mercy Killing rather than Murder
- e.g. antenatal euthanasia - when it is known that a baby will be born with serious
deformities and will live a short and painful life
4. Sanctity of Life - ‘before I formed you in the womb I knew you’
- Human life is no different to that of other creatures -> foetus has right to life (even if not
regarded as a person)
- However: Neo-Darwinian approach: abortion = method of population control
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