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Argumentative debate on abortion
Argumentative debate on abortion
Pro choice vs pro abortion
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Abstract: This essay written over the controversial issue of abortion, in order to shed some light on whether if it is a morally right decision for an individual to abort a child when there is no life threatening issue at any stage in a pregnancy. Thus, this essay is written in directly for the avocation against the killing of innocent and unborn child. First, this essay argues against the idea of a fetus being considered less than human are evaluated and criticized. The secondly, it presents strong support for why the life of a fetus moral rights has to be taking into consideration equally as a matured human .Thus, this essay focus on the reasoning behind the decision for abortion, then coming to the conclusion is that an abortion is only …show more content…
In her article, she questions if there is any quality of an embryo that would cause it to be consider as a human. Warren creates a separation between what should be considered a human being and what should be a person. Therefore, Warren claims that although the killing of any human being is wrong but the killing of an unborn child, while it is still in the worm as an embryo cannot be considered in the same stratosphere because a fetus lack all the attributes that could qualify him or her as a person. Furthermore, Warren status that because a fetus lacks the attributes. Warren states this attributes to be the …show more content…
The argument for the moral rights of the unborn child against abortion still holds true because the child cannot be viewed as a virus that abortion presents a cure because the rights of a fetus is reserves in its identity as a member of the Homo sapien community. Therefore, any acts against an unborn child( or fetus), although presently legal, should be considered as morally unjust, which is equal to the act of murder because what is killed in an abortion is not simply, a housing of organ but a human being equal to any other. Furthermore, the idea of justifying an abortion, which essentially should be viewed as the forceful and unnatural death, of an unborn child based on the assumption that he or she cannot express thoughts, or desires therefore rendering their members to full moral rights . Thus, it negates the feeling of pain and hardships that are experience by a fetus as it is forcefully yank out the worm of his
The topic on abortion gives a moral objection to a fetus’ right to life, while it is questionable whether or not the death of the unborn child is unjustifiable. Although it may seem as if abortion puts women in situations where it is necessary to save the mother’s life in some situations. Until both pro-life and pro-choice can come to a conclusion and an agreement, this debates on abortion will continually go on. Both sides need to be able to draw the line somewhere and balance each other’s weakness.
Warren’s primary argument for abortion’s permissibility is structured around her stance that fetuses are not persons. This argument relies heavily upon her six criteria for personhood: A being’s sentience, emotionality, reason, capacity for communication, self-awareness, and having moral agencies (Warren 171-172). While this list seems sound in considering an average, healthy adult’s personhood, it neither accounts for nor addresses the personhood of infants, mentally ill individuals, or the developmentally challenged. Sentience is one’s ability to consciously feel and perceive things around them. While it is true that all animals and humans born can feel and perceive things within their environment, consider a coma patient, an individual suspended in unconsciousness and unable to move their own body for indeterminate amounts of time.
The criterion for personhood is widely accepted to consist of consciousness (ability to feel pain), reasoning, self-motivation, communication and self-awareness. When Mary Anne Warren states her ideas on this topic she says that it is not imperative that a person meet all of these requirements, the first two would be sufficient. We can be led to believe then that not all human beings will be considered persons. When we apply this criterion to the human beings around us, it’s obvious that most of us are part of the moral community. Although when this criterion is applied to fetuses, they are merely genetic human beings. Fetuses, because they are genetically human, are not included in the moral community and therefore it is not necessary to treat them as if they have moral rights. (Disputed Moral Issues, p.187). This idea is true because being in the moral community goes hand in hand w...
In A Defense of Abortion (Cahn and Markie), Judith Thomson presents an argument that abortion can be morally permissible even if the fetus is considered to be a person. Her primary reason for presenting an argument of this nature is that the abortion argument at the time had effectively come to a standstill. The typical anti-abortion argument was based on the idea that a fetus is a person and since killing a person is wrong, abortion is wrong. The pro-abortion adopts the opposite view: namely, that a fetus is not a person and is thus not entitled to the rights of people and so killing it couldn’t possibly be wrong.
middle of paper ... ... She argues that fetuses are not persons or members of the moral community because they don’t fulfill the five qualities of personhood she has fashioned. Warren’s arguments are valid, mostly sound, and cover just about all aspects of the overall topic. Although she was inconsistent on the topic of infanticide, her overall writing was well done and consistent.
The article A Defense of Abortion written by Judith Thomson and the article Why Abortion is Immoral by Don Marquis deal with the arguments of whether abortion is moral, immoral, justified or not. The author Don Marquis wants to prove that abortion is immoral without taking into consideration extreme cases, while Thomson says that abortion is justified in some cases. The latter supports her arguments by saying that abortion is justified in cases such as rape and when the mother’s life, which is the most important here, is in danger. On the other hand, Marquis says that abortion can’t be justified, because abortion is killing a person who might have a future, without much reference to any other cases that might lead to abortion.
Many arguments in the abortion debate assume that the morality of abortion depends upon the moral status of the foetus. While I regard the moral status of the foetus as important, it is not the central issue that determines the moral justifiability of abortion. The foetus may be awarded a level of moral status, nevertheless, such status does not result in the prescription of a set moral judgement. As with many morally significant issues, there are competing interests and a variety of possible outcomes that need to be considered when making a moral judgement on abortion. While we need to determine the moral status of the foetus in order to establish the type of entity we are dealing with, it does not, however, exist in a moral vacuum. There are other key issues requiring attention, such as the moral status and interests of the pregnant woman who may desire an abortion, and importantly, the likely consequences of aborting or not aborting a particular foetus. Furthermore, I assert that moral status should be awarded as a matter of degree, based upon the capacities of sentience and self-consciousness an entity possesses. In a bid to reach a coherent conclusion on the issue, the moral status of both foetus and woman, along with the likely results of aborting a particular foetus, must be considered together. Given the multiple facets requiring consideration, I assert that utilitarianism (Mill 1863) offers a coherent framework for weighing and comparing the inputs across a variety of situations, which can determine whether it is ever morally justifiable to have an abortion.
Abortion is an immoral act of killing and there are other much more logical moral ways to handle unwanted pregnancies. This paper full of information is to show the crewel harsh side of abortion so people can know that there is more to the act than the convenience makes it look like. The baby doesn’t just disappear, the baby dies. Please refer to this to inform others, many people have no idea and this paper will help them
Abortion is an issue which separates the American public, especially when it involves the death of children and women. When an abortion occurs, the medical doctor removes the fetus from the pregnant woman. This particular act has separated the public. Many believe that abortion is not morally and ethically correct. On the other hand, some people believe that carrying and delivering the unborn child will hinder the safety of the mother, then an abortion is needed. Each view has its own merit in the debate. This debate has separated the public into two sections: pro-life and pro-choice. A pro-lifer opposes abortion, whereas, a pro-choicer believes that the decision to abort the child should be left to the mother because she is the one carrying the child. In this paper, there will be topics that will be discussed concerning pro-life and pro-choice. I hope at the end of this paper, the reader is able to gain more knowledge concerning each topic. Every woman has the right to control her own body.
Abortion may be one of the most controversial topics in America today. Abortion is defined as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus” (cite dictionary). There are really only two sides on people’s opinion on abortion; pro-life which means abortion should be outlawed and pro-choice which means a woman should be able to decide whether she wants to keep her baby. Thousands of protests and riots have begun due to the fact pro-life activists believe abortion should become illegal. Both sides bring valid points to support their decision that could sway any person’s thoughts. The Roe v. Wade law has allowed abortion to be legal in the U.S since 1973 (Chittom & Newton, 2015). The law “gives women total control over first trimester abortions and grants state legislative control over second and third trimester abortions” (Chittom & Newton, 2015). Ever since the law was put in place, millions of people have tried to overturn it and still
In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
The parts of the moral dispute on the status of unborn life… solidly bolster the conclusion that this unborn bit of humankind has a benefit not to be killed, in any occasion. Without laying out all the affirmation here, it is sensible to complete up from arrangement that the humanity of the life creating in a mother's womb is sure and, in itself, a serious clarification behind drawing closer the unborn with concession.
Abortion “is an issue that raises questions about life and death, about what a person is and when one becomes a person, about the meaning of life, about the rights of women, and about the duties of men”(Velasquez 485). Abortion is an unresolved ethical issue that has been in doubt for many years because one can argue that you are killing an innocent person/fetus but many argue that is not person because they don’t have a conscious or the characteristics that defines a “person”. John Stuart Mill in a way justifies abortion, Mill is known to be openly speak about women’s rights and about human rights. Although, it might be immortal to end someone’s life one might argued that the individual has the right to choose and have the option. But in
I took the ethic class in this semester, besides explaining the morality theory that we could use in daily life, it is also talking about how to think some ethical issues in common nowadays and make the decision from the perspective of moral philosophy way. Abortion is one of the ethical issues that people argued a lot as. People are more likely deciding into two sides. Pro-life (abortion is morally wrong, fetus is like a human being.) and pro-choice (the fetus is not human being also woman should have right to decide) In this paper I will focus on mother-fetus relationships and Marquis’ argument for abortion is seriously wrong, afterward state I will explain why I think he made a successful argument and present my reasons for pro-life. Also, I will follow up with one of objection about human right for fetus and then respond my thinking to the objection.
Abortion has been one of the most talked about topics in society just about anywhere from television, magazines, whether or not it should be the right or wrong thing to do. Abortion is a very sensitive issue to discuss, because of its nature. Many people have said that abortion is a very bad thing to do and it should not even be choice whether or not to abort a living fetus. People think that abortion is committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. However, others feel that a woman should have a voice and have the right to choose to keep the child or not and that it is not murder until the baby is born. Majority of individuals who believe that abortion is bad say that the fetus is human who is partly being formed and to have an abortion is considered to be murder. For the people who think an abortion is ok, say that it’s not considered murder unless the child is born. I believe that abortion should be seen in which the stage the fetus is in. if the fetus is in an early stage of pregnancy it is not considered murder, but if the fetus has already began to develop into a larger fetus then it is indeed considered to be murder. There are times when abortion can be accepted, if the mother is having complications due to pregnancy. For example if the mother is enduring complications in her pregnancy that can harm her, because of the child in that case it is ok to perform an abortion to help save the mother’s life. It is also very important to understand this type of situation. The mother has the right to have an abortion and it is her decision because a mother knows best about her health conditions.