Margaret Little Abortion Analysis

In the case of abortion, Margaret Little argues that a woman’s autonomy significantly outweighs the moral value of an embryo/fetus for the sole fact that it is not a human being, just a fetus that has the potential to become one. Patrick Lee and Robert P. George contradict this argument by stating that abortion is not at all morally permissible because the embryo/fetus is indeed a human being, although a very immature one, and should be granted the same moral respect as any human being. Lee/George are incorrect on the grounds of saying that a embryo/fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. Margaret Little is correct on the ground that without the mother’s procreative actions, there would be no “human being” to gestate.

Margaret

Unlinke Judith Jarvis Thomson, Little suggests that abortion is not only morally permissible in the case of rape and the direct threat to the mother's life, but it also morally permissible if completing gestation will affect the mother’s life trajectory in such a way that she does not wish for it to do so. Lee/George believe that when a woman has procreated, she has creates that fetus’ needs, so she should be held responsible to provide those needs. Little questions the fetus’s personhood by suggesting that the early embryo/fetus does not possess personhood because it lacks self awareness. Lee/George asks an important question:”If not as human, then how would we categorize the individual growing embryo? It is not some intermediate species.” (Lee/George powerpoint slide #2) Even if the fetus is a very immature human being, Lee/George still has the flaw of saying that the moral value of the fetus outweighs the autonomy of the mother. Yes, while the fetus does have potential and some intrinsic moral value, the value of the fully developed, aware, and fully functioning mother should have the choice whether to continue and/or complete gestation given the fact that without her procreative actions, the fetus would simply not be at