PHL 116 Bioethics - Mod 7 abortion

bioethics - abortion

Jermaine Hughes and Jeffrey Tickal

Helped to catch Eric Robert Rudolph, who bombed an abortion clinic in Birmingham, as well as other places

Statistically, when do abortions occur?

93% less than or at 13 weeks

6% 14-20 weeks

1% after 21 weeks

viability

when a fetus can survive outside the womb

typically 22-24 weeks

Roe v. Wade (1873)

guaranteed the right to an abortion before the 3rd trimester

(Roe/Norma McCorey vs. Wade and Dallas Country, Texas)

Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”)

Sought an abortion in Texas, began the landmark Roe v. Wade

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

right to abortion before viability

roe v. wade and planned parenthood v. casey

balanced right to privacy and protecting human life

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)

overturned Roe v. Wade

states can now ban/allow abortions whenever

first country to put abortion rights in their constitution

France in 2024

abortion legality in alabama

banned; except in cases of life endangerment and health of the mother

about how many abortions per year in AL during Roe?

about 6,000

pro-life moral foundations

care, sanctity

pro-choice moral foundations

care; liberty

Mary Anne Warren

was a philosopher at SF State

Argues: abortion is nearly always permissible; fetus isnt a person (so no right to life); finds fallacies in opposing arguments

religious text fallacy

1. this sacred text says my god exists

2. this sacred text is infallible

3. So, my god exists

circular reasoning/begging the question

abortion argument

1. murder is wrong

2. abortion is murder

3. 3. So, abortion is wrong

circular reasoning/begging the question

Judge John T. Noonan - The traditional argument against abortion

1. its wrong to kill an innocent human being

2. a human fetus is an innocent human being

3. so, its wrong to kill a human fetus

objection #1 to traditional argument: human is not person

human can have two meanings

genetic sense: member of the homo spaiens

moral sense: person, a member of our moral community 

relevent fallacy - equivocation

equivocation

when an argument wrongly treats some words as equivalent in the meaning

objection #2 to traditional argument (genetic sense)

1. its wrong to kill an innocent homo sapien

2. a human fetus is an innocent homo sapien

3. so, its wrong to kill a human fetus

Warren’s objection: the first premise is false (self defense, trolleys, euthanasia); question-begging by assuming all killing is wrong

objection #3 to traditional argument (moral sense)

1. its wrong to kill and innocent person

2. a human fetus is an innocent person

3. so, its wrong to kill a human fetus

warren’s objection: premise 2 is false; premise 1 may be false too

personhood

an entity with the “inalienable rights to life. liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” - Warren

Warren’s 5 indicators/criteria for personhood

1. Consciousness - ability to have experiences, feel pain, etc.

2. self-concepts - conceive of self as distinct from others

3. self motivated activity - activity “independent of either genetic or direct external control”

4. reasoning - ability to solve “new and relatively complex problems”

5. capacity to communicate - ability to communicate “messages of indefinite variety of types”

so does a fetus have personhood?

fetuses typically lack most of the indicators, so probably not persons

objection to Warren: what about infants?

reply 1: infants are still close to personhood; similar to how we don’t kill dolphins, chimps, etc.

reply 2: birth is a significant cutoff; mother’s bodily rights are no longer in play; infant becomes part of the community

Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929-2020)

“a defense of abortion”

was a philosopher at MIT

co-inventor of trolley problems

argues: abortion is permissible in most cases, even if fetus is a person; based on women’s bodily rights

Anti-abortion argument, expanded (John T. Noonan)

1. the fetus is a person

2. so the fetus had a right to life

3. the mother has bodily right to decide what happens to her body

4. but a person’s right to life (always) outweighs the mother’s bodily right

5. so, abortion is (always) immoral

*Thomson rejects premise 4

Thomson’s approach - argument by analogy

1. U is uncontroversially right/wrong

2. controversial C is analogous to U

3. so, C is right/wrong too (treat like cases alike)

Key analogous case: the violinist

you can save a famous violin virtuoso by staying connected to them for 9 months.

Is it morally OK to refuse? Thomson says yes - would be nice to stay connected but they have no right to use your body.

Savita Halappanavar (1981-2012)

died at 17 weeks pregnant; incomplete miscarriage that caused e. coli and sepsis; providers refused to provide an abortion that might have saved her

1983 - 8th amendment to Irish constitution gives fetus a right to life

abortion is banned, unless pregnancy threatens mother’s life

2018: Irish amendment removed

law passes permitting abortion up to 12 weeks

objection to Thomson: only shows abortion is OK in a fraction of cases (rape, life of mother)

reply: mothers did not choose to become pregnant in cases with contraception too.

ex) suppose Gary had taken precautions to not be hooked up to violinist, but still is.

ex) suppose you place a filtration screen to prevent people seeds from implanting in your carpet, but one finds its way in.

right to life = right to everything one minimally needs to continue living

counterexample: can be saved by celebrity if they fly across the country and touch your forehead

counterexample: violinist case

right to life = the right to not be killed

counterexamples: self defense, violinist case, euthanasia

right to life = right not to be killed unjustly

Thomson: good enough!

so, what do we owe other people?

minimal decency - decency w/o too much time and effort

ex: celebrity can heal you and they are already in the same room

supererogatory

good but not morally required 

perhaps we can set the cut-off of abortion when

bodily rights are strongest

personhood weakest