Abortion Ethics Notes

Ethical Issues

• The central ethical question is whether abortion is morally wrong.

  • Yes?: Fetuses are persons, therefore abortion is murder.

  • No?: A fetus does not override a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and her own life.

Mary Anne Warren’s Position

• Abortion is morally permissible and should be neither legally prohibited nor made needlessly difficult to obtain.

• This position is based on the view that fetuses are not 'persons'.

Defining "Human"

• Genetic (human being): A member of the human species, defined genetically and physiologically.

• Moral (person): A full-fledged member of the moral community.

  • Persons have a claim to full, robust rights.

Characteristics Central to Personhood

• Six characteristics are often considered central to personhood:

  1. Sentience

  2. Emotionality

  3. Reason

  4. Capacity to communicate

  5. Self-awareness

  6. Moral agency

Don Marquis – Abortion is Immoral

• Murder is seriously wrong because it deprives an individual of a ‘future of value’.

• Aborting a fetus deprives it of a future of value.

• Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.

Why Marquis' Argument is Strong

• Personhood is difficult to clearly define.

• It seems self-evident that fetuses have futures like adults.

• A future not yet actualized is still something we immediately have.

Implications of Marquis' Argument

• The argument extends beyond just the murder of biological humans.

• It suggests the possibility that the futures of some nonhuman mammals are sufficiently like ours, making it seriously wrong to kill them also.

• It does not necessarily entail that “active” euthanasia is wrong.

• It implies that it is wrong to kill children and infants, presuming they have futures of value.

Caveats to Marquis' Argument

• Abortion is only prima facie wrong.

• Abortion could be justified in some circumstances, only if the loss consequent on failing to abort would be at least as great, if not greater (i.e. life of mother is endangered).