Deontology On Abortion

Bertha, M. (2014). Pro-Life, Pro-Choice : Shared Values in the Abortion Debate. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. https://fortlewis.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search- ebscohost-com.fortlewis.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.9780826519924&site=eds-live&scope=site Throughout this book, Bertha claims that she is for pro choice, but at the end of the reading, she states that she has changed her beliefs to pro life. This specific author performed studies, exams, courses, and clinicals and discovered the facts about the harm that takes place to your body after having an abortion. Bertha discusses the hard, mental griefs and traumas that follow the procedure, as well as the uneasy argument about the virtuous worth of the human fetus. The author brings experience to the discussion through the psychological department, being an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University, as well as having written many informative and knowledgeable articles.

One of the most frequently debated topics in bioethics is the morality of abortion, or the ending of a pregnancy without physically giving birth to an infant. Often times abortions are categorized into either spontaneous, a natural miscarriage; induced or intentional, which is premeditated and for any reason; or therapeutic, which albeit intentional, its sole purpose is to save the mother’s life. It seems however that moral conflicts on issue mainly arise when discussing induced abortions. In general, people universally agree it is morally wrong to kill an innocent person and in some people’s eyes induced abortions are the intentional killings of innocent persons, thus making them immoral. However not all individuals view fetuses as persons and consequentially argue it is not morally wrong to kill them.

Abortion has been a highly debated topic for many years. Until 1973, when abortion was legalized in the U.S., women were obtaining very dangerous abortions that often killed them in the process. Although abortion is legal now, members of society still do not agree on whether it is “right.” There are pros and cons of abortion, which can be examined by the three theoretical perspectives; Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Postmodern Theory. This essay explains what the three theoretical perspectives are and how they view the social issue of abortion.

In the news article “Abortion: Every Woman’s Rights” Sharon Smith wrote an article about women’s rights to get abortions prior to the hearing of the Planned Parenthood v. Casey court case, “which threatened to severely restrict women access to abortion” (Smith). Women wanted reproductive control over their lives and felt that they were not equal to men no matter what advances they got at work and how high their level of education was. The women’s right movement wanted women to have the choice of abortion for all women, the rich and the poor. In the US, thirty- seven states did not provide

Abortion is when a pregnancy is ended by emptying the contents of the womb. An abortion is usually the result of an unwanted pregnancy and is performed in a hospital or an Abortion clinic.

The legalization of abortion has become the modern Holocaust of America. The Holocaust in Germany was an effort to terminate the lives of the Jews during the time of 1933 to 1945. The Holocaust is taught in history classes around the world as a tragic killing led by Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler justified the killing of Jews by calling them “non-human” while today, the government is calling developing fetuses “non-human”. Consequently, the correlation has risen between the killing of the Jews and the killing of an unborn child inside the mother’s womb. The correlation appears extreme and horrifying to most people without given context. An evangelist, Ray Comfort, witnessed to various strangers on the street beginning with topic of Holocaust. Along with the topic of Holocaust, he leads into the debated topic of abortion and finally shifts into salvation. Through Ray Comfort’s effective use of ethos, pathos, and logos, he is persuasive and compelling in initiating people’s realization of abortion and their own salvation.

Women may have an abortion for a variety of reasons, but in general they choose abortion because a pregnancy at that time is in some way wrong for them. “Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before it is mature enough to live on its own” (Kuechler 1996). When this happens spontaneously we call it a miscarriage. Induced abortion is brought about deliberately by a medical procedure that ends pregnancy. Legal abortion, carried out by trained medical practitioners, is one of the most common and safest surgical procedures. “About 1.5 million American women choose to have induced abortions each year. Less than 1% of all abortion patients experience a major complication associated with the procedure” (Kuechler 1996).

How would you feel if someone took away your ability to live? Imagine not having any say in whether or not you want to have a life. Well babies don't have a choice in their mother’s womb. If a woman decides to abort her baby, they can't do anything about their life being taken away from them. Their whole future is demolished. I believe abortion is wrong when committing it for a selfish reason.

Abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time. However many People agree to disagree on whether abortion is a legal or illegal matter. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy through removal of the embryo or fetus. I support abortion for the following reasons. Birth control failure, unable to support or care for a child, to prevent a child with birth defects or medical conditions, and a pregnancy in resulting from rape or incest. A woman should have the right to do what she pleases with her own body. For example, say a woman is pregnant with no desire of keeping the child and there was no clinic to help her remove the fetus. She’s most likely going to obtain matters into her own hands and figure a way to abort the fetus herself. Why put women in that situation when they have highly trained doctors who can remove the fetus using the proper tools with no harm done to the mother?

The issue of abortion is one of the most sensitive and controversial issues faced by modern societies. This issue leads to topics of whether abortion is right or wrong, if it is the actual killing of a person, and what actually defines the moral status of a fetus. In this paper, I will be arguing against Bonnie Steinbock, who believes that abortions are morally acceptable. So I will be supporting the view that abortions are not morally acceptable.

In the Judith Jarvis Thomson article on “A Defense of Abortion”, there is a lot of arguments that she points out as to why abortion of a child is not entirely wrong. She gives examples and analogies as to what could happen in a case of a woman when she becomes pregnant and is ill, and an abortion is necessary. She gives the readers various points of view on the issue of abortion, and is not seeming to be persuasive to be for or against abortions. It seems as though she is letting the reader understand all angles of the issue and giving the reader a chance to judge for themselves on if abortion is right or wrong considering all factors on what is morally and immorally correct.

With the subject of abortion, it seems that no consensus will ever be reached. Those who argue in favor of choice will never see from the perspective of the pro-lifers and vice versa. The major difference is that those who are pro-choice have never been responsible for the deaths of the opposition. Before the Roe v. Wade case made abortion legal in this country, abortions were unlawful in the United States. Anyone who needed or wanted an abortion for any reason, physical or emotional, would have to go to back alley abortionists who would be working with unsafe tools and in unsterile conditions which would be a breeding ground for bacteria and germs. Many women died during these procedures, or from the later infections related to the abortions. Others were left permanently. Decades after the passing of this important piece of legislation, people still debate whether or not abortion should be legal and under what conditions, if any.

In the article Ethics of Abortion, much of the pro life argument seems to be

Statement of Problem: Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. Today, especially here in the United States of America, there is a growing issue and debate around the idea of abortion. There is a stigma against abortion because of the possibility of negative religious, political, medical, emotional, and mental consequences it may cause. Each year, worldwide there is an estimated 42 billion abortions that take place. This number does not include abortions that are not performed by professionals. The big issue alongside with abortion itself, is the affects it has on the mental health of females who undergo the procedure.

Deontology considers an action to be right iff it is in accordance with a moral rule or principle. A deontological moral rule is one that (i) is laid on us by god, (ii) is required by natural law, (iii) is laid on us by reason, (iiii) is required by nationality, (iiiii) would command universal rational acceptance, and (iiiiii) would be the object of choice of all rational beings (Hursthouse, Virtue Theory and Abortion, 224). This provides the link between right action, moral rule, and rationality. The deontologist Don Marquis would respond to the utilitarian argument by suggesting that the consequences of abortion are irrelevant because abortion violates a fundamental and unconditional duty.