Introduction Ethical justification of abortion is a controversial subject consisting of numerous significant theories that have been presented based on studies and researches. Basically, abortion refers to termination of pregnancy through removal of the undeveloped fetus. Seemingly, the act is highly condemned by majority sociologists and health practitioners due to violation of humanitarian ethics and morals. However, this particular perspective is orientated by the normative ethics system entailing utilitarianism versus deontology. Alternatively, this excerpt shall focus on analyzing the social altercations of abortion based on views and opinions presented by two influential individuals, namely Marquis and Steinbock. By identifying the main arguments and key elements apparent in the two arguments, the study is likely to derive rational insight concerning moral permissibility of abortion. Presentation of Topic Seemingly, the arguments presented by Marquis and Steinbock are both centralized on regarding the social act as immoral and inhumane. However, both sociologists adopt diverse approaches based on the eradicative attributes that justify abortion in rare inferences. According to Marquis’ argument, abortion is depicted as an abomination and should be considered as immoral as killing an adult human being. Seemingly, Marquis asserts that various health practitioners disregard the immorality of the act since they believe that the anti-abortion perspective is
When touching the subject of abortion, one must consider that there are two sides battling for control. That is right, abortion has literally turned into a war zone where even the unlikely of individuals do the unthinkable. Each side has their motives and methods for contradicting the other. For instance, there are cases and events that support both sides of this issue.
The abortion question raises a number of issues that form the core of the abortion debate. Opponents and supporters of abortions have been battling over this particular problem for decades and still cannot come to an agreement. Being one of the most common and most controversial medical procedures, abortion tends to affect people on psychological and sociological levels. But while the discussion of the morality of abortion is an ongoing debate, the social issues surrounding abortion in most cases stay unnoticed. The social aspect of the issue is centered on the abortion policy. The main question of the abortion policy is whether the law should permit abortions and, if so under what circumstances. The other is whether the law should put the life of an unborn child first and legally protect it. The peculiarity of the abortion policy is that its measures are highly dependent on different public opinions.
defends that abortion is a morally sound action. Don Marquis, in his essay An Argument that Abortion is Wrong, takes the opposite stance. He claims “that abortion, except perhaps in rare instances, is seriously wrong”.
In 1989, Don Marquis, an American philosopher, published his paper “Why Abortions are Immoral” in The Journal of Philosophy, and his argument became widely cited and significant amongst the debate between the views of anti-abortion and pro-choice parties. This essay aims to analyze and evaluate Marquis’ paper, and also discuss how the views of immorality should translate into the laws of our society. One of the reasons why Don Marquis’ argument in “Why Abortions are Immoral” is particularly compelling is because the philosopher adopts a deductive reasoning approach and avoids traditional debate over “what constitutes as personhood”.
“Abortion is the spontaneous or artificially induced expulsion of an embryo or fetus” (Abortion, 2002). An artificially induced abortion is the type referred to in the legal context. Abortions happen in different situations. The question comes when is it the right or wrong choice. The root question becomes the moment a fetus becomes a person and entitled to rights. The fetus could be a person at conception, during the pregnancy, or at birth. The deciding moment differs from the Pro-life group and Pro-choice group. After critically analyzing four different arguments about the pros and cons of abortion, one will be able to understand the ethical, moral, and
Yet, it is your duty to look after your baby. As Kant suggests, if you
Each day throughout our world, medical professionals suction thousands of babies from their mothers’ wombs through a procedure called abortion. The law protects and provides consent to both the mother and the medical professionals for these procedures. However, the babies seemingly have no right to protection or life themselves because of the argument regarding when a fetus is determined be human and have life. Pro-life author, Sarah Terzo, in a LifeSiteNews.com article, relays the following testimony supporting this from a medical student upon witnessing his first abortion, “Rejected by their mothers and regarded as medical waste by their killers, society allows these babies to die silently, with no recognition or acknowledgment of their
What are the ethics of Abortion? I believe ethics of abortion is a controversial topic, in which it involves the act of removing a fetus from the womb of a woman’s body. This bioethical issue has been an ongoing debate for over forty years now. For many people, abortion is a moral issue, concerning the rights of a fetus and a woman’s right over her own body. What are your moral beliefs about abortion and a woman’s right to having one? I am a Pro-Choice supporter. I believe a woman has the right to make the ultimate decision on what she wants to do with her own body-safe and legally. However, I don’t believe that abortion should be used as a form of birth control or contraception. Society today, approaches discussions about abortion with caution; for many in society today, believe that it’s an act of murder and against all Godly ways. On the contrary, others like myself believe that under certain livelihood circumstances, the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy should be a
Abortion is a serious topic that people have been debating about for years. Everywhere you turn the topic of abortion presents itself, on TV, in the newspapers, in books and magazines. It already has, and will continue to cause, controversy for years to come. As long as abortion remains legal, pro-life advocates will continue to protest what they believe to be these horrible acts of murder.
When faced with the choice of life or death, most people would choose to live. In fact, most would not want someone else making that decision for them. They would claim that as a living and independent entity it is solely their choice as to whether they continue to live or not. While this concept may seem fairly straightforward, there seems to be some great debate when it is applied to abortion. For many, they will maintain that the fetus has the right to life no matter the situation. There are some who will argue that abortion is morally permissible in specific circumstances and there are even those that will claim that abortion is always permissible. Why is there such a great divide? A major factor that plays a part in this is whether abortion involves more than one life. Because determining the beginning point of life is such a complex and emotional debate, there will be the same allowance in this paper as there was in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion”. As she eloquently put it “I propose then, that we grant that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception” (p. 721). This will allow for a look into the moral debate of abortion from a more grounded stage. As discussed early in Thomson’s paper, most of the debate on abortion rests on whether the fetus is alive or not. Whereas the focus should be on the many other aspects of pregnancies that may lead to a mother wanting an abortion.
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
Voluntary abortion is one of the most controversial topics in the real world. Abortion is that act of removing a fetus/embryo out the womb of a woman. Many philosophers have developed their arguments for and against this certain issue. Don Marquis and Judith Thompson express their views through very extensive measures. After considering several sides, it is to conclude that abortion is an act of misfortune premature death; the deprivation of a natural lifespan and future.
Ethics can be defined as a set of principles which dictate what is considered as morally ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy through a medical procedure which results in the death of a fetus. Within ethics, there are many arguments as to whether abortion should be permitted in society as many regard it as an act of murder and others simply see it as a decision that should be given to the mother only. The issue of abortion remains to be one of the most controversial topics in society, which causes an inevitable clash of opinion. Through the exploration of philosophical principles, we are able to evaluate the origins of such opinions. In the same way, utilitarianism equates wrongness or blameworthiness of an action with its resultant pain or unhappiness. The central principle of utilitarianism expresses the belief that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Since utilitarianism differentiates ethical and unethical actions on the basis of the outcomes of those actions, it falls into the consequentialist class. With this belief, utilitarianism challenged traditional views that abortion was an 'evil ' act, arguing instead that the end justifies the means. In contrast, the deontologist would consider the intent of the person seeking an abortion in evaluating its ethical standing. In addition to this, postmodernism argues that, since there is
Abortion is a serious ethical dilemma. The practice is not a recent one, there being evidence of the procedure dating back several millennia -- and neither is the controversy that comes with it, with records of laws regulating abortion appearing in texts and manuscripts from a range of civilizations throughout the years. There has been much debate over whether abortion is a morally sound practice, and the divisive nature of the issue has resulted in centuries of contention. Many notable figures and organizations have made use of numerous religious, legal, and ethical standpoints to develop positions for and against abortion. This essay will be taking a look at abortion through the lens of two normative ethical theories: Utilitarianism and Deontology, as understood through John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals respectively.
Abortion. Just hearing that word causes many different opinions, that topic has causes many debates, arguments and disagreements. When it comes to deciding if abortion is morally acceptable or not, is a decision that is hard to make. There are different circumstances that can cause someone to decide whether or not abortion is morally acceptable. Throughout this paper, the goal is to convince a reader that abortion is wrong in any circumstance and it is murder. While it is understood that some will have a different opinion, the scholarly sources discussed will take a look at the opposite of my belief and the primary sources discussed will prove to show that abortion is morally and physically wrong. When deciding whether or not