Through The Fetal Position by Chris Meyers, he brings up arguments he has encountered. Then responds to each of the arguments. Two widely used arguments are the Punishment and Accepting Responsibility arguments. The Punishment argument states that unwanted pregnancy is the deserved punishment for ending up pregnant. While the Accepting Responsibility argument states that the woman should own up, and be responsible for getting pregnant. To Meyers both of these arguments are largely flawed, and he counters each with multiple responses. When it comes to the Punishment Argument people think that because you had sex, it is the fault of the woman if she ends up becoming pregnant as a result. Basically, it is your “punishment” for having premarital
Another objection that one might make is that if a woman was having sex, then she has to take responsibility for the consequences. The consequence pertaining to my argument is becoming pregnant. However, this assertion is not universal to every case of unintended pregnancy. The first case that I will discuss concerns contraception, which is not 100% reliable. If a couple made sure to use contraceptives, but it somehow malfunctioned and resulted in an unintended pregnancy. The couple took measures to prevent pregnancy, so it is not their fault if it happened to fail by chance. Again, the woman is not at fault because she took precautionary measures, so she has no duty to keep the child. Abortion is also acceptable in this case. Additionally, a lack of proper sexual education and contraceptive resources can also result in unintended pregnancies. Assuming the female had no access to these tools, she would have had no way of knowing the consequences of having sex or what to use to prevent pregnancy. The pregnant woman had sex not knowing of its consequences or having resources to prevent pregnancy, so she should be
Abortion is a polarizing issue that many have firm opinions about. Abortion is a moral issue because it involves whether or not a fetus has the right to life and if ending that life is considered to be murder or not. Don Marquis presents the argument that abortion is morally wrong because it deprives the fetus of a future. Marquis continues that any action that robs a person of a future, such as abortion, is morally wrong. Marquis’ argument for abortion is unsound, especially for cases such as rape. To illustrate, if Marquis argues that any action that robs a person of a future is morally wrong, then it follows that a woman who suffered the consequences of rape is also robbed of a potential future. It is important to consider involuntary pregnancies
As people become aware of the seriousness of becoming pregnant they begin to question the side of pro-life vs pro-choice, however pro-choice allows the mother decide what to do with her body and does not mean agreeing with abortions. Women who decide to not keep the baby are often judged because of their decision without knowing their situation and background. Some may argue that the innocent has no fault, although that is true some are always blinded by their beliefs that they are not allowed to see the bigger picture based on the decision that is made, whatever the decision may be. Because of the Roe vs. Wade, it was legally written that women have the right and are advised to terminate the fetus within
Proponents of punishing pregnant women, who put their fetuses at risk, have highlighted some pertinent legal and ethical issues. One is that a viable fetus (fetus after 27 weeks gestation) has certain rights and privileges. They are of the opinion that as soon as the fetus is viable and can survive independently from it mother, it becomes a
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, readers can derive that revenge is only justified in certain situations. The narrator introduces the idea of bearing with Fortunato for a long time, “but when he ventured upon insult [he] vowed revenge” (Poe 1). The way that the narrator describes this situation makes it seem like his desire for revenge is justified. People normally seek to annoy those who bother them. Consequently, they will do something as an act of revenge to satisfy themselves. Revenge can be justified, but sometimes it goes a bit too far. While in the dungeon, the narrator forces Fortunato through a narrow niche and “began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche” (Poe). Now, the readers are aware
The society generally has established customs and moral imperative to guide the conduct of each member of that particular society. These norms designating certain ways in which people ought to live in the society exist in societal laws and moral prescription. The justifications for the ideal practices in the society have been found in the desire to maintain peaceful coexistence in the society. The extent of freedom of an individual is therefore often curtailed for the greater good of the society. These utilitarian considerations have been discussed amidst the concept and rationale of punishment. John Stuart Mill, Michel Foucault and Kantian ethics have been used to justify or refute the notion and rationale of punishment in our society. These ethical perspectives provide useful insight into understanding punishment and its justifications or otherwise. Punishment is necessary as a social control tool and must be exerted with reasonableness and with due regard for the aim for which it is exerted.
Another case that supports Premise 2 is when a woman learns that she has a complication that will make her pregnancy incredibly painful, and it is likely that she will not survive the delivery. This woman’s future will be filled with suffering and possibly death, and she could believe that it is not worth it to have this child. She would not value this future, so having the child denies her to a positive future and forces her to suffer. In both of the examples I have provided, having a child inflicts a great loss on the woman. In instances of unintended pregnancies, the woman has envisioned a future without a child, so having a baby could deny her of a future of value.
If a woman concedes to voluntary sexual intercourse, she has incurred a responsibility to care for the fetus, since she is responsible for its existence and subsequent dependence on her body for sustenance. Consequently, she has a moral obligation to sustain it until birth, an obligation that ought to be legally enforced by proscribing abortions. (Manninen 41)
Fact: it allows women to put an end to their pregnancy; fact: the undeveloped fetus is killed or terminated. These facts are widely known backed implicitly by science, but the implications are left to judgment or moral decisions. The question that arises is thus whether or not abortion is morally justifiable. Judith Thomson applies various hypothetical situations or stories in an effort to unmask the obscure answer. Thomson is not debating the personhood of the fetus.
Do you think revenge is always misguided, or is it justified in some cases? In some cases I feel that revenge can be justified, but is usually caused by misguided care from the past. Although there are many instances where revenge is misguided, it can also be justified in some cases. The right or wrong opinion is always blind sides someone else’s side of the story which can sometime make it impossible to tell if the actions of revenge were justified or if they were a result of being misguided.
Some argue that the unborn fetus has a right to its mother's body if that woman voluntarily indulges in intercourse (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). They argue that when the women engages in sexual intercourse she is fully aware of the consequences and the possibility that she might conceive a child. For this they say she is responsible for that life that is living inside her. This argument gives the unborn person a right to the mother's body and gives the mother a responsibility for the life because it is dependent on her (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). It should be noted however, that a fetus conceived through rape could not use this defence due to the fact that the sexual intercourse was not voluntary. Judith Jarvis Thomson in her article A Defense of Abortion has noted that pro-life activists have been so concerned with establishing the independence of the fetus that that have missed the fact that they could argue that the fetus is dependent on the mother and through this she has a special responsibility to it.
1. Ancient wisdom can be understood as the pursuit of understanding and preserving order in the world.
Hypothetical situations are often created to give reasons for abortions but the facts show that they are not the main reason. A survey of women after they had had abortions to find out why they got an abortion shows that these situations are indeed hypothetical and just that. The facts show that the main reason for abortions is simply to postpone childbirth. The main reason stated by women who had had abortions (25.5%) was to postpone child birth. This reason was far greater than rape (<1%), risk to maternal health (2.8%), and risk to fetal health (3.3%). One can easily see that females who have had abortions almost never do it because of rape, or risk to their own health. These are invented situations to induce sympathy on lawmakers.
Some anti-abortion activists argue that a woman has “waived control over her own body” when she makes the decision to engage in sexual activity, an activity which could lead to pregnancy. (Roy 339) “Thus where sex is voluntary, the pregnant woman has at least tacitly consented to the possibility of pregnancy.” (339) If this is the case, these anti-abortionists argue, then a pregnant woman has given up the right to “make a choice,” as the choice-making phase of the
When everything you love has been stolen from you, sometimes all you have left is revenge.Sometimes, the innocent get hurt. But one by one, the guilty will pay. Nothing ever goes exactly as you expect. And mistakes are life and death. Collateral damage is inescapable.”