The Morality Of Abortion

1. Abortion is morally impermissible.

     I agree with Marquis that Abortion is morally impermissible because it is a process that leads to loss of life. Abortion is morally wrong because it involves killing an unborn thing though it is difficult to determine the human status of the unborn thing. Killing a fetus amounts to, killing an innocent person which is direct murder. In our society murder is breaking the moral laws and therefore abortion is morally impermissible.

            The fetus is a human being. Human rights activists would support me if I said that it has a right to life. Therefore, the fetus has a right to life. The mother has a right to decide what happens in and out of her body too. But the fetus’s right to life outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in and out of her body too.

            Every fetus is a person with the right to life and since a person’s right outweighs the right of another person over her own body, a fetus therefore has a right to life.

2. Reasons why abortion is impermissible

     The extreme view explains that abortion is morally impermissible in all cases because killing a person directly is impermissible. In our society we are bound by the ethics to avoid killing a person directly rather than keeping a person from dying. The life of a fetus begins right after conception, making it a human being .Moral principles in our society refrain us from ending the life of an unborn thing. (Kitzpatrick, James K.)

            In considering what is morally right or wrong I outline this example. You are the governor in a state which has a 15 storey building at risk of collapsing if hit by an ocean current. The building is situated right in front of kindergarten school with more than 500 children. If the building collapses all the school children will be killed. A warning is sent out by the meteorologist department that a tremor will occur anytime in the next 24 hrs. You are not sure whether when the tremor hits; the children will be in school. You then order the school children to vacate their premises and the building blown up.

Before blowing it up one of the firemen asks whether the building has been searched or not. It occurs that no one searched the building and some people could still be in there. blowing up the building is morally irresponsible since no one is sure the building is empty. In this view I support the idea that it is morally wrong to end the life of a fetus when no one is sure whether it is a human life or not. This moral principle dictates that we must refrain from such an act. (Maguire, Daniel C.,)

            Therefore, Abortion is a procedure that involves killing a fetus which has not been identified as a human being or not, when one is not sure of the human status of the fetus, he is morally bound to avoid performing an abortion. It is therefore morally wrong to perform an abortion. On religious grounds abortion is wrong since the choice of whether a fetus should live or not is left to God.

3. 3. Reasons why abortion is permissible

            There are exceptional cases where abortion is morally permissible. Abortion can be permissible when a mother has a complicated pregnancy that would result in the deaths of the mother and the child if she tries to deliver. Though abortion in this case causes the death of the fetus, it also saves the mothers life. Abortion is morally permissible if the pregnancy is involuntary especially after rape or incest when a woman is carrying a child belonging to her close relative or a rapist, it is considered morally unacceptable and there should be no legal or moral obligation to continue with the pregnancy since the sexual intercourse was no voluntary..

       Thomson supports that abortions are permissible when pregnancy results from rape. Thomson argues that a woman is in no way responsible for the event in which she was raped.. She also argues that when a woman has taken all necessary precautions like using birth contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, and a pregnancy happens anyway, the woman is allowed to have an abortion. This kind of pregnancy is unwanted and the woman had taken all measures to prevent it. She bases her argument on the fact that we don’t expect a woman to completely abstain from sexual activity. (Kitzpatrick, James K…)

            Thomson gives emphasis on the fact that women have rights and preferences that must be taken into consideration when deciding whether abortion is morally permissible or not. Thomson suggests that an innocent woman should not be bound to make sacrifices at the expense of their lives in order to defend the lives of others. Abortion may be justified when the future child in the womb is diagnosed of a disability, fetal impairment or an incurable disease. In this case abortion is justified if the woman does not want to give birth to a child with disability.. Having an unwanted fetus removed from her body does not mean that the woman is securing the child’s death.  (Maguire, Daniel C.,)

4   Kantian’s view

 Kant advances a variety of opinions in his categorical imperative and the partical imperative. Moral systems are characterized by morality. for people to make correct moral judgments they have to first have an inner understanding of what is morally right and what rules and regulations exists to regulate those duties.  When we do right we are right according to deontological approach.

Basically the approach tends to be more Godly than human based.  Deontological system simply explains why certain actions are practiced and why others are not. Following Kantian, This is not enough, instead human beings should also act with the right motives.  This can qualify individuals who have done wrong according to the standards of law or society, be considered wrong.  This is only and if only they adhere to some correct moral responsibility.

However, correct motivation alone is never a justification for an action if an individual feels strongly moved to do something. deontological system can not use this as a base for judgments.  Likewise, it’s not right to just believe that an action is right and hence base your judgment upon such assumptions.  Subjective feelings on the other hand are not advocated for. Ones principles are not a base neither for one to justify his actions

Considering the fact that abortion takes into consideration all this factors I, would argue Kantian’s approach on moral egoism is negative on abortion since human beings have the ability to make sound judgments, be Godly. act in way that their moral dictates is right.

5. My response to the objection

            I defend the thesis that abortion is morally impermissible because abortion deprives the unborn, the right to live. The law provides that it is wrong to kill an innocent human being.    The procedure of abortion results into very many negative effects to the woman, for instance, physical injuries which result into the rupture of the uterus or the bladder and as a result she may never bear more children and psychologically .

Works

Ci Boonin, David. A Defense of Abortion. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Questia. 7 Nov. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107175008>.

Bretzke, James T. “A Defense of Abortion.” Theological Studies 64.4 (2003): 865+. Questia. 7 Nov. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002059945>.

Kitzpatrick, James K. “A Pro-Life Loss of Nerve?.” First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life Dec. 2000: 35. Questia. 7 Nov. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001145282>.

Maguire, Daniel C., ed. Sacred Rights:  The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Questia. 7 Nov. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105133904>.

            Micheal j, shanks s.j  .Ethics and virtue. macula center for applied ethics.2002