Abortion Essay Research Paper Philosophy

Abortion Essay, Research Paper

Philosophy – AbortionRectitude There comes a time in the lives of most women when an ovum,fertilized with sperm, will implant itself into her uterinewall. This is nature’s first step in its attempt tocontinue the human race. Currently, when this implantationoccurs, the impregnated woman has the right to allow theembryo to nourish itself into existence or to eliminate allchances of that embryo attaining life through abortion. Every species of plant and animal on earth reproduce in oneway or another. How could something as ancient andfundamental as reproduction turn into one of the most hotlycontested moral debates in history. The question can onlybe answered if we first examine the intellectual psyche ofthe human animal. Since we are currently the most intelligent beings onearth, we use our critical thinking capabilities toselectively choose what should be morally acceptable andwhat should be deemed unacceptable. To the best of ourknowledge, we as humans are the only species in existencethat wrestle with moral dilemmas. Absolute morality thatwill be agreed upon by the majority of a society isextremely difficult to determine since each individual hasthe ability to decide for themselves what is morallyacceptable. It is because of this decision that ourAmerican culture intensely debates issues of morality suchas abortion. The debate over abortion pits the rights tolife of an unborn fetus against the rights of rational womenwho want to control what happens to their own body. Doesthe termination of a pregnancy deprive a human of theirright to life. Should our government be allowed the powerto regulate what a woman can and cannot do with her ownbody. These are two of the questions which will bedeliberated over throughout the course of this paper. In his article “Abortion and Infanticide”, Michael Tooleytackles two important questions about abortion. The firstis “what properties must someone have in order to beconsidered a person, i.e., to have a serious right to life.” Tooley answers that anything which completely lacksconsciousness, like ordinary machines, cannot have rights. If a being does not desire something such as consciousness,it is impossible to deprive that being of his right to it. In other words, Tooley argues that since a fetus does notshow outward desires to have life, it is morally permissibleto abort that fetus. There are three exceptions to thisrule that need to be clarified. First, if the being is in atemporary emotionally unbalanced state, such as a deepdepression, he should still be allowed rights to life. Secondly, if the being is unconscious due to sleep or somesort of trauma, he should not be deprived of his rights tolife. Finally, if the person has been brainwashed by areligious cult or any similar institution into wantingdeath, he should still be given a right to life. The second question addressed by Tooley is “at what pointin the development of a member of the species Homo Sapiensdoes the organism possess the properties that make it aperson.” The law in America currently implies that thefetus possesses the properties that make it a person when itreaches the third trimester or the sixth month of itsgermination inside the uterus. Is this a reasonableassessment of when a fetus has a right to life. Tooley says”No”. An organism does not have a right to life unless itpossesses the concept of a self as a continuous being ofmental states. This definition of possessing a right tolife can be applied to newborn babies that do not yet have aconcept of a self as a continuous being. Therefore, it ismorally acceptable to deprive them of their right to life,for they don’t show desire for life. According to Tooley,the fetus does not have a right to life at any timetherefore, the mother of that fetus should have the right toterminate her pregnancy as she so chooses. Tooley impliesthat until the fetus reaches the age of about three weeksoutside the uterus, it does not show signs of wanting life. Only when the child shows signs of desiring life should thechild be given a right to life. These arguments arecontroversial to say the least. However, they contain arational opinion of when an organism should be given a rightto life. Mary Anne Warren also examines the morality of abortion inher article titled “On the Moral and Legal Status ofAbortion”. She attempts to address the question “how are weto define the moral community, the set of beings with fulland equal moral rights, such that we can decide whether ahuman fetus is a member of this community or not.” Toaccomplish this definition, Warren lists five major criteriashe believes are most central to the concept of personhood. They are: 1. consciousness so that the being is capable of feelingpain 2. reasoning in order to solve relatively complex problems 3. self-motivated activity independent of genetic orexternal control 4. the capacity to communicate 5. the presence of self-awarenessThese criteria could be used to decide whether or not analien person from another realm of existence should beconsidered a person, and therefore given human rights. However, a being does not need to hold all five of theseattributes in order to be considered a human being. Warrensays possessing only criterion (1) and (2) would besufficient for personhood. If these criteria are acceptablerequirements for a being to be considered human, then afetus is definitely not human since it possesses none ofthese characteristics. Warren sa