Abortion as level

Definition

Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy.

Arguments against abortion

People who believe abortion is morally wrong use arguments like the following.

Killing people is wrong

• killing innocent human beings is wrong
• human life begins at conception
• therefore the foetus is an innocent human being
• therefore killing the foetus is wrong
• therefore abortion is always wrong

A foetus is a person

• A foetus has a unique genetic code
• A foetus is a unique individual

Killing potential people is wrong

• it is wrong to destroy potential human life
• from conception onwards the foetus is a potential human being
• therefore it is wrong to destroy the foetus
• therefore abortion is always wrong

Killing beings with 'a future like ours' is wrong

• it is wrong to kill beings that would have a future like ours if they lived
• in most cases the foetus, if not aborted, would have a future like ours
• it is wrong to kill such a foetus
• therefore abortion is usually wrong

Causing pain is wrong

• it is wrong to cause pain and suffering
• a foetus is sufficiently developed to feel pain by 18 weeks
• therefore it is wrong to carry out an abortion after 18 weeks of pregnancy

The foetus is not necessarily a 'person' with the right to live

• a collection of human cells does not have the right to live just because it is of the human species
  • otherwise amputating a limb would be murder
• a collection of human cells only has the right to live by virtue of certain facts
• these are either:
  • it has reached a particular stage of development that makes it a moral 'person'
  • it possesses certain properties that make it a moral 'person'

It is not always wrong to end the life of an innocent person

• there are many cases where we have to choose which of two innocent people will live and which will die:
  • conjoined twins, where the operation to separate them may cause one twin to die
  • mountaineering, when one person can only save their own life by cutting the rope supporting a fallen colleague
  • the case of a woman who had to abandon one of her children to save the other

'Potential human beings' don't have rights

• only 'actual' human beings have rights

The pregnant woman has moral rights too

• under some circumstances these may override the foetus's right to live
• these moral rights include:
  • the right to ownership of her own body
  • the right to decide her own future
  • the right to take decisions without moral or legal interventionby others
• the pregnant woman has the right to life - where not aborting the foetus would put the mother's life or health in danger, she has the moral right to abort the foetus