Contemporary Moral Disputes: Abortion Argument Statement

Will T.

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Contemporary Moral Disputes: Abortion Argument Statement

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Abstract

This paper takes the stance that Cindy Richardson's fetus should be aborted. The structure of the paper is as follows: First, reasons in favor of aborting Cindy's two month old fetus will be presented. Second, reasons against aborting Cindy's fetus will be discussed, as well as rebuttals to the first pro-choice arguments. Third, responses to the pro-life arguments will be given. For simplicity sake, the being inside the mother will always be referred to as a fetus. Most often this will refer to an early fetus. This paper opens with a strong argument from Mary Anne Warren.

Warren believes that "personhood" is the fundamental basis for membership in the moral community, and that a fetus is not a person. Therefore a fetus should not be part of our moral considerations

Introduction
Pro-Choice arguments
Anti-Abortion arguments
Responses

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[...] The FLO argument has three components: Killing is wrong because it deprives an individual of a future of value, a future like ours (an FLO). A fetus has a FLO. Abortion is morally wrong.[9] Furthermore, just because a fetus is temporarily unconscious does not mean that it does not have interests. A person who is temporarily unconscious on life support has interests, and it is hard to see why a fetus, on life support of the womb, is any different.[10] In short, because a fetus has an FLO, it is as wrong to kill it as it is to kill a fully-grown adult. [...]

[...] James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg See Warren, Mary Anne. the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg Thomson, Judith Jarvis. Defense of Abortion.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg Noonan, John T. Jr. Absolute Value in History.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg Noonan, John [...]

[...] In response to the argument regarding a fetus having an 80% chance at becoming a person: the issue is not about probability. It is about personhood, and even if it were a 100% chance that the fetus would become a person, at early stages of development it is definitely not a person, and therefore no harm is done. Also, his statistics ought to be irrelevant even to himself because if a being has the human genetic code, by his definition it is a person. [...]

[...] An adult woman's right to choose abortion trumps any rights of a thing that is not a person, and has never been sentient. For this reason, and since her fetus is only two months old, Cindy Richardson has every right to choose abortion. Judith Thomson presents an intriguing argument about an acorn and a tree. It is a response to the idea that it is arbitrary to draw a line during a fetus' development and say that it is at one point not a person, and at another point a person. [...]

[...] The damage that would be done by having an unwanted child at age 17 far outweighs the benefits of keeping it. On the flip side, the damage done by aborting it is far less than the damage of keeping it. Works Cited Marquis, Don. Argument that Abortion is Wrong.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg 141. Noonan, John T. Jr. Absolute Value in History.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. White. Ninth Edition. USA Pg 103. Thomson, Judith Jarvis. Defense of Abortion.” Contemporary Moral Problems. James E. [...]

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