Introduction

Introduction to the abortion debate

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

Increasing tolerance of killing is wrong

• allowing abortion is legalising killing
• legalising killing reduces people's respect for life
• reducing society's respect for life is a bad thing - it may lead to euthanasia, genocide and increased murder rates
• therefore abortion is always wrong

Arguments in favour of abortion (in selected cases)

Most of these arguments are to be read in the context of the first two arguments above. People who don't believe abortion is always morally wrong use arguments like this:

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 intervention by 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