Abortion: right or wrong? In determining the moral status of abortion, we must first decide, How we are to define the moral community, the set of beings with full and equal moral rights (Warren 156)? According to John Noonan, a pro-life conservative, the presence of human chromosomes in the fetus s cell nuclei from the point of conception is sufficient evidence to prove that a fetus is human. Mary Anne Warren however, refers to this description as merely the genetic sense, the sense in which any individual entity that belongs to the human species is a human being, regardless of whether or not it is rightly considered to be an equal member of the moral community (157).
In contrast to the genetic sense, she defines the moral sense of human being as those who are full-fledged members of the moral community and are also members of the human species (Warren 156).
It is these people that are bearers of rights and always merit our consideration and respect.
In an article entitled, The Moral and legal Status of Abortion , Warren attempts to move beyond the stalemate in the debate over who is human. She defines abortion as the act a woman performs in deliberately terminating her pregnancy before it comes to term (152).
The Term Paper on Does Economic Growth Improve Human Morale?
Passage 9 Does Economic Growth Improve Human Morale? During the mid-1980s, my family and I spent a sabbatical year in the historic town of St. Andrews, Scotland. Comparing life there with life in America, we were impressed by a seeming disconnection between national wealth and well-being. To most Americans, Scottish life would have seemed Spartan. Incomes were about half that in the U.S. Among ...
The typical conservative argument against abortion, she states, begins with the universal truism of moral consideration that it is wrong to kill innocent human beings (156).
The argument then continues that fetuses are innocent human beings, therefore it is wrong to kill fetuses (156).
The problem with this argument is that it relies on the ambiguity in the notion of what it is to be a human being. The term human being has mentioned earlier, has two distinct senses: the moral sense and the genetic sense. If it is used in the same context in both the first and second premise, then one of the premises must be is false. If it is used in different senses, then a syllogism exists, and the conclusion does not logically follow.
To further illustrate, let us assume that premise one is a generally accepted moral truth (156).
In this case, the moral sense of the term human being must apply because the mere genetic sense, does not entitle one to our consideration or respect. Warren s tactic is to then suggest that the second premise switches the meaning of human being to the genetic sense, as fetuses are not considered to be full-fledged members of society, with equal moral rights. In fact, the only evidence that pro-life supporters have to substantiate fetuses being humans is biological proof, and that fetuses have the potential capacity for rational thought, which at most can show that the fetus may later become human in the moral sense. This evidence is useless when defining humanity, as it gives no reference to the morality of the fetus, or reasons why it should be given equal moral rights. Consequently, if the terms are taken in the same context, then one of the premises is question begging. Premise one avoids begging the question only if the moral sense is intended; while premise two avoids it only if what is intended is the genetic sense (157).
Therefore, the conclusion does not follow from the first two premises if they are understood in the senses in which they are clearly true. Conversely, if the term changes meaning in premise two, then one can no longer have confidence in the conclusion drawn from its use. The premises, even though they are true, fail to prove the conclusion. This objection to the conservative argument doesn t help us answer the question of how do we define the moral community , but it does help us determine who is not part of that community, and who doesn t merit our consideration or respect.
The Essay on Innocent Human Fetus Life Mother
"It is wrong to kill an innocent human being, a fetus is an innocent human being, therefore abortion is wrong." The debate focuses on two distinct issues: (1) whether the human fetus has a right to life and (2) whether these rights equal or override the rights of the mother. A person's stance on this debate may depend greatly on their definition of a human being as opposed to a human life form. If ...
