Abortion-Noonan
Jessica Bratsch
Ethics-Paper 2
“An almost absolute value in history” by John Noonan
“A defense of abortion” by Judith Thomson
“On the legal and moral stance of abortion” by Mary Anne Warren
According to John Noonan, human beings should not be aborted. He discusses whether or not an embryo or fetus is considered a human by society often lies on certain aspects of the developing human and at what stage conception turns into a person with rights. Among them is viability, experience, quickening, attitude of parents, and social visibility. All of these he denies as making one human. Ultimately, John Noonan believes that conception itself should be viewed as the “moment of humanization” (pg. 218) due to the fact that a new genetic code is created and that life should not be taken. His views are that a human is a being with human code and therefore possesses a potential future should not have its rights infringed upon. He validates his views using Christian beliefs to “love your neighbor as yourself” (pg.219 consider the potential human being in place of the neighbor as well as theological comparison of not injuring fellow man. In these cases, abortion is never right except in self-defense.
John Noonan uses the concept that a genetic code creates a human being and therefore it is a human being. I still fail to see how a potential human being is actually a human being. A genetic code is not a person, it is just simply a plan to create a human being. Without development of an actual human by this plan it is nothing more than a potential human being. I would say that this is along the same lines of a seed being a seed and a tree being a tree because clearly a seed is not a
Ethics-Paper 2
“An almost absolute value in history” by John Noonan
“A defense of abortion” by Judith Thomson
“On the legal and moral stance of abortion” by Mary Anne Warren
According to John Noonan, human beings should not be aborted. He discusses whether or not an embryo or fetus is considered a human by society often lies on certain aspects of the developing human and at what stage conception turns into a person with rights. Among them is viability, experience, quickening, attitude of parents, and social visibility. All of these he denies as making one human. Ultimately, John Noonan believes that conception itself should be viewed as the “moment of humanization” (pg. 218) due to the fact that a new genetic code is created and that life should not be taken. His views are that a human is a being with human code and therefore possesses a potential future should not have its rights infringed upon. He validates his views using Christian beliefs to “love your neighbor as yourself” (pg.219 consider the potential human being in place of the neighbor as well as theological comparison of not injuring fellow man. In these cases, abortion is never right except in self-defense.
John Noonan uses the concept that a genetic code creates a human being and therefore it is a human being. I still fail to see how a potential human being is actually a human being. A genetic code is not a person, it is just simply a plan to create a human being. Without development of an actual human by this plan it is nothing more than a potential human being. I would say that this is along the same lines of a seed being a seed and a tree being a tree because clearly a seed is not a