Abortion- a philosophical overview

Introduction Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability1. Abortion is a very controversial topic, because there are so many people on both sides of the abortion debate and some can’t just seem to decide. Abortion is a topic under ethics in philosophy. Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. 2Abortion laws vary from being Legal on request, Legal for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, socioeconomic factors, and/or fetal defects, Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, and/or fetal defects, Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, and/or mental health, Illegal with exception for maternal life, health, and/or mental health, Illegal with no exceptions3.There are three main sides: first, the pro-choice movement (extreme conservative view) ; second, pro-life (the extreme liberal view); and third, moderate view which lie between both extremes. The pro-choice movement believe it’s a woman’s choice to decide whether she wants to bring a fetus or embryo to term or not. The pro-life movement articulates the right of the fetus to be born. In this report the arguments for and against the two major sides of the abortion debate is explained.
Philosophical argumentation on the abortion issue
Concept of personhood
Personhood is the status of being a person.4 The time when person hood begins has often been debated in philosophy and religion. “Mary Anne Warren claims that a human life form should qualify as a person when, at least, some of the following aspects (especially i-iii) are at stake: (i) consciousness and the ability to feel pain; (ii) reasoning; (iii) a self-motivated activity; (iv) ability to communicate; and (v) the existence of a self-concept (for example, individual, racial) and