Ethical Perspectives On Abortion

Religion plays a major role in the ethics of abortion. To begin with, Judaism does not prohibit abortion, but also does not allow it for simply any reason. Jewish women can allowed to abort if the mother’s health is at risk or mentally ill. Additionally, abortion is allowed in cases of rape4. Similar Islam allows abortion under certain conditions. In Islam, abortion is allowed only before 120 days of gestation. The only instance where abortion may take place after 120 days is if the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother’s life5. According to some scholars, abortion is allowed if the child has a defect and in situations of rape. Lastly, the Roman Catholics are against abortion. The New Canon Law indicates that abortion is one of the nine sins
According to Don Marquis, who argues for the conservative view of abortion, there is an essence in the wrongness of killing (book). However, Marquis does agree that abortion to save a life is necessary. Another similar viewpoint is that of Judith Thomson, who states that a fetus is a person from conception1. However, Thomson focuses on the mother’s decision over her own body. She uses an analogy of forcefully donating an organ in order to keep another person alive in relation to rape pregnancies. Thomson uses her analogy to state that a fetus resulting from rape has less of a right to life by the decision of the mother1. The mother has a right to disconnect or unplug from the fetus—allowing abortion. On another hand, Michael Tooley states that the fetus is not a human because it doesn’t have its own right. Likewise, Mary Anne Warren identified that the fetus is a human in the genetic sense, but not a person as it is incapable of speaking, giving ideas, or moving (book). In fact, she further argues that even newborn babies are not humans (book). Hence; the fetus does not have the right to life. In terms of religion, the permitted gestational period in which abortion is permitted justifies that before then, a fetus is not a human in a spiritual sense. In other words, the fetus does not have a soul and cannot engage in movement
This type of terminology is not medically or legally accurate. The act of murder is an unlawful killing of a living person7. However, the fetus is not living or breathing in a logical sense until birth. Although there are restrictive laws depending on each state, abortion is not unlawful. Hence, abortion cannot be coined as a procedure of murder. Additionally, if the fetus is not a human, then it is a mass of human cells that is not living8. Hence, it cannot be considered killing or murder as it not a person with rights. Similarly, a human arm is not an individual with rights because it is just a collection of cells. Therefore, the surgical removal of one's arm to prevent disease is not considered murder. As can be inferred, the removal of a fetus to protect a women’s life or freedom is not to be seen as