Hinman's Views On Abortion

Abortion is mainly the most debated moral issue that is most familiar in our society. Most people have different firm viewpoints and ideas about abortion that makes emotions run wild. Hinman points out two principal major issues that seem to apply with the debate about abortion. First, the moral issue determining the fetus’ status matter. This involves the issues about the criteria of personhood and whether the fetus meets these criteria. The rights and protections follows and is given if the fetus does meet the certain criteria; second, the moral issue about the rights of pregnant women. Hinman states four debated views that apply to a woman’s rights. Because the fundamentals of abortion debate are fairly clear, one wonders if advances can be made in the debate. Most of the debate about abortion focused on the moral status of the fetus, debating if the fetus is considered as a person.
These two opposing viewpoints are very instructive. One label, “pro-life,” points our attention towards the fetus, while “pro-choice” emphasizes on the pregnant woman. Each of these moral issues explains different viewpoints for the principal focus of moral concern. These two moral viewpoints examines the issues of the moral status of the fetus, criteria of personhood (where one criterion is being conceived by humans), the rights of the pregnant women; the right to privacy, the right to ownership of one’s own body, the right to equal treatment and the right to self-determination, and the other moral considerations like the concerns of feminists about abortion, as well as abortion and