The Moral Status of the Fetus
1
Philosophy 200
November 16, 2013
The Moral Status of the Fetus The debate over abortion comes down to one essential issue — the moral status of the unborn child. “Those choosing legalization of abortion will argue that the developing fetus lacks a moral status that would trump a woman’s desire to abort the child. Those against abortion argue by making the opposite claim; that the unborn child, because it is a developing human being, possesses a moral status because of its human existence; and that would clearly trump any rationale offered for its willful destruction.” (1)My moral belief would be that Life begins at Conception, therefore a fetus has just as much of a moral status as a newborn baby. What if someone used these arguments to justify the killing of an infant: “The baby was conceived through rape”-“The infant is deformed and mentally handicapped”-“The mother’s health is suffering as a result of her baby.” Would those who endorse abortion openly justify the killing of an infant using these excuses? No, they would not. This proves that these objections are that the heart of the matter is whether the fetus is a living human. (2) The bottom line being, that the fetus's moral status does determine the just or unjust of the abortion, no matter what the situation may be. “Pro-choicers” believe that there are situations in which abortions are the solution. Scenarios where an unwanted pregnancy happened due to rape is one of them. The idea that rape victims want to abort children conceived in these horrible circumstances is a common myth in the abortion controversy. 2
In fact, rape victims believe abortion would be another form of violence committed against their body.
More than half of these victims that do abort, admit to aborting due to outside influence and 93% of them regret it. Of those that carry, none of them wished otherwise. These victims develop a heightened
sense
Philosophy 200
November 16, 2013
The Moral Status of the Fetus The debate over abortion comes down to one essential issue — the moral status of the unborn child. “Those choosing legalization of abortion will argue that the developing fetus lacks a moral status that would trump a woman’s desire to abort the child. Those against abortion argue by making the opposite claim; that the unborn child, because it is a developing human being, possesses a moral status because of its human existence; and that would clearly trump any rationale offered for its willful destruction.” (1)My moral belief would be that Life begins at Conception, therefore a fetus has just as much of a moral status as a newborn baby. What if someone used these arguments to justify the killing of an infant: “The baby was conceived through rape”-“The infant is deformed and mentally handicapped”-“The mother’s health is suffering as a result of her baby.” Would those who endorse abortion openly justify the killing of an infant using these excuses? No, they would not. This proves that these objections are that the heart of the matter is whether the fetus is a living human. (2) The bottom line being, that the fetus's moral status does determine the just or unjust of the abortion, no matter what the situation may be. “Pro-choicers” believe that there are situations in which abortions are the solution. Scenarios where an unwanted pregnancy happened due to rape is one of them. The idea that rape victims want to abort children conceived in these horrible circumstances is a common myth in the abortion controversy. 2
In fact, rape victims believe abortion would be another form of violence committed against their body.
More than half of these victims that do abort, admit to aborting due to outside influence and 93% of them regret it. Of those that carry, none of them wished otherwise. These victims develop a heightened
sense
Cited: Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2000.T he American Feminist. “Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice/Lee Ezell Questions,”Feminsts for Life of America (2005), http://afterabortion.org/ Something Deadly This Way Comes — “After-Birth Abortion” Tuesday • March 6, 2012