Utilitarianism Applied To A Concrete Ethical Issue: Abortion

Morgan DiBacco
May 4th, 2015
Introduction: PH 103-53
Reflection #4
Utilitarianism Applied to a Concrete Ethical Issue; Abortion
Utilitarianism is a frequently argued theory within philosophy. Like most theories there are many groups of people across the country who are for the use of this philosophical theory, as well as numerous people who do not agree with it. Theories such as Utilitarianism can be applied to many ethical issues and concepts that are discussed every single day within the United States. One of the most well-known and important ethical issues in today’s world is the topic of abortion. Abortion is a concrete ethical issue and is continually sparking controversy. The sides of the debate are self-described as the “pro-choice”
For example, utilitarian’s do not base large-scale decisions on their own beliefs or on their personal preferences, rather they consider the consequences and choose options which will benefit as well as satisfy the most substantial amount of people as possible. Within the theory of utilitarianism there are two significant groups that make up all utilitarians. These two groups are called rule utilitarians and act utilitarians. According to the textbook, rule utilitarianism states, “it is the long-term effects of the type of action that are relevant to deciding whether to perform a token act” (387). Additionally, it breaks down the possible consequences that may occur if a particular decision was made to perform certain actions. On the other hand, act utilitarians consider the effects of each and every specific individual action preformed. Without being able to understand what exactly utilitarianism is, it would be almost impossible to understand
Hundreds of thousands of people in the county today believe abortion is morally and ethically wrong. These people typically follow the movement called “pro-life.” Pro-life emphasizes the right of the fetus to be both, and to live their own life. One argument that states that abortion is murder because technically a fetus is a human being. When a child is born, it is born a human so realistically; it shouldn’t matter if the growing fetus were nine months, nine weeks or even only conceived nine days ago. Life is like no matter if it is wanted or not. On the other hand the Pro-choice movement emphasizes the right of women to decide whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. She should not have to go through her life with this memory, and should have a choice if she wanted to keep the child. It is important to note that in previously years the abortion rate has decreased. Statistic shows that, “in 2011, approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.21 million abortions in 2008, 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996” (“US Abortion…”). Though this statistic does certainly show a drastic decrease in the amount of abortions that have taken place in the United States, there are still many people who debate this topic, standing their ground saying that is in fact perfectly