Preview

Why Abortion Is Immoral

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
491 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Abortion Is Immoral
Why Abortion Is Immoral

Why Abortion Is Immoral was written by Don Marquis. His thesis is described in the title. He started off by establishing some historical facts about abortion. According him there were no laws prohibiting abortion in the United States until well into the 19th century. By the 20th century every state passed laws to prohibit it. In 1973 in the case Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that the laws outlawing abortion violated women’s rights to privacy. He then implies that the legal status of abortion could possibly change in the near future. Marquis believes that the crucial moral question about abortion is “Do we have the same reasons not to kill a fetus that we have not to kill an adult?” He believes it’s wrong because it deprives them of their future. According to Marquis, abortion is seriously immoral with rare exceptions. Professor Marquis starts off the main body of his essay by dissecting the major arguments for the pros and cons of abortion. He basically simplifies the arguments down to the fact that Anti-abortionist tend to believe that fetuses are people so abortion is murder and pro-choicer views tend to rely on the idea that fetuses are not people and abortion is not a wrongful killing. According to him there is a standoff. In order for abortion to be proven either immoral or permissible he suggests that it must first be fully understood why killing is wrong. Marquis takes a somewhat subjective approach to make a point and describes why it would be wrong to kill him in his opinion. He would be deprived of activities, projects, experiences and enjoyments of his future personal life. Inflicting this type of loss on someone is why he states killing is wrong. He then goes on to state that his point is supported by two considerations. One is the fact that it explains why killing is regarded as one of the worst crimes. The other is the fact that it explains why people with terminal illnesses feel their premature death

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    When he compiles his argument he begins by providing the argument for a ‘pro-choice’ approach which makes the assumption that a fetus is a being but one who's life is not ethically applicable and can be ended without moral consequence. This gives us an insight into the apparent symmetry between this set of ideals in contrast with the beliefs of the ‘anti-abortion’ approach which views a fetus as a being, ones who’s life is ethically applicable and cannot be ended without moral consequence. The conflicting issue being weather or not a fetus falls under the category of a morally applicable ‘sentient being’ and this, in turn, is what Marquis sets out to confirm in order to create a solid case for the ‘anti-abortion’ approach.…

    • 2022 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    PHL 292 - Exam 1 Study Guide

    • 2595 Words
    • 11 Pages

    According to Don Marquis, author of ‘The Immorality of Abortion’, the reason abortion is wrong is:…

    • 2595 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The question between whether abortion is morally right or wrong has been talked about for years and no common ground has been made. Judith Thomson, a believer in Pro-choice, argues that abortion is not wrong because the mother should have a choice of what happens to her body. In response to this, Donald Marquis who is against abortion believes every fetus is a human with a right to have a future like ours. Each Ethicist gives examples and theories as to why abortion is wrong or right. In this essay, I will attempt to show that abortion is okay in some cases, and Donald Marquis’s views and arguments are broad and incorrect.…

    • 1756 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Union and Confederate armies fought against each other in the Civil War. This essay is about comparing and contrasting the Union Army and the Confederate Army. The better well supplied Union Army had more factories and soldiers against the Confederate Army who wasn’t as well supplied.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I am going to assume “the human fetus has a right to life and if the human fetus has a right to life, then abortion is impermissible”, even though it can be challenged. I believe that Don Marquis has presented a strong argument in favor of the view that abortion is immoral. In fact, Marquis’ states in his premise one that “any being that can be deprived of a future like ours has a right to life”, the second premise is that “the human fetus has a future like ours”. Thus, Marquis’ conclusion is “the human fetus has…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marquis believes that abortion is “morally unjustified” (525). His argument is that “it is wrong to kill us because such killing deprives us of all the value of our futures” (525). He also argues that fetuses are close enough to being like us and that is it just as wrong to kill them as it is to kill us. The conclusion of his argument is that not all abortions are wrong since there may be other conditions in some cases such as “abortion before implantation, when the life of the woman is threatened by a pregnancy or abortion and abortion after rape”…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Judith Jarvis Thompson and Don Marquis both have markedly different views on the topic of abortion. Thompson generally argues that there are cases where abortion may be morally permissible, due to the rights of the mother, while Marquis argues that abortion is almost always morally wrong, except under extraordinary circumstances, because the fetus has a future life. In this paper, I will evaluate the arguments of both parties, as well as identify what premises, if any, they both agree on. In addition, I will supply my own reasoning for why I believe that Marquis presents the more successful argument.…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Why abortion is immoral,” by Don Marquis, Marquis sets out an argument that abortion is “seriously immoral that it is in the same moral category as killing an innocent adult human being.” Marquis first wants us to understand why killing a person is wrong. He presents us with an argument that the loss of one’s life is one of the greatest losses one can suffer. Because this prevents a person from having a valuable human future, a future like ours. What makes killing any adult human being wrong? If a person is killed all the experience, activities, projects, and enjoyment would be deprive from a person future. Therefore, Marquis believe that killing is one of the worst of crimes because their future is taken away along with their life.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Don Marquis Theory

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages

    * Marquis suggests that the parties to the abortion debate find themselves at a stand-off. Pro-lifers want to focus on the fact that fetuses are human beings (at least potentially) whereas pro-choicers want to focus on the fact that fetuses are not persons (even though they may be so potentially).…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Annotated Bibliography

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Marquis, Don. "Why Abortion Is Immoral." Journal of Philosophy 86 (1989): 183-202. Print. This journal is written by a philospher by the name of Don Marquis. While this document is quit outdated it still plays an important role in today 's debate about abortion. It is used by pro-life activists when debating the reasons why they feel abortion is immoral. This journal is long and filled with great ideas to ponder about life, its meaning and signifigance to the world. Marquis has etched his name with this written journal in the never ending debate of wether abortion is right or wrong. I think this piece will be valuable to my essay in that it will give my audience a deeper perception than the current idea that abortion should be a womens choice.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Today's speech is about humor, laughter and comedy. This is not an informative speech on a boring subject that we have already heard of. The purpose of my speech is to to bring some light and share a theory that has proven it self true. Everybody finds men funny, especially me. My humor attracts the ladies i tell you. But there is a simple reason for it. This is only because women are not funny. I mean not as funny as men. Now don't get mad ladies, because i don't want to offend anyone, but this can be proven on so many levels. Therefore i am going to give you the 3 main reasons as to why you ladies are not as funny and why you love when we make you laugh. The 3 reasons will be the basis of my roadmap. So lets get right down to it. Women are less funny than us because genetically they have less humor. Then i will show and tell you how psychologically and socially women…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Marquis On Abortion

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Marquis argues that killing a fetus deprives it of a valuable future/future like ours, and concludes by saying abortion is not morally permissible. I agree with Marquis’s argument that it is wrong to kill a fetus through abortion because I believe that they have a valuable future as all humans do. Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, which is most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. (dictionary.com) Furthermore I do agree with Marquis that majority of deliberate abortions are seriously immoral, however I do believe that in some cases it is permissible, for instance choosing to have an abortion after being sexually assaulted or due to life threatening circumstances.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Don Marquis, abortion is seriously morally wrong because it is an act of killing a being with a right to life and killing a being with a right to life is seriously morally wrong because it “deprive[s] all the value of [it’s] future” (Marquis, 2009). Marquis presents reasons for thinking that his account of the wrongfulness of killing is superior to any other account. He offers an analogy that the suffering of other animals…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abortion Ethics Paper

    • 554 Words
    • 2 Pages

    B. Thesis: Abortion is a highly controversial topic in America. The act of disregarding a human life and terminating a pregnancy should only be performed on women who have been victims of rape, incest, or failed contraception. Instances where the pregnancy is terminated because the child threatens the health and well being of the female should also be a valid reason for an abortion to be performed. Other than those circumstances listed, the fetus should have the right to develop and have a life of its own.…

    • 554 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the beginning of this article, H.Skott Brill summarizes the main idea of Why abortion is immoral by Don Marquis. The main idea is “if a fetus has a right to life then nearly all abortion are immoral” (Brill, 419). However, it does not mean that stopping “the means necessary for the continuation of the fetus life” is wrong (419). Brill continues providing the support for McInerney’s “personal identity objection” and addressing the issue of a fetus…

    • 2214 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays